Review: Chicago’s Candy History and a Family Legacy in Shelf Life
I never get tired of learning about the strange and wonderful pockets of Chicago history. I also don’t hate candy. So imagine my delight at watching a documentary that combines […]
Review: Maiden‘s Journey Inspires One of the Best Documentaries of the Year
It’s surely a good sign if, when a film ends, your first thought as the credits roll is that you wish there were more. Such is the case with what […]
Review: Decades of Love, Friendship and Art in Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love
It’s almost inevitable that when a documentary filmmaker puts together a story that is personal, the resulting movie will touch us more deeply. And this is certainly the case for […]
Review: Forced and Phony, Stuber Isn’t Worth the Fare
Sometimes, it just comes down to laughs. A few years back, director Michael Dowse made one of the great sports comedies of the last 10 years, Goon, and he proved […]
Interview: Skipper Tracy Edwards on Impostor Syndrome, Unapologetic Feminism and Maiden‘s Lasting Legacy
As is detailed in the fantastic, illuminating and inspirational new documentary Maiden, Tracy Edwards is the British sailor who captained the first all-female crew in the Whitbread Round the World […]
Review: An American Literary Treasure Tells Her Story in Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am
Except for a brief period in my pre-teens when I thought it wasn’t “cool,” I’ve always been an avid reader. I was practically raised in the library, and to this […]
Review: A Woman’s Worldview Takes Center Stage in Ophelia
Sometimes a familiar story needs a fresh twist, even if that story is arguably one of the most famous in all of William Shakespeare’s lexicon, Hamlet. Directed by Claire McCarthy […]
Review: Foreign Tension, Scary Familiarity in Sun-Drenched Midsommar
Back in January 2018, I attended the world premiere of writer-director Ari Aster’s debut feature Hereditary at the Sundance Film Festival, and I predicted that it was an early candidate […]
Review: Spider-Man: Far From Home is a Fitting, Fantastic Epilogue
Before we dive into this (and as if you don’t already know), it’s rather imperative that you see Avengers: Endgame before even thinking about stepping foot into a theater for […]
Review: Country Music Hopeful Hits All the Right Notes in Wild Rose
In a genre that seems to be quite of the moment, count Wild Rose as the latest entry into films about female musicians searching for themselves, stardom, love…and sometimes all […]
Review: Beatles-centric Yesterday Is Ever So Slightly Off Key
The hardest reviews to write are the ones for greatly anticipated movies that ultimately fall short of expectations. Such is the case with Yesterday, a film that, based on its […]
Review: A Human Experiment at Sea in The Raft
There are two truly fascinating, wildly different documentaries about unique sailing trips being released right on top of each other that are both worth your time. One is Maiden, about […]