Film, Film & TV, Review

Review: Being Frank Gives a Misunderstood, Under-Appreciated Genius His Due

Being Frank

Although the feature film Frank was only loosely based on a damaged musician who still managed to function with his band enough to make freaky, trippy music, the real life Frank […]

Steve Prokopy /
Film, Film & TV, Review

Review: Sweet, Intimate The Joneses A Vital Chronicle of Trans Life

The Joneses

Filmed over five years by director Moby Longinotto, The Joneses is a very different but no less vital take on transgender men and women living in America. While many of the recent […]

Steve Prokopy /
Film, Film & TV, Review

Review: Parenting Drama Weightless Lacks Any Heft At All

Weightless

The aptly titled Weightless is all about an aimless man named Joel (Alessandro Nivola) who meets and must parent his emotionally damaged, 10-year-old son Will (newcomer Eli Haley), who has […]

Steve Prokopy /
Film, Film & TV, Review

Review: The Dark Marks a Lyrical, Moving Horror Debut for First-Time Filmmaker

The Dark

This one took me completely by surprise, and I primarily watched it because I was starving for a horror movie in a particularly dry season. Marking the directorial debut of […]

Steve Prokopy /
Film, Film & TV, Review

Review: Rodents of Unusual Size Is Part Cautionary Tale, Part Folksy Yarn

Rodents of Unusual Size

Welcome to a nature documentary that may test the limits for even the most devoted animal lover. It may not be exactly accurate to call Rodents of Unusual Size a […]

Steve Prokopy /
Film, Film & TV, Review

Review: Keeping Loneliness at Bay in Anything

In his second feature, Anything, actor-turned-director Timothy McNeil shows that he has the ability to tell a fairly simple story with complexity and grace. Although not a great film by […]

Steve Prokopy /
Film, Film & TV, Interview

Interview: Octavia Spencer and John Hawkes Talk Westerns and Making Small Town Crime

One of the most intriguing and captivating films to premiere at the SXSW Film Festival last year was a little crime drama called Small Town Crime, from the writing-directing brothers […]

Steve Prokopy /
Film, Film & TV, Review

Film Review: Rose Marie’s Iconic Comedy Career Chronicled in Wait for Your Laugh

By what I think is complete coincidence, Facets Cinémathèque is opening the documentary Wait for Your Laugh just two weeks after the passing of its subject, the legendary comic talent […]

Steve Prokopy /
Film, Film & TV, Review

Film Review: Strong Performances Make a Tragic Una Worthwhile

 There may not be a worse time for this film to be released, echoing as it does the seemingly daily news stories about improper, abusive behavior by men in positions of power, […]

Steve Prokopy /
Film, Film & TV, Review

Film Review: Human Spirit Shines Bright in Intimate, Profound For Ahkeem

This review was written by guest author Matthew Nerber. When we first meet Daje, the subject of Jeremy S. Levine and Landon Van Soest’s heartbreakingly sincere documentary For Ahkeem, she […]

Guest Author /
Front page

Your Chicago Curated Weekend: 12/15 – 12/18

We’re midway through the month and winter has finally arrived. There’s a fair amount of snow on the ground and it’s regularly well below freezing. While I’m sure huddling up […]

Julian Ramirez /
Film, Film & TV, Film fest

Summer of Silence at Facets and Music Box

Silence will be golden this summer as movie lovers around the city will have various opportunities to appreciate the history of silent films. Facets Cinémathèque will launch a new monthly […]

Alex Udvary /