Review: Despite Strong Cast, The House Of Tomorrow Stands on Shaky Foundation
Sometimes it’s just fun to watch a bevy of worthy actors take on a simple, so-so screenplay just to see what they can do with it. Based on a novel […]
Review: Love, Cecil Chronicles Hollywood Success and a Search for Identity
Documentary filmmaker Lisa Immordino Vreeland has made two films—Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel, about the legendary fashion editor of Harpers Bazaar who also happens to be her grandmother-in-law; […]
Review: A Legend’s Story Told With Love, Honesty in Whitney
As Whitney, the new, estate-approved documentary about Whitney Houston opens, we see clips from her video for “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” but with all the instrumentation stripped away, so […]
Review: Visual Flair and A Hint of Sci-Fi in Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You
If you’ve been paying any kind of attention to films about the black experience in present-day America, you’ve probably figured out that the city of Oakland plays a central role […]
Review: Prequel The First Purge Manages Timely, Murderous Social Commentary
In a move from a franchise that I’ve always appreciated but thought was running out of steam, creator James DeMonaco’s Purge series takes a completely unexpected and even more primal […]
Screens Monthly: July 2018
July has just begun and Chicago is already a couple heatwaves deep into this summer. If you’re jonesing for better A/C than your third-floor walk-up can muster, knock out a […]
Review: Tiny Superheroes Pack Big Fun in Ant-Man and the Wasp
After the tectonic cultural shift that was Black Panther and the world-breaking climax of Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel’s final film of 2018 will probably be something of a relief to […]
What to Watch on the Small Screen: July 2018
July has finally arrived in Chicago—and with it an increased likelihood that we’ll all become the unwilling victims of gruesome, debilitating heat waves. If you need something to do while […]
Interview: Boundaries Director, Co-Star Talk Movies Based on Real Life, and So Many Dogs
Opening this weekend is Boundaries, the latest from writer/director Shana Feste, a filmmaker who has specialized lately in more romantically inclined works, including Country Strong and the 2014 remake of […]
Review: Be Transported to An Era of Punk and Art in Boom For Real, Chronicling Basquiat’s Formative Years
Filmmaker Sara Driver (You Are Not I, When Pigs Fly) was herself a major player in the New York City art scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s and […]
Review: A Strong Ensemble Cast Makes Slight Izzy Gets the Fuck Across Town Just Good Enough
I’m a collector of performances. Believe it or not, I’m not big into film memorabilia, toys, posters, soundtracks or other remembrances of movies I love (it’s more an issue of […]
Review: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Isn’t Perfect, but There’s Plenty of Dino Bite for Your Buck
By tapping into his lifelong passion for horror films and creepy Gothic storytelling, Spanish-born director J.A. Bayona (The Orphanage, The Impossible, A Monster Calls) has made Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom […]