Review: Without a Why, The Song of Names Lacks a Reason to Be a Film At All
The biggest problem with The Song of Names, in a film with many of them, is that it lacks a driving why behind any of the proceedings, anything to signal to […]
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: Don’t Think, Don’t Question, Just Embrace the Weird of Color Out of Space
If all you seek out of your movie-going experiences is a freaky technicolor narrative that features Nicolas Cage going full-tilt unhinged along the way, allow me to direct you toward […]
Review: Aiming to Inspire, Troop Zero is Far Too Twee
Jim Gaffigan has no fewer than nine credits to his name for 2019, from the beautifully rendered Light From Light to a voice role in Playmobil: The Movie, one of the year’s […]
Review: The Tragic Trajectory of Sisters, Invisible Life is a Sweeping Mid-Century Drama
A sweeping drama about two sisters who lose track of each other but never forget one another, Invisible Life navigates the internal and external lives of two very different women connected […]
Review: Contemporary Les Misérables Explores Themes Similar to Hugo’s Classic
Though Victor Hugo’s classic novel—and its themes of the haves and have-nots, challenging a corrupt authority and the oppression of poverty—factor into Ladj Ly’s Les Misérables, the film is not […]
Review: A Bit Over-Earnest, Just Mercy Succeeds with Urgency of Strong Performances
It’s a busy time of year at the movies, as Oscar nominations are imminent and theaters are booked with that odd mix of year-end must-see movies still playing on the […]
Review: Dance, Film and History Intertwine Beautifully in Cunningham
Merce Cunningham died in 2009 at the age of 90, and in his decades-long career as a dancer and choreographer, he redefined American modern dance as we know it. Fond […]
Review: With 63 Up, a Documentary Film Series Looks Back on Life
In 1964, filmmaker Michael Apted was in his early 20s and working as a researcher on a project called Seven Up!, a sort of experiment in documentary filmmaking that interviewed […]
Review: Filmmaker Greta Gerwig Creates A New Classic in Fresh, Delightful Adaptation of Little Women
You may be thinking, for any number of reasons, that a new film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women is not a great idea, and therefore you aren’t planning […]
Review: Chained For Life Beautifully Balances Depth and Dark Comedy
One of the genuine pleasures of seeing nearly 200 films in a year (I’ll probably fall a half dozen short of that in 2019) is discovering truly independent gems like Chained […]
Review: By Over-Simplifying the Narrative, Bombshell Misses Its Mark
In the throes of the 2016 presidential campaign, as a nation geared up to elect a sexual predator, women in entertainment began speaking up and out against the bad actors […]
Review: American Dharma Doesn’t Offer Any New Insight into Steve Bannon’s Dangerous Political Influence
It’s true for all of us, to one degree or another, that we exist in a sort of information bubble when it comes to news, politics, current events and more. […]