Review: Even with Rough Edges, Beauty and the Dogs Is Raw and Timely
I can’t honestly say that I’ve ever seen a film from Tunisia, but Beauty and the Dogs, the latest from up-and-coming director Kaouther Ben Hania (Le challat de tunis) is […]
Steve Prokopy is chief film critic for the Chicago-based arts outlet Third Coast Review. For nearly 20 years, he was the Chicago editor for Ain’t It Cool News, where he contributed film reviews and filmmaker/actor interviews under the name “Capone.” Currently, he’s a frequent contributor at /Film (SlashFilm.com) and Backstory Magazine. He is also the public relations director for Chicago's independently owned Music Box Theatre, and holds the position of Vice President for the Chicago Film Critics Association. In addition, he is a programmer for the Chicago Critics Film Festival, which has been one of the city's most anticipated festivals since 2013.
Review: Time Stand Still and Stars Align for Always At The Carlyle
Director Matthew Miele seems to favor a certain type of documentary—ones where history and celebrity collide but also blend beautifully together into stories of institutions, with such captivating works as […]
Review: Keeping Loneliness at Bay in Anything
In his second feature, Anything, actor-turned-director Timothy McNeil shows that he has the ability to tell a fairly simple story with complexity and grace. Although not a great film by […]
Review: The Seagull Lacks Passion, Despite a Strong Cast
The first of two new films starring Saoirse Ronan coming out this month (On Chesil Beach arrives next week in Chicago), this adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull doesn’t add […]
Review: The Holy Father in Close Focus in Pope Francis: A Man of His Word
This documentary about the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas and the first from below the equator, gives a great deal of insight into Pope Francis, who insists […]
Don’t Miss 2001: A Space Odyssey at Music Box Theatre
This is not so much a review as it is me putting you on high alert to this 50th anniversary 70mm presentation of Stanley Kubrick’s landmark science-fiction film, 2001: A […]
Review: Iconic Talents Totally Wasted in Shameful Book Club
I loathed this movie—every scene, every joke, every performance, every idea. And the shame of it is, I could envision a film in which the template of a book club […]
Review: Deadpool 2 Delivers a Sequel with Plenty to Chew On
Even the plot summary for Deadpool 2 is amusing: “Searching to regain his spice for life, as well as a flux capacitor, Wade must battle ninjas, the yakuza, and a […]
Interview: Sebastián Lelio on Portraying Woman in Disobedience and a New Version of Gloria
Considered one of the foremost filmmakers of post-dictatorship Chilean cinema, Sebastián Lelio (much like his contemporaries Pablo Larraín, Andrés Wood, and Sebastian Silva) has been making some of the most […]
Review: Charlize Theron Delivers Some of Her Best Work in a Magical Tully
To discuss Tully, the new collaboration between screenwriter Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman (the two made Juno and Young Adult previously) is to take away a little bit of […]
Interview: Most Likely to Murder Duo Talk Hitchcock, Ace Ventura and the Freedom in Digital Distribution
Not arriving in theaters, but instead now on digital, DVD and On Demand is the comedy/murder-mystery Most Likely To Murder from director/co-writer Dan Gregor. Gregor is probably best known for […]
Review: Did You Wonder Who Fired The Gun? is Unflinching, Unsettling and Essential
While many news-oriented documentaries attempt to maintain a certain level of professional journalistic distance from their subjects, director Travis Wilkerson (An Injury To One) has taken a much different approach […]