Review: La Divina Tells Her Own Story in Maria By Callas
I’ve attended more opera in the last year than I have in all my years of attending theater (and that’s a lot of years!). I’ve been able to see several […]
Review: Duo in Green Book Make It a Film for Everyone This Holiday Season
Bolstered by two knock-out performances, Green Book may just be the crowd pleaser of the holiday season. Directed by Peter Farrelly (yes, of the Farrelly Brothers and their gross-out comedies of […]
Review: Second Installment of Harry Potter Prequel Fantastic Beasts Isn’t Very Magical
There are times watching Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald that feel like directing rush hour traffic at a four-way stoplight that is green on every side. With dozens of […]
Review: Filmmaker Matthew Heineman on Making A Private War, Casting Rosamund Pike and An Emotional Set
Although it’s not director Matthew Heineman’s first time chronicling people in war-torn regions of the world, A Private War does mark his narrative feature debut (his earlier credits include the […]
Interview: Joel Edgerton and Garrard Conley on Adapting and Casting Boy Erased To Reach the Biggest Audience Possible
Following his critically acclaimed directorial debut The Gift, writer/director/star Joel Edgerton was searching for a story that was far removed from his own experience when he was given a copy […]
Review: Blues Icon Paul Butterfield Gets His Due in Documentary Horn from the Heart
One musician featured in the documentary Horn from the Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story jokingly bemoans the fact that it almost isn’t fair that Butterfield was such a talented blues […]
Review: Part Horror, Part War Movie, Overlord Is a Twisted Affair
I love when a film mixes genres. Even if the blending isn’t wholly successful, it’s always a blast to watch how a filmmaker attempts to make them come together by […]
Review: A Holiday Classic Gets Animated to Great Effect in Illumination’s The Grinch
My biggest issue with the 2000 Ron Howard-directed How the Grinch Stole Christmas was that, because so many of the effects were practical, much of the film is shot in […]
Review: Hal is Filmmaker Hal Ashby’s Work and Life From Those Who Knew Him
Cinematic blindspots, those gaps in our film viewing history that mean we have to sheepishly admit to having not seen a certain classic or a hot new release, are a […]
Interview: Elizabeth Chomko and Robert Forster on Coming of Age and Coming Back to Chicago for What They Had
What They Had is about a lot of things, most of which are related to a family’s inability to talk about medical care, but also bigger-picture drama like the inability […]
Screens Monthly: Niche Film Festivals and Early Awards Contenders in Chicago Cinemas in November
Yes, we’re a week into November and you’re just now getting a Screens Monthly post with what to see in the cinema over the next few weeks. It’s already been […]
Review: The Edge Is Missing from Lisbeth Salander’s Latest Adventure, The Girl in the Spider’s Web
For the record, the “official” subtitle of The Girl in the Spider’s Web, this latest tale of militant hacker and all-around Swedish badass Lisbeth Salander, is “A New Dragon Tattoo […]