Review: Melissa McCarthy Grants Wishes for Holiday Harmony in Genie
File this one under: Christmas movie I didn’t know was a Christmas movie until I was deep into it. If I’m reading the credits correctly, Genie is directed by Sam […]
Review: Adam Sandler Continues a Trend of Surprisingly Heartwarming, Family-Business Films with Leo
Much like other recent Adam Sandler outings, such as his family comedy You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah and his sports drama Hustle, his newest animated work, […]
Review: Depeche Mode Brings a Masterful Set to United Center
It was a special evening last Monday night at United Center as legendary electronic band Depeche Mode made their way through town. The band put on an incredible two-hour performance […]
Review: Ridley Scott and Joaquin Phoenix Bring Napoleon and His Battles to Screen, Without Much Regard for the Man
Napoleon Bonaparte has been featured in films for nearly 100 years (going back to Abel Gance’s 1927 Napoleon, which clocked in at about 5.5 hours), but I can’t remember a […]
Review: Haskell Small Performs His Celebration of Healing Concert in Epiphany Center’s Golden Hour Series
In 2021 pianist and composer Haskell Small had a stroke that debilitated the left side of his body. From the beginning of his convalescence, Small was determined not to allow […]
Recap: Invincible (S2, Ep2) — Messy but Enjoyable Episode Does Too Much at Once
Invincible‘s storytelling can be weird. On one hand, the pieces it lays out in each episode tend to combine in the end to form a fantastic and fully realized conclusion. […]
Recap: Invincible (S2, Ep1) — Long Awaited Superhero Animation Returns in Bloody, Exciting Fashion
The landscape of superhero shows has become very different in the time between Invincible‘s first and second seasons. In early 2021, WandaVision was a hit, Loki and Hawkeye arrived later […]
Review: Colman Domingo Commands the Screen as Rustin, a Key Organizer of the March on Washington
I first encountered the bold, scene-stealing energy that is Colman Domingo in 2009, when I stumbled across Spike Lee’s filmed adaptation of Passing Strange, the stage musical about a young […]
Review: Filmmaker Todd Haynes Plumbs the Depths of Complicated Women in May December
Todd Haynes is a filmmaker’s filmmaker, an artist who makes not just movies, but cinema. From award-winning period pieces (Carol, Far From Heaven) to acclaimed documentaries (The Velvet Underground, Six […]
Review: SNL Comedy Team Ventures into Feature Films, and a Treasure Hunt, in The Treasure of Foggy Mountain
From the depths of Saturday Night Live comes the three-man comedy team Please Don’t Destroy, consisting of Martin Herlihy, John Higgins, and Ben Marshall, all of whom star in and […]
Review: Adventurous Filmmaker Taika Waititi Misses the Mark in Uninspired Sports Underdog Story Next Goal Wins
Filmmaker Taika Waititi has taken some wild swings in his career, from his vampire-centric faux documentary What We Do in the Shadows and the charming Hunt for the Wilderpeople to […]
Review: Trolls Band Together Revisits Familiar Characters and Music, a Mild New Entry into the Franchise
I’ve always had a soft spot for the Trolls movies because of the music, and because Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake have such winning personalities to go along with their […]