Review: The House That Jack Built Is A Character Study Sans Morality
As often as writer-director Lars von Trier has made films about despicable people, there has almost always existed a kind of twisted morality about each of them that made even […]
Review: Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart as an Odd Couple in The Upside
Present political climate not withstanding, we live in a fairly sophisticated society where we shouldn’t have to soft-pedal the truth about assisting the disabled via a movie with comedy, just […]
Documentary Shortlist Screenings Continue All Month at Music Box Theatre
As we previewed last week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has partnered with a handful of movie theaters across the country (including Chicago’s own Music Box Theatre) to show […]
Review: Heart-Wrenching Capernaum Is Essential, If Difficult, Viewing
At the center of Capernaum, the latest film from Lebanese writer/director (and actor) Nadine Labaki (Where Do We Go Now?, Caramel), is one of the year’s best performances, and it’s delivered […]
Review: Facing Changes As a United Front in Family in Transition
From January 4 through 31, the Gene Siskel Film Center celebrates the art of the documentary with its annual series Stranger Than Fiction: Documentary Premieres. This year, the theme of […]
Review: How One Man Shaped the Modern Media Landscape in Divide & Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes
There’s no way you don’t come out from watching Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes, the latest by director Alexis Bloom (Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie […]
Review: Bathtubs Over Broadway Chronicles Corporate Musicals and the Man Who Loves Them
I have vivid memories of watching old episodes of both the NBC and CBS versions of David Letterman’s late night talk show and always getting a kick out a repeating […]
Review: As January Horror Films Go, Escape Room Isn’t Horrible
In what has become an annual tradition at the movie theaters in early January, a PG-13 horror film has slipped in and threatened to soft-peddle largely bloodless scares in the […]
See Every Documentary Shortlisted for an Oscar at Music Box Theatre
In a cinematic feat that I’ve never seen attempted before, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has partnered with a handful of movie theaters across the country (including […]
2018 in Review: What We Liked on the Big Screen (Documentaries Edition)
The reason I separate out documentaries is not because I feel they should be judged differently than feature films, but because I want to put as many great doc titles […]
2018 in Review: What We Liked on the Big Screen (Narratives Edition)
I’m the dummy who waits until the year actually ends before rolling out my Best Of… lists, and that’s because I’m often able to squeeze in about a dozen or […]
Interview: Stars of If Beale Street Could Talk On Getting the Part and Finding Love in Every Scene
The lead actors in If Beale Street Could Talk, the latest work from Moonlight filmmaker Barry Jenkins, had two very different paths that brought them to this extraordinary movie, adapted […]