Film Review – Paterson: Restrained, Almost Graceful
The more I watch and think about the latest from writer-director Jim Jarmusch (Only Lovers Left Alive, Broken Flowers, Ghost Dog, Stranger Than Paradise, Down By Law) the deeper I […]
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.
Film Review: Trespass Against Us, A Nuanced Examination of the Irish Underclass
My takeaway from Trespass Against Us, the feature film debut from veteran British TV director Adam Smith is that’s it’s exceedingly Irish. I’ll admit, I swoon a bit hearing Irish […]
Film Review: The Founder, The Morally Ambiguous Beginning of a Supersized Chicago Icon
In the spirit of the original McDonald’s brothers restaurant, I’m going to make this quick. The Founder is the story of Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton), a traveling salesman, who stumbled […]
Film reviews: XXX: Return of Xander Cage, Split
XXX: RETURN OF XANDER CAGE You can’t keep a good Vin Diesel franchise down, any more than you can keep a Vin Diesel character dead for longer than one movie. […]
Film Review: Ocean Waves, A Rediscovered Studio Ghibli Gem
Following last year’s first official U.S. release of 1991’s Only Yesterday, the famed Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli is rounding out its unreleased (stateside, at least) titles with the 1993 […]
Film Review: Claire in Motion, Devastating Drama
The setup is fairly straightforward even if the purpose is elusive. The latest film from directing team Lisa Robinson and Annie J. Howell (2011’s Small, Beautifully Moving Parts) concerns Claire […]
Film Review: Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened…, Dreams Shattered Then Realized
When I interviewed La La Land writer-director Damien Chazelle a couple months ago for Ain’t it Cool News, we discussed one of the film’s themes being the power of rejection […]
Film Review: 20th Century Women, Mostly Awful
A few years ago, writer-director Mike Mills (Thumbsucker) made a touching and uproarious film that was both a tribute to his father and all fathers called Beginners, which resulted in […]
Film Review: Monster Trucks, Hopelessly Misguided
Whatever you think this movie is about probably isn’t exactly right. If, based on the trailer, you think it’s about a monster who takes up residence inside a high school […]
Film Reviews: Live by Night, Patriots Day, Bye Bye Man
LIVE BY NIGHT I’ll admit, I was confused even by the title of this film, since most of the action takes place in sunny Florida. But as I got deeper […]
Film Review: Train to Busan, Fueled by Pure Adrenaline
One of the last films I watched in 2016 (and it managed to crack my Top 20 of the year in the process) was South Korean horror thrill ride Train […]
Film Review – Mifune: The Last Samurai, An Exciting Portrait of One of the World’s Best Actors
One of my favorite documentaries of 2016 was also about one of my personal heroes from way back. The film is director Steven Okazaki’s Mifune: The Last Samurai about the […]