Review: Making Friends With a Poet, The Poet’s House, by Jean Thompson
Carla Sawyer is a tall, smart-alecky 21-year-old who’s working for a landscaping company until she figures out what to do with her life. She’s on a job in one of […]
Review: Fall Crackles with Relationship Drama and Vertigo-Inducing Filmmaking
The idea of facing one’s fears head-on is hardly a new one, but when the fear in question used to be a passion, that seems especially important to face. That’s […]
Review: Jamie Foxx Vampire Saga Day Shift Features Solid Action Worthy of a Big Screen
My entry point, not just into horror films but movies in general, was vampires, specifically Dracula movies. So I’m always a bit more interested in a scary movie when vampires […]
Review: Hundreds of Clocks Show the Beauty and Absurdity of Time in New Design Museum Exhibit
Wall clocks. Alarm clocks. Wristwatches. Decorative clocks and boring clocks. Glorious gaudy glass clocks. Cuckoo clocks and kooky clocks. Artist Barbara Koenen has gathered hundreds of clocks over the years, […]
Review: The Seed-Germ King: Louis Sullivan’s Idea, by Tim Samuelson and Chris Ware
Louis Sullivan’s Idea, a biography of the 19th century Chicago architect, by Chicago’s first cultural historian Timothy Samuelson, is, in the most literal sense of the word, a beautiful book. […]
Review: Bodies Bodies Bodies Gets Ruthless, Funny and Sometimes Bloody About Youth and Social Media Culture.
Quite frequently, I’ve knocked films that have supposedly smart people doing ridiculously dumb things in a movie just to keep the plot moving or just in the name of comedy […]
Review: Diane Keaton Is Just More of the (Annoying) Same in Cliché-Ridden Mack & Rita
Up front, I completely know that it’s wrong to say this, but having just watched her latest work, Mack & Rita, I have to say once again that I have […]
Review: Tyrant’s Blessing Takes Cues From Into the Breach But Just Isn’t Much Fun
When I first heard about Tyrant’s Blessing it was being heavily compared to tactical turn-based strategy game Into the Breach. Well, that was all it took to get my attention, […]
Interview: Filmmaker Hannah Mark and Star Mia Isaac on Making the Father-Daughter Road Movie Don’t Make Me Go
Director Hannah Marks entered into directing in the midst of what most would consider a thriving acting career (one that she still enjoys), with regular roles on series like “Weeds,” […]
Your Chicago Curated Weekend: 8/11 and Beyond
We’re halfway through the month and there are tons of really fun events for everyone to do this weekend. It’s feeling a little more normal to go out since Chicago […]
Review: Gather Followers, Kill Non-Believers in Cult of the Lamb
There have been a few prominent trends in video games lately that seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum: hard roguelikes that challenge you as a player, and […]
Review: My New Favorite Handheld Ever: Steam Deck Exceeded My Expectations and Gave Me a Reason to Play My Massive Backlog
So the Steam Deck is finally getting out to more eager customers, and with Valve announcing increased production, you can place an order and get a Steam Deck later this […]