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Knathan Ryan and Dave Von Bieker are two friends whose music pops up in heavy rotation during my morning commutes. Their hopeful spirits inspire me; their artistry is personal, bright, and energetic; and their new songs hit just right in a time of quarantine fatigue.

In the latest episode of the Looking Closer podcast, “Catholic Cinephile” Evan Cogswell makes an argument that Annette is a great musical and, in fact, his favorite film of the year so far.

Here are two of my favorite 2021 songs so far, one from Rhiannon Giddens, the other from Nick Cave.

I'm not making a priority of seeing A Quiet Place Part II. You're invited to try to change my mind.

In June of 2009, I met Lee Isaac Chung for the first time. We talked about his first feature film Munyurangabo. Nine summers later, I sat down with Chung to talk again — this time about his unpredictable and surprising journeys since then. The recording of that interview is now available for you thanks to Image.

Minari director Lee Isaac Chung has a new essay in the L.A. Times. Have you been reading Looking Closer for the decade that has passed since he shared an essay with us? Here it is again: "Retrospectives."

This week, I'm celebrating the theatrical and streaming release of "Minari" in honor of filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung. We'll get it started with just a clip from a 2010 interview that will set some of the context for my appreciation of this filmmaker.

In this episode of the Looking Closer podcast, filmmaker Chad Hartigan talks about his new sci-fi love story "Little Fish," its focus on the power of memory, and what it was like to make a pandemic-focused movie just in time for a real pandemic.

Every year for decades I've posted annual lists of favorite albums here. I'm taking things up a notch, with a longer list and more links to specific tracks than ever before. Here's Part One of three posts on my favorite recordings of 2020. Put on your headphones and make some discoveries!