Film Review: The Magnificent Seven
Let’s just get this out of the way off the bat: there is no better version of this story than the original, original version—Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 masterpiece Seven Samurai. Six […]
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.
Let’s just get this out of the way off the bat: there is no better version of this story than the original, original version—Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 masterpiece Seven Samurai. Six […]
The second longest-running film festival of its kind, Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival presents nearly 40 features and numerous shorts from around the world during its 2016 edition. […]
SNOWDEN Even if the story presented in Snowden were 100 percent fiction, it would still be a fascinating tale to watch unfold. As directed and co-written by Oliver Stone, Snowden […]
SULLY When you cast Tom Hanks as the lead in your movie, it’s almost a shortcut to telling the audience who you’re meant to side with in a film in […]
THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS The long-delayed new film from Derek Cianfrance (The Place Beyond the Pines, Blue Valentine) is actually two films—the first is about falling in love, the second […]
HANDS OF STONE From almost the minute it begins, you can tell something is off about the Roberto Duran biopic Hands of Stone. Rather than having faith in the Panamanian […]
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS The fourth dazzling feature from the gifted and resourceful animators at Laika (following the largely stop-motion works Coraline, ParaNorman and The Boxtrolls) is about a […]
PETE’S DRAGON Bearing little resemblance—visually or plot-wise—to the 1977 Disney original, this new and vastly improved version of Pete’s Dragon is a heartfelt testament to friendship and family, with peripheral […]
SUICIDE SQUAD You know those people who feel the need to tell everyone that they’re “weird” or have a twisted sense of humor or are a geek from way back? […]
JASON BOURNE Remember when you believed that Matt Damon’s long-awaited return to author Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne character was going to be one of the saving graces of the 2016 […]
STAR TREK BEYOND Before I dive into talking about Star Trek Beyond, can I just say how much it warms my heart to see Greg Grunberg have such a great […]
GHOSTBUSTERS Here’s the bottom line: I laughed watching Ghostbusters…a lot. It’s as funny a movie as we’ve come to expect from director and co-writer (with his The Heat writer Katie […]