The 54th Chicago International Film Festival begins on October 10, and marks a milestone for the organization that claims the title of the country’s longest continuously-running competitive film festival: it’s the last […]
There are certain experiences, certain accomplishments that, understandably, pop up on most people’s Bucket Lists, those to-do lists of what we’d all like to check off before we leave this life. Travel […]
Subtitles, traditionally speaking, are not exactly a friend to comedy. How can a joke succeed if, in the middle of the punchline, one has to take their eyes off the action to…well, […]
Documentaries abound about historical stories and figures we all know well; they’re typically straight-forward and straight-laced, with talking heads and archival footage recounting whatever incident or experience they document. The narrative arc […]
About 20 minutes into Nell Gwynn, the American premiere of Jessica Swale’s comedy now on at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, it’s possible to wonder just exactly what we’re all doing here. This story […]
As Chicago prepares for hibernation over the long winter ahead, October proves to be a strong month for film options around town. With plenty of ways to celebrate Halloween on the big […]
If the woes of the world have you feeling down, I suggest sneaking away for an hour and a half this weekend to treat yourself to Pick of the Litter, easily the most […]
Keira Knightly has made something of a name for herself in period pieces, from Lizzie Bennett in Joe Wright’s 2005 adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, to one half of the star-crossed lovers […]
The House With a Clock in Its Walls is a very bad title for a movie. The unfortunate tagline—”This house knows what makes you tick.”—is even worse. Fortunately, the film to which both […]
In my first dispatch from Toronto International Film Festival, a selection of six films offered a diverse taste of the hundreds of films screened at the 2018 edition (which officially runs through […]
The most compelling part of White Boy Rick, the true story of a Detroit teenager who became a hustler, an FBI informant and a drug kingpin all before the age of 16, comes at […]
Positioned as it is in early September, the Toronto International Film Festival has long been a first stop for films destined for Oscar glory by the end of any given year. What’s […]
