Review: Hal is Filmmaker Hal Ashby’s Work and Life From Those Who Knew Him
Cinematic blindspots, those gaps in our film viewing history that mean we have to sheepishly admit to having not seen a certain classic or a hot new release, are a […]
Interview: Elizabeth Chomko and Robert Forster on Coming of Age and Coming Back to Chicago for What They Had
What They Had is about a lot of things, most of which are related to a family’s inability to talk about medical care, but also bigger-picture drama like the inability […]
Screens Monthly: Niche Film Festivals and Early Awards Contenders in Chicago Cinemas in November
Yes, we’re a week into November and you’re just now getting a Screens Monthly post with what to see in the cinema over the next few weeks. It’s already been […]
Review: The Edge Is Missing from Lisbeth Salander’s Latest Adventure, The Girl in the Spider’s Web
For the record, the “official” subtitle of The Girl in the Spider’s Web, this latest tale of militant hacker and all-around Swedish badass Lisbeth Salander, is “A New Dragon Tattoo […]
Interview: Jimmy Chin and Alex Honnold on the Risks, Planning and Emotional Investment of Climbing in Free Solo
One of the many success stories in the field of documentary films released in 2018 is the mountain-climbing thrill ride Free Solo. For those fortunate enough to see 2015’s Meru, […]
Interview: Veteran Music Video Director Joseph Khan Talks Weaponizing Words and Creating a World in Bodied
As someone who grew up always trying to note the names of directors of my favorite music videos, the name Joseph Kahn has been a big part of my history […]
Interview: Filmmaker Gabe Polsky Explores What Makes Athletes Exceptional in In Search of Greatness
Filmmaker Gabe Polsky is someone who crosses my path every few years, and I’m always excited to see him and what ideas for future projects he’s got cooking. Raised in […]
Review: Actor’s Nephew Attempts to Rewrite a Legend in Making Montgomery Clift
Sometimes, it is possible for a documentary filmmaker to be too close his/her subject. Case in point: Robert Clift, the nephew of the late actor Montgomery Clift, co-directs Making Montgomery […]
Orson Welles Returns With a “New” Film—And You Can See It on the Big Screen
Although it’s also going up on Netflix on Friday, it’s difficult to imagine not having the opportunity to watch a “new” (or at least unreleased) Orson Welles film on the […]
Review: Documentarian Frederick Wiseman Turns His Camera to Middle America in Monrovia, Indiana
At age 88, master documentarian Frederick Wiseman (In Jackson Heights, La Danse, Public Housing) continues his breakneck pace of putting out a new, epic-length documentary film about every year or […]
Review: As Director, Paul Dano Makes Heartbreak Achingly Captivating in Wildlife
Sometimes, when an actor says he or she is actually interested in directing, there’s a collective eye-roll from those within earshot. It’s like a singer saying “But what I really want […]
Review: There’s Little Holiday Joy—And Even Less Sense—in Disney’s The Nutcracker and The Four Realms
It took two people to direct this movie. And not two unknown directors who might have been easily manipulated by the studio, but two talented, established filmmakers—very different filmmakers who […]