In a world where success can seem like it’s one well-received Instagram post away, being reminded of the thankless hours, the countless fails and the unrelenting hard work it is to build […]
You read Romeo & Juliet in high school. You saw Much Ado About Nothing one summer at the park. Even if you’ve never seen (or read) them, cultural references to Hamlet, Macbeth and Othello are so […]
The very first thing wrong with Poms (and there are many things wrong with Poms) is the prologue that sets up the premise for the setting of Diane Keaton’s latest misfire: in a […]
The seventh annual Chicago Critics Film Festival is just about a week away, and there’s no shortage of amazing films to choose from. Many of the highly-anticipated titles that will screen at […]
At a typical (however one defines that) performance at Lyric Opera of Chicago, the accompanying program includes in each cast and crew bio the professional’s previous Lyric credits. The asterisks that indicate […]
Last year, audiences got an up close and personal look into the life and work of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, with the acclaimed documentary RBG. (Actually, they got two looks, with […]
One of the very best reasons to make a documentary is to provide a glimpse into a lifestyle, culture or movement to which audiences might not otherwise be exposed. The more specific […]
If seven is a lucky number, the Chicago Critics Film Festival has surely hit the jackpot with the line-up just announced for their next festival, happening May 17-23 at the Music Box […]
As public figures go, priests aren’t exactly the most revered group at the moment; in fact, proposing that someone go see a film all about a “man of the cloth,” as impressive […]
There are a few moments of Porchlight Music Theater’s production of A Chorus Line that haven’t aged particularly well. In particular, dated and obscure references to pop culture fall flat, even though we […]
Of the recent trend in female-driven fictional music-centric movies, writer/director Alex Ross Perry’s Her Smell, starring Elisabeth Moss as the lead singer of a band that made it big in the ’90s, […]
Filmmaker Julia Hart has a knack for casting. Three years ago at SXSW, I got to see her directorial debut, Miss Stevens, a surprisingly poignant road comedy about a high school teacher […]
