Review: Director Neil Jordan Models Marlowe on the Masters of Noir Storytelling
A key element to most film noir crime dramas is that the plot is almost always impossible to follow (at least upon a single viewing), and in the end, it […]
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.
Interview: Spouses and Creative Collaborators Dave Franco and Alison Brie on Somebody I Used to Know, Coming-of-Age Films and the Freedom in Streaking
I have a long history with Dave Franco that goes back to a time when I was invited to visit the New Orleans set of 21 Jump Street. The invite […]
Review: Let It Be Morning Creates a Poignant, Quietly Devastating Story of Home, Family and the Walls that Keep Us Apart
Based on Palestinian-born author Sayed Kashua’s book of the same name, Let It Be Morning tells the story of Sami (Alex Bakri), a Palestinian-born Israeli citizen living in Jerusalem who […]
Review: Sharper Uses a Flexible Storytelling Structure and Strong Cast to Create a Gripping Neo-Noir
In a slight twist in the recent trend in movies to stick it to the rich, first-time director Benjamin Caron’s Sharper has nearly every character trying to stick it to […]
Review: The Least Impressive of the Franchise, Magic Mike’s Last Dance Glimpses Moments of Strip-Tease Greatness
Whereas the original Magic Mike wasn’t afraid to explore the seedier side of male stripping and Magic Mike XXL leaned more into the joy of dancing and how power could […]
Review: With Few Visuals and Limited Narrative, The Outwaters Is a Frustrating, if Brutal, Low-Budget Thriller
Perhaps it’s not so surprising that the new horror offering The Outwaters is being released in the immediate aftermath of the much-talked-about Skinamarink, since both films have an experimental visual […]
Sundance Review: Female Friendship and Film Noir Combine in a Savage, Atmospheric Eileen
One of the higher-profile works at Sundance this year (at least in terms of star power) was director William Oldroyd’s (Lady Macbeth) noir-ish tale of a female friendship gone horribly […]
Sundance Review: Fair Play Explores Volatile Gender Dynamics at Work and at Home
Rarely does a first-time director launch out of the gate with as much force and conviction as writer-director Chloe Domont does with Fair Play, a work that examines the power […]
Sundance Review: STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie Shares the Actor’s Triumphs, Struggles and Sense of Humor
My only significant complaint about director Davis Guggenheim’s (An Inconvenient Truth, He Named Me Malala) Michael J. Fox documentary STILL is that it isn’t long enough. The film spends ample […]
Sundance Review: Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis) Chronicles Iconic Album Covers and the Studio That Designed Them
From master photographer and Control director Anton Corbijn comes his documentary debut, Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis). The film is set in the days when album-oriented rock music […]
Sundance Review: Fairyland Explores a Father-Daughter Relationship During Turbulent, Tragic 1980s San Francisco
From producer Sofia Coppola and first-time feature writer/director Andrew Durham, Fairyland follows the true-life story of young Alysia, growing up in the 1970s with her single father Steve (Scoot McNairy), […]
Sundance Review: Gael Garcia Bernal Shines as a History-Making Luchador in Cassandro
If director Roger Ross Williams’s (Life, Animated) latest work, Cassandro, had been released last year, I firmly believe that its star, Gael Garcia Bernal would have easily snagged best acting […]