Review: Iceland’s Woman at War on Living Boldly and Finding Balance
What can one person do to combat the forces of climate change and globalized industry? Quite a bit, as Benedikt Erlingsson would have us believe in Woman at War, the story […]
Review: Jordan Peele’s Us Revels in an Ambiguity with Bite
There’s a line spoken early in Us, the sophomore feature from writer/director Jordan Peele (Get Out) that is important but doesn’t give anything away about the film’s true nature. It’s […]
Siskel Film Center’s EUFF Week 3: Compelling Stories Keep the Schedule Fresh
Gene Siskel Film Center’s robust European Union Film Festival continues into its third week with ever more interesting offerings; it’s a credit to the jam-packed schedule that just as one […]
Review: Transit is a Nazi-Era Thriller Updated to Modern Times
Georg (Franz Rogowski) is caught between a rock and a hard place. He has no papers, can’t secure a visa, and is running out of contacts in an increasingly hostile […]
Review: Julianne Moore is Perfect Imperfection in Gloria Bell
As filmmaking challenges go, a movie with the resplendent Julianne Moore at its center, where the camera is as enamored with her as we are, is not exactly a difficult […]
Review: Coming Of Age with Resilience in Giant Little Ones
In this unexpectedly satisfying sophomore work from writer/director Keith Behrman (2002’s Flowers & Garnet), Giant Little Ones is the story of two fairly popular high school boys—Franky (Josh Wiggins) and […]
Review: Manipulative Five Feet Apart Hits New Low for Teen Romances
I have to admit, I was genuinely shocked when I learned that this romantic-drama about a pair of teenagers, both with cystic fibrosis (CF), wasn’t based on a novel by […]
Review: Animated Wonder Park Lacks Both Director, Inspiration
For a film that attempts to celebrate creativity and the power of imagination, the animated film Wonder Park is about as uninspired as you can get. This is the sort […]
Siskel Film Center’s EUFF Week 2: Variety of Selections Include Documentaries, Musicals
Week two of Gene Siskel Film Center’s European Union Film Festival sees more documentaries make their way into the schedule of 60 films from 28 countries, as themes from immigration […]
Review: Despite Impressive Visuals, Ruben Brandt, Collector Misses the Mark
The widely acclaimed Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse received praise for a lot of very valid reasons: inclusive representation, excellent writing, a stellar voice cast, and more. Most noteworthy, and likely one […]
Review: The Kid Feels Like a Familiar, Special Western
The tendency of most modern Westerns is to go about as dark as you can, but few in recent memory go quite as morose as The Kid, the sophomore effort from […]
Review: As An Endurance Test, Climax May Not Be Worth the Payoff
For a filmmaker who has made a career out of emphasizing fever-dream-like visuals, Gaspar Noé (Irreversible, Enter the Void, Love) may have topped himself with his latest, Climax. This film […]