Review: The Mole Agent Turns Spy Work into Something Heartfelt and Sweet
Though it’s ostensibly a film about an elderly spy going undercover in a retirement home to catch the staff in their neglect and abuse of its residents red-handed, there is […]
Lisa Trifone is Managing Editor and a Film Critic at Third Coast Review. A Rotten Tomatoes approved critic, she is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association. Find more of Lisa's work at SomebodysMiracle.com
Review: Documentary Duo Shift to Episodic Format for Riveting, Drama-Packed Love Fraud
The documentary-making duo Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady have consistently delivered some of the most intriguing and thought-provoking films on American life, politics and culture. From 2006’s Jesus Camp, about children […]
Review: Recounting a Story of Faith and Skepticism, Fatima Looks Beautiful, Lacks Substance
In 1917, as the world was at war and facing a once-in-a-century pandemic, a story emerged out of a rural town in Portugal that would have the faithful calling for […]
Review: A Raucous, Silly Adventure, Get Duked! Surprises with Genuine Laughs and Confident Filmmaking
At some point since its premiere at 2019’s SXSW Film Festival, Get Duked! got re-titled. Originally called Boyz in the Wood, one imagines there were some copyright issues with that nod to John […]
Review: Werner Herzog Reflects on Life, Adventure and Legacy in Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin
It’s possible that to the uninitiated, Werner Herzog may be a bit of an enigma. Is he a documentarian? An actor? A screenwriter? A historian? Something else entirely? The fact […]
Review: An Impressive Central Performance by Sally Hawkins Is Enough to Recommend Eternal Beauty
One of British actress Sally Hawkins’s earliest credits is a bit part (actually uncredited, apparently) in 1999’s The Phantom Menace. Since then, she’s notched dozens of roles on either side […]
Review: A Cliché-Ridden Chemical Hearts Can’t Capture the Magic of Young Love
Before the Amazon Original Chemical Hearts, a cliché-ridden, mostly flat teen drama about first loves and growing up, filmmaker Richard Tanne made the lovely and underrated Southside With You, a […]
Review: Sputnik Delivers a Smart and Scary Night at the Movies
When it comes to Russian horror films, I don’t exactly have a deep expertise. Thankfully, such a viewing history isn’t required to get a thrill out of Sputnik, the latest […]
Review: Political Doc Represent Finds its Strength in its Tight Focus
In 2002, a lot of documentaries about 9/11 were released. In 2009, it was economics and the recession. 2020 is proving to be the year of the political documentary, as […]
Review: Fascinating Boys State Makes Politicians of Teens in a Summer Camp for Future Leaders
There’s a moment not too long into Boys State, the Sundance Grand Jury award-winning documentary about the annual mock-government conference for Texas high schoolers run by the American Legion now streaming […]
See Christopher Nolan’s Monumental Inception from the Country’s Only 70mm Print, Only at Music Box Theatre
The last film I saw in movie theaters before the shutdown order was Hello, Dolly! in glorious 70mm at Music Box Theatre. Arguably not Barbra Streisand’s most critically acclaimed work, it’s […]
Review: A Sweeping, Emotional Journey of Trauma and Reflection in Out Stealing Horses
Based on the 2003 Norwegian novel by Per Petterson, Out Stealing Horses is a sweeping story of traumas inflicted by war, by circumstance, even by our own families. The film version, […]