Movie Reviews (Chronological)
In the Heights (2021)
Jun 18, 2021 | Film Reviews, On Movies & Media
Full disclosure: I’m not a big fan of Hamilton. And I think it’s important you know that before I dare to offer any thoughts on In the Heights. Undoubtedly, the circumstances of my first Hamilton viewing — on my home television via Disney+, rather than in...
Overstreet Archives: The Clearing (2004)
May 29, 2021 | Film Reviews, On Movies & Media
Here’s one from the dusty basement that might not be more than a reminder that even the greatest actors sometimes sign on to forgettable projects.
Overstreet Archives: The Station Agent (2016)
May 22, 2021 | Film Reviews, On Movies & Media
Posted at Looking Closer for the first time, here is Overstreet’s 2016 reflection on Tom McCarthy’s The Station Agent.
Overlooked by Overstreet: Get Shorty (1995)
May 15, 2021 | Film Reviews, On Movies & Media
This week, I found myself enjoying — to some extent — an unexpected reunion with a mid-’90s hit that I never got around to reviewing. So here’s a look back at a film that is now more than a quarter-of-a-century old.
The Truffle Hunters (2021)
May 3, 2021 | Film Reviews, On Movies & Media
This documentary glimpse of a disappearing world — where fortune hunters and their dogs explore and dig for pungent, savory gold — is worth a look, but it also feels like a missed opportunity for poetry and transcendence.
Together Together (2021)
May 1, 2021 | Film Reviews, On Movies & Media
Behold — the invention of the “non-rom-com”: a genre for stories about loving-but-platonic relationships between men and women!
The Courier (2021)
Apr 6, 2021 | Film Reviews, On Movies & Media
Our screens are so over-saturated with superheroes these days that we’re in danger of forgetting what real heroes look like. Superpowers are exciting — but they’re also shortcuts. They show us what we might dream of becoming. But let me put it this way: I...
Nomadland (2020)
Mar 30, 2021 | Film Reviews, On Movies & Media
Several years ago, I wandered down to the reading room of Laity Lodge, a Texas conference center. I knew it to be the quietest, most restful place at the Lodge, and I needed a break after a few days of constant conversations with other writers. The reading room has an...
Lee Isaac Chung Week, Day Five: a review of Abigail Harm
Feb 27, 2021 | Film Reviews, On Movies & Media
Lee Isaac Chung’s strangest film isn’t easy to watch. Nor is it easy to forget. But it is well worth seeking out for its cautionary tale of a compromising love affair, mystical visitors from “up there,” and the dangers of self-isolation.
Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
Feb 22, 2021 | Film Reviews, On Movies & Media
Compelling, occasionally impressive in its cinematographic finesse, occasionally obvious in its allusions, often too familiar in its form, eventually painful in its truth-telling, this flashy new film is, ultimately, a necessary testimony.