Review: Flashes of Wry: Fast Funny Women, edited by Gina Barreca
Note: Gina Barreca, the editor of Fast Funny Women, and Chicagoan Nicole Hollander will read from the collection of 75 essays of flash nonfiction in a Zoom event at 7 […]
Review: Body Brokers Tracks a Revolving Door of Addicts, Treatment Centers and the Scheme to Profit Off Both
The latest from writer/director John Swab (Run with the Hunted), Body Brokers opens with a statement about the Affordable Care Act made in the law that health insurance companies must […]
Review: A Madcap Noël Coward Play Gets a Problematic, Loveless Adaptation in Latest Blithe Spirit
Although it has been a while since I’ve revisited the 1945 David Lean adaptation of Noël Coward’s play Blithe Spirit, I’ve always counted it as one of my favorite early […]
Review: The White Tiger Loses Some of its Bite in Adaptation From Novel to Screen
Based on the novel of the same name by Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger (directed by Ramin Bahrani, who adapted the script with Adiga) is a dark and cynical send-up […]
Review: The Busiest Man in Action Movies, Liam Neeson Returns in Serviceable Border Story The Marksman
Few actors have had as many of their films come out during the last year or so as Liam Neeson. I’m guessing if there hadn’t been a pandemic, films like […]
Preview: Music Institute of Chicago to Honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The Music Institute of Chicago will be streaming free events this weekend to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On the following Sunday the MIC will be […]
Review: Calico‘s Marshmallow World Delights but Deflates Due to Clunky Controls
I have a lot of good memories growing up of time spent with My Little Ponies and Barbies and Strawberry Shortcake dolls. It wasn’t necessarily about the dolls, all soft […]
Review: Deepa Mehta Brings Her Eye for Lush Production and Political Statements to Funny Boy
Deepa Mehta’s filmmaking career spans decades, though she’s perhaps best known for her “Elements” Trilogy; Fire (1996), Earth (1998) and Water (2005) confront nearly every controversial or taboo subject in Indian culture, from homosexuality […]
Review: In a Well-Worn Genre, Breaking Surface Stands Out for Originality, Intensity
Even if its overarching themes aren’t entirely unique, Breaking Surface, a chilling (and chilly) thriller about two sisters and their deep-water diving excursion gone very wrong, certainly gets points for […]
Review: Harrowing Finding Yingying Is a True-Crime Documentary that Elevates Humanity in its Grief
While 2020 has been rife with crappiness, Chicago-based Kartemquin Films is having a bit of a year (co-founder Gordon Quinn’s battle with COVID-19 early in the pandemic notwithstanding). In October, […]
Review: Ryan Murphy’s Film Version of The Prom Is All Sequins and No Real Heart
In what may just hold the record for stage-to-screen adaptations, Ryan Murphy brings to Netflix a gaudy, busy, over-the-top film version of The Prom, the surprisingly well-received Broadway show that […]
Review: Decent People Facing Strangeness, Dark Black, by Sam Weller
Dark Black by Sam Weller Hat & Beard Press One of the opening paragraphs of Sam Weller’s short story “All the Summer Before Us” is this: “We were eighteen, me […]