Review: Political Doc Represent Finds its Strength in its Tight Focus
In 2002, a lot of documentaries about 9/11 were released. In 2009, it was economics and the recession. 2020 is proving to be the year of the political documentary, as […]
Lisa Trifone is Managing Editor and a Film Critic at Third Coast Review. A Rotten Tomatoes approved critic, she is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association. Find more of Lisa's work at SomebodysMiracle.com
Review: Fascinating Boys State Makes Politicians of Teens in a Summer Camp for Future Leaders
There’s a moment not too long into Boys State, the Sundance Grand Jury award-winning documentary about the annual mock-government conference for Texas high schoolers run by the American Legion now streaming […]
See Christopher Nolan’s Monumental Inception from the Country’s Only 70mm Print, Only at Music Box Theatre
The last film I saw in movie theaters before the shutdown order was Hello, Dolly! in glorious 70mm at Music Box Theatre. Arguably not Barbra Streisand’s most critically acclaimed work, it’s […]
Review: A Sweeping, Emotional Journey of Trauma and Reflection in Out Stealing Horses
Based on the 2003 Norwegian novel by Per Petterson, Out Stealing Horses is a sweeping story of traumas inflicted by war, by circumstance, even by our own families. The film version, […]
Review: I Used to Go Here, Another Insightful, Female-Centric Narrative from Chicago Filmmaker Kris Rey
The last we saw Kris Rey as writer/director (she had a small on-screen role in Damien Chazelle’s First Man last year), she delivered Unexpected, a sweetly thoughtful exploration of motherhood […]
Review: Four Court Battles and the ACLU’s Commitment to Civil Rights in Inspiring, Essential The Fight
With the national election less three months away, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t spend some portion of every day saying a silent prayer (to whom, I’m not […]
Review: Amulet Mostly Succeeds at Playing with Genre Gender Roles and Demonic Possession
Like the other horror film released this week (The Rental, reviewed here), Romola Garai’s Amulet aspires to something impressive within contemporary genre features. It is a gorgeous production (making her feature directorial […]
Review: The Rental Delivers a Few Creepy Scares from an Oceanfront Getaway
Two horror movies arrive to watch this week, and both of them feel as though they’re aiming for something grander than what the final product actually delivers. Both are by […]
Review: A Pre-Pandemic Fever Dream at the Local Dive Bar in Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
Something weird happens at the beginning of Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets, but it’s so subtle, so smoothly incorporated that it’s nearly imperceptible. Following the opening credits (displayed in a throwback fashion […]
Review: Colorful We Are Little Zombies Finds the Existential Optimism in Despair and Grief
In some other timeline, we’re out enjoying a real Chicago summer, complete with street fairs and beach days and rooftop drinks and yes, summer blockbuster movies. Instead, this summer will […]
Review: The Tobacconist Can’t Decide What Kind of Film To Be, Falls Short at Both
As premises go, The Tobacconist has an interesting one: a young man moves to Vienna to apprentice in a tobacco shop, only to become friendly with one of the store’s […]
Review: The Women of Relic Drive a Moody, Brooding Thriller
What haunts in Relic, the debut feature film written and directed by Natalie Erika James, is something sinister, but also something essentially unseen and, therefore, all the more terrifying. A horror […]