Review: First Cow Explores Male Friendship and American Entrepreneurship
Some are better than others, but I don’t think director Kelly Reichardt has made a bad movie. From her debut with the recently restored and reissued River of Grass, Old […]
Review: Vin Diesel is Yet Another Action Hero in Generic Bloodshot
We’ve almost reached a point now (and perhaps some reached it long ago) where we’re going to start wondering if certain films that we want to see are worth risking […]
Interview: Filmmaker Benh Zeitlin on Growing Up, Working with “Wild” Kids and the Wait for His Next Film
Considering that filmmaker Benh Zeitlin’s first feature film, Beasts of the Southern Wild, was one of the most celebrated indie discoveries of 2012 (the film also was also nominated for […]
Review: For a Story of Grief and Healing, The Way Back Embraces Grit, Chaos and Foul Language
In a parallel universe, there’s a version of Gavin O’Connor’s The Way Back, the story of a grieving former high school basketball star tapped to coach the struggling team at his […]
Review: Little Sympathy for Racists in Burden, A Mediocre Story of Forgiveness
In the last few years, I feel like I’ve seen a handful of films that attempt to illustrate or at least make a case for the redeem-ability of white supremacists. […]
Review: With Plenty of Wonder and a Touch of Melancholy, Wendy Reimagines Perpetual Childhood
One of the most anticipated films at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Wendy is the latest work from Beasts of the Southern Wild filmmaker Benh Zeitlin, his first in the […]
Review: Pixar’s Latest, Onward Finds Adventure, Humor and Heart in a Fantasy World
Before I dive into the latest Pixar film, Onward, I just noticed in looking at the cast list that Julia Louis-Dreyfus voices a character named Laurel Lightfoot, which is a […]
Siskel’s European Union Film Fest Week 1: Avoid Travel, Head to the Cinema for Adventure
The Chicago European Union Film Festival is the Siskel Film Center’s annual love letter to the cinema of nearly an entire continent, a month-long program that includes films from all […]
Preview: City’s Transit Lifeblood Explored in WTTW’s “Chicago by ‘L’”
Geoffrey Baer’s latest “learn about where you live” offering, “Chicago by ‘L’,” premieres Wednesday, March 4, at 7:30pm on WTTW. The 130-minute special is a fantastic voyage through the bloodstream […]
Review: At the Intersection of Hollywood and Politics, Seberg Falls Short
The late, American-born actress Jean Seberg certainly led a fascinating life, from her first film, 1957’s Saint Joan (in which she was actually burned during the film’s climactic sequence) to […]
Review: A Harrowing Post-War Tale of Survival in Russian Drama Beanpole
Not yet 30 years old, filmmaker Kantemir Balagov directs Beanpole, a film that is perhaps the opposite of what his contemporaries are drawn to create. Instead of something of-the-moment, something about frivolous […]
Review: The Times of Bill Cunningham Discovers the Man Behind the Photographs
In 2011, I saw a wonderful documentary about New York Times “On the Street” photographer and fashion historian Bill Cunningham called Bill Cunningham: New York. At the time, Cunningham was […]