The Insidious films (this is the fourth one, for those counting) have always been a mixed bag. The first two chapters started strong with a quality director (James Wan), the […]
Over the last decade or so writer-director Scott Cooper has amassed an impressive filmography of stories that are so bleakly human as to almost be horror films (or more precisely, […]
Taking a similar approach to earth-shattering news events as 2015’s Spotlight, Steven Spielberg’s The Post barrels through a lot of information, a small army of characters, and enough twists and […]
When Siskel Film Center re-opens tomorrow, they’re doing it with all guns blazing. The arthouse cinema on State Street took a month off at the end of the year to […]
With the new year comes the coldest temperatures in Chicago since…well, since last winter, probably. In what’s traditionally a month for throw-away movie openings (too late to qualify for an […]
To celebrate the new year—and, perhaps, to compensate for the lack of good upcoming theatrical releases—Netflix has put together an exceptionally rich lineup for January. Many of the options (The […]
With families, there’s always something. But with those sharing a bloodline with 67-year-old Izak Szewelwicz, the journey to discovering all of the members of their extended family is not only […]
I’m the damn fool who waits until the year actually ends before rolling out my Best Of… lists, and that’s because I’m often able to squeeze in about a dozen […]
In many ways, it’s a shame that a certain percentage of the audience going to see All the Money in the World will do so out of some sort of […]
This sweeping, swirling look at the life of an Olympic skiing hopeful turned facilitator of one of the most exclusive poker games in the world also marks the directing debut […]
Have you ever watched a movie in which there’s a funeral scene near the end, and the only people in the front row of mourners are the cast members of […]
There are few filmmakers working today who have a more consistent track record at making interesting, thought-provoking treatises on the human condition than Alexander Payne (Election, Sideways, The Descendants, Nebraska). […]