Spider-Man was always my guy. By the time I discovered him in junior high school, the comic book Peter Parker was already in college, but I dug back through his origins and […]
Film Review – We Just Hit the Jackpot With Spider-Man: Homecoming
Steve Prokopy
Film Review: Blessed With A Glorious 4K Restoration, Maurice is a Haunting Portrait of Victorian Gay Life
I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for the mid-1980s to early 1990s films of director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant—from The Bostonians in 1984 to The Remains of […]
Film Review: There’s Something Hopeful and Endearing about The Ornithologist
One never quite knows what to expect from the great Portuguese writer-director João Pedro Rodrigues (The Last Time I Saw Macao, To Die Like A Man), but his latest, The Ornithologist, offers […]
Music Box 70mm Film Festival Preview
If you love movies and have lived in Chicago for the last few years, you’re likely familiar with the Music Box Theatre’s occasional 70mm Film Festival. If you recall, we previewed it […]
Film Review: Based in Chicago, The Big Sick is Equally Heartwarming and Heartbreaking
The first thing you notice about the romantic tragicomedy The Big Sick is how conventionally it begins. If you don’t know where it’s going—or figure it out from the title—the first act […]
Film Review: Despicable Me 3 is Disarmingly Electric
Some animation features only have to answer one question: Do they make you laugh? Another one might be: Do they entertain you? And for the most part, I seem to recall finding […]
Film Review: Sofia Coppola’s Latest, The Beguiled, Gazes Subtly at Desire
I’m not going to get into another discussion about how frustrating it is when a filmmaker remakes a well-regarded film, and then all people do after they watch it is compare it […]
Film Review: Baby Driver, a Tennessee Williams Play on Four Wheels
With Baby Driver, the latest from writer-director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), being set in Atlanta (a rare instance where an Atlanta-shot movie is actually meant […]
Film Review: A Troubled World War II Love Story, The Exception is a Misfire
This is a classic example of a host of talented people missing the mark because the resulting film places its emphasis on the least interesting characters. The Exception is the curious World […]
Film Review: Sally Hawkins is Remarkable in Maudie
You’ve likely never seen a story before like the one told in director Aisling (The Daisy Chain) Walsh’s Maudie, even though this particular one springs forth from real life, which is consistently […]
Film Review: The Bad Batch is a Provocatively Terrifying Fever Dream
Writer-director Ana Lily Amirpour is one of the most provocative filmmakers working today, but you might not realize it because her films also happen to be works of art worthy of a […]
Film Review: Alia Shawkat Delivers a Truly Haunting Performance in Paint It Black
Making the transition from acting to directing is Amber Tamblyn, working from a book by Janet Fitch concerning Josie (Alia Shawkat), a young woman trying to cope with the sudden death of […]
