Review: Dolittle Does Very Little with Its New Take on a Children’s Classic
The new year is young, but thank goodness we didn’t have to wait more than a couple of weeks into it to hit our first big-budget, military-grade stink-bomb of 2020. […]
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.
Review: A New Entry in the Bad Boys Franchise is Stuck in the Past
Despite the fact that Bad Boys for Life (the third Bad Boys movie, for those counting, and the first since 2003) is meant to focus on its lead characters getting […]
Interview: Co-Stars of Just Mercy on Finding Their Characters and How the Film Changed Them
Now playing in theaters nationwide is the powerful and thought-provoking Just Mercy, a true story based on the book by Harvard Law School-educated civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson (played […]
Review: Underwater Gets Right to the Action, Kristen Stewart Leading the Way
I spent most of director William Eubank’s (The Signal) newest film, Underwater, on the verge of really liking it, waiting for that one original element to push me over the […]
Review: On One Critic’s Life, Words and Influence on Film in What She Said
It seems odd to be reviewing a documentary about a film critic whose influence is still a big part of the critical landscape, in the same way it was surreal […]
Review: No Amount of Makeup Can Cover the Blemishes in Like A Boss
The last time director Miguel Arteta (Cedar Rapids, Chuck & Buck, The Good Girl, Youth in Revolt) and actor Selma Hayek worked together, it resulted in the defiantly under-seen Beatriz […]
Interview: Filmmaker Alla Kovgan on Filming Choreography, Editing for 3-D and Creating Space for Discovery
Directed by Russian-born documentarian Alla Kovgan (Movement (R)evolution Africa), Cunningham traces dancer and revolutionary choreographer Mercier Philip “Merce” Cunningham’s artistic evolution over three decades of risk and discovery (1944–1972), from […]
2019 in Review: Best Documentary Films of the Year
The reason I separate out documentaries into their own Best of the Year list is not because I feel they should be judged differently than feature films, but because I […]
2019 in Review: Best Narrative Films of the Year
Call me old fashioned, but I’m a firm believer in not posting a Best Of the Year list until the year is actually over. I’m often able to squeeze in […]
Review: 1917 Is an Intense, Unforgettable World War I Epic
There’s a moment in the World War I-set film 1917 that will live with me forever. Directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall, Revolutionary Road) and written by rising talent […]
Review: Animated Spies in Disguise Could Use a Dose of Danger
Well, this animated action-adventure featuring the vocal stylings of Will Smith and Tom Holland doesn’t have a particularly memorable or impressive look or story, but it has a great personality. […]
Review: A Cinematic Pressure Cooker Boils Over in Uncut Gems
Every once in a while—and it isn’t very often, I assure you—I ask a very simple favor of anyone who takes the time to read what I have to write […]