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Steve Prokopy

ARTICLES: 1773
Film, Film & TV, Review

Review: Zach Braff and Vanessa Hudgens Star in Cloying, Two-Dimensional Quebecois Rom-Com French Girl

I guess this first-time feature from actors-turned-directors James A. Woods and Nicolas Wright, French Girl, qualifies as a romantic comedy—except for the fact that there’s nothing particularly romantic or funny […]

Steve Prokopy /
Film, Film & TV, Review

Review: Post-War Drama One Life Recounts One Ordinary Man’s Extraordinary Efforts and Their Generational Ripple Effects

Based on the book If It’s Not Impossible?: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton by Barbara Winton, One Life is a true story about an elderly man who is forced […]

Steve Prokopy /
Film, Film & TV, Review

Review: In Racial Satire The American Society of Magical Negroes, the Biting Humor Isn’t Quite Sharp Enough

Full of compelling ideas but falling short in their execution is writer/director Kobi Libii’s debut work, The American Society of Magical Negroes, which begins promisingly with the idea that the […]

Steve Prokopy /
Film, Film & TV, Review

Review: Remembering Gene Wilder Is a Fine, Fitting Tribute to the Comedian, Actor, Filmmaker and Man

I’m not exactly sure when or if this sweet little documentary will open in Chicago, so I’m reviewing it in the hopes that some of you will take notice and […]

Steve Prokopy /
Film, Film & TV, Review

Review: In His Sophomore Directing Effort, Michael Keaton’s Knox Goes Away Follows an Assassin Fading Into Dementia

There are few actors as consistent and reliable as Michael Keaton, so it’s almost inconceivable that in his early 70s, the man has only directed two movies: this week’s Knox […]

Steve Prokopy /
Film, Film & TV, Review

Review: Mark Wahlberg Stars in Ham-Handed Arthur The King, an Adventure Story with a Mangy Dog

A great deal of the latest work from Mark Wahlberg feels manufactured, despite the fact that it’s based on a true story, this time of a pro adventure racer who […]

Steve Prokopy /
Film, Film & TV, Review

Review: Accidental Texan Pits Big Oil Against a Small Town, and its the Audience Who Loses

Although the film means well as something of an inspirational, David-versus-Goliath tale set in Texas oil country, Accidental Texan can’t quite get past the reality that its young lead character […]

Steve Prokopy /
Film, Film & TV, Review

Review: Problemista Is a Dry, Wry Debut About a Wannabe Toy Maker and His Hilarious Bad Behavior

The charming, quirky and mostly very funny Problemista comes courtesy of former Saturday Night Live writer Julio Torres, who wrote, directed, and stars in this story of Alejandro, an aspiring […]

Steve Prokopy /
Film, Film & TV, Review

Review: Millie Bobby Brown Stars in Netflix’s Damsel, a Fable that Aims for a New Take on the Fairy Tale

When is a fairy tale not a fairy tale? Well, according to the makers of Damsel, this story of a dutiful young woman who agrees to marry a handsome prince […]

Steve Prokopy /
Film, Film & TV, Review

Review: Chicago EU Film Fest Closer Life For Real Is a Sweet Fish-Out-of-French-Water Story

Closing out the Gene Siskel Film Center’s Belgium-centric Chicago European Union Film Festival is the latest work from writer/director/actor Dany Boon. He plays 50-year-old Tridan, an open-hearted man who grew […]

Steve Prokopy /
Film, Film & TV, Review

Review: Kung Fu Panda 4 Loses a Few Familiar Animals, But Finds Laughs and Action in Po’s Latest Adventure

While my memory tells me that I moderately enjoyed the previous three installments of the Kung Fu Panda franchise, I couldn’t tell you a blessed thing about their plots. I […]

Steve Prokopy /
Film, Film & TV, Review

Review: Peter Farrelly Returns to Comedy in a Forced But Funny Enough Ricky Stanicky

Director Peter Farrelly (he and brother Bobby created Dumb and Dumber, There’s Something About Mary, and Kingpin, among others) returns to comedy after leaving the partnership and devoting his time […]

Steve Prokopy /