Best of 2016: 60 of our Favorite Movies
I’m the damn fool who waits until the year actually ends before rolling out my Best Of… list every year, and that’s because I’m often able to squeeze in about […]
Steve Prokopy is chief film critic for the Chicago-based arts outlet Third Coast Review. For nearly 20 years, he was the Chicago editor for Ain’t It Cool News, where he contributed film reviews and filmmaker/actor interviews under the name “Capone.” Currently, he’s a frequent contributor at /Film (SlashFilm.com) and Backstory Magazine. He is also the public relations director for Chicago's independently owned Music Box Theatre, and holds the position of Vice President for the Chicago Film Critics Association. In addition, he is a programmer for the Chicago Critics Film Festival, which has been one of the city's most anticipated festivals since 2013.
Film Review: Lion, Well Crafted and Heart-wrenching
The debut feature from director Garth Davis (who helmed most episodes of the excellent series “Top of the Lake”) feels like it was designed in a laboratory for the express […]
Film Review: Hidden Figures, The Untold Story of Three Black Women Who Brought NASA to Bold New Heights
There are films that simply know how to make an audience happy, and there are those that shamelessly manipulate a crowd into trying to feel something to the point of […]
Film Review: Fences, A Tribute to One of America’s Greatest Playwrights
I’m not sure if it’s the best news or the worst that no one to date has turned a play written by the late August Wilson into a movie for […]
Film Review: In Her Name, Largely Quiet and Mostly Satisfying
In the harrowing, true-life story that spans nearly 30 years, In Her Name tells the story of Andre Bamberski (the great French king of angst, Daniel Auteuil), who finds out […]
Film Review: Why Him?, A Crass Mess
If you’re a James Franco completist (and honestly, who amongst us isn’t?), then you know this can be a tiring occupation at times. In 2016 alone, the man acted in […]
Film Review: Passengers, Cringe-Worthy
Before we go any further, let’s make one thing clear. This review contains spoilers. Proceed with caution. I’ll never quite understand the mentality that dictates that you can only like […]
Film Review: Assassin’s Creed, Unwatchable
I enter every film based on anything other than an original screenplay the same way: I’m of a firm belief that you shouldn’t have to have had any exposure to […]
Film Review: Sing, Meh
I’ve had many people ask me about this film (perhaps because it’s one of the few holiday releasees suitable for the entire family), and they’ve referred to it as “that […]
Film Review: Long Way North: A Beautifully Subtle Animated Story
One of the better purely hand-drawn animated films of 2016, Long Way North tells the tale of Sasha (voiced by Christa Théret), a Russian teenager circa 1882, whose grandfather was […]
Film Review: Collateral Beauty, Gross and Ill Conceived
Sometimes a movie is bad just because it’s bad, and sometimes it’s bad because it wants so passionately to be good that it chokes on its noble intentions. The last […]
Film Review: La La Land, A Modern and Nuanced Take on the Classic Hollywood Musical
Despite what you may have been led to believe, writer-director Damien (Whiplash) Chazelle’s La La Land is not some type of homage to the Hollywood musicals of old. It only […]