Review: Choose or Die Plays a Deadly Game Without Scaring Up Much Fun
Mixing a bit of 1980s nostalgia and a dash of modern-day scary, Choose or Die centers on a found survival horror game from the ’80s, which is made up entirely […]
Review: Plenty Creepy, But Irish Horror Film The Cellar Disappoints in Character Development
Filmed on location in Ireland, The Cellar tells the story of the Woods family who move into a creepy old house with a secret history, odd architectural accents, and a […]
Review: Though Rambling and a Bit Shallow, the Latest Fantastic Beasts Nevertheless Gives Wizards an Entertaining Adventure
I’ve never read a Harry Potter book in my life, but I had no problem following and fully enjoying the film series over the course of many years. But what I […]
Review: Mark Wahlberg Stars in a Priestly Passion Project, the Surprisingly Engaging Father Stu
In the last few years, actor Mark Wahlberg has quietly made a series of films that have low-key messages about the importance of family (Instant Family, Joe Bell), particularly in […]
Review: A Surprising Team of Workers Tries to Save The Rose Maker From Corporate Greed
Eve Vertel (Catherine Frôt) is an artisanal rose breeder who inherited her father’s business and is trying to keep it alive in a world of flowers dominated (like most industries) […]
Interview: Filmmaking Duo Daniels on the Multiverse, Working with Film Royalty and As Much As They Could Fit Into Everything, Everywhere, All At Once
For those who have been lucky enough to experience the year’s first truly great filmgoing experience, Everything Everywhere All at Once, interest level in the filmmakers “Daniels” is likely piqued. […]
Review: All the Old Knives Gives Chris Pine a Perfectly Serviceable CIA Thriller
From his old-school military-style actioner last week with The Contractor, to this week’s old-school political whodunit in All the Old Knives, Chris Pine is building up a mildly enjoyable filmography […]
Review: Aline Channels Celine Dion’s Life Story into a Bombastic, Oddball Film that’s Nevertheless Endlessly Watchable
Every now and then—it’s rare, but it happens!—a film comes along that is just an absolute gift of absurdity and delight from start to finish. The head-scratching abounds, but damn […]
Review: Immersive and Observational, Cow Brings Us Up Close to Farm Life and Food Production
Not unlike the recent documentary Gunda (about the lives of a mother and baby pigs), Cow follows the thankless life (four years of it, actually) of a dairy cow and […]
Review: In What Feels a Bit Too Much Like Course-Correction, Michael Bay Returns to Fast-Moving Action in Ambulance
It’s easy to understand why a lot of people might view the new Michael Bay-directed Ambulance as something of a throwback to his old, balls-out, minimal special effects action romps, […]
Review: Oscar-Winning Free Solo Filmmakers Rocket from Mountains to the Stars in Return to Space
Oscar-winning directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin are best known for profiling death-defying feats of bravery/foolishness at various spots around the Earth in films like Free Solo, The Rescue […]
Retrospective: Music Box Theatre Presents a Week of All Things Weird, Wonderful and Totally Lynchian
Five years (and one pandemic) after its first go-round with an all-David-Lynch, all-the-time program, Chicago’s Music Box Theatre again presents a week-long retrospective on “one of the greatest and most […]