Review: Eddie Murphy Faces Off with a Rogue Elf in Laughless Family Holiday Comedy Candy Cane Lane

The latest collaboration between Eddie Murphy and director Reginald Hudlin (after 1992’s Boomerang) is one of those holiday “comedies” that depends on everyone involved being stupid, a liar, and so […]

Steve Prokopy /

Review: Godzilla Minus One Is a Monster Movie with Heart, Direct from Japan

When the new Godzilla movie from its original Japanese production studio, Toho, opens with kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) going through an existential crisis and faking mechanical trouble so […]

Steve Prokopy /

Review: Michael Tilson Thomas, Orion Weiss, and the CSO Deliver Mozart and Brahms/Schoenberg

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra gave a rousing if edgy performance on Thursday night, when it opened a series of concerts at Symphony Center, billed as MTT Conducts Mozart. MTT refers […]

Louis Harris /

The Final Bandcamp Friday of 2023

It’s the first Friday in December so that means it’s Bandcamp Friday! Things have certainly changed since Bandcamp first announced their initiative to help bands affected by the pandemic shutting […]

Julian Ramirez /

Review: Broadway in Chicago’s The Wiz Casts a Magic Spell

Just about halfway between MGM’s (and Judy Garland’s) immortal The Wizard of Oz and Broadway’s current box-office smash Wicked, there was another musical retelling of L. Frank Baum’s classic American […]

Doug Mose /

Review: In Maestro, a Beautifully Rendered Biopic, Director and Star Bradley Cooper Delivers Again

Bradley Cooper sure has come a long way since The Hangover, and we’re all the luckier for it. The one-time comic leading man has bold ambitions, and if his first […]

Lisa Trifone /

Review: A Master of Action Films, John Woo has Directed Better than Dialogue-Free Revenge Thriller Silent Night

For as long as I’ve been watching films by the legendary director John Woo (I vividly remember sitting in a small New York theater in 1990 watching The Killer), I’ve […]

Steve Prokopy /

Review: In Menus Plaisirs – Les Troisgros, Documentarian Frederick Wiseman Brings His Usual, and Sumptuous, Knack for Intense Observation

I have written at length about the works of master documentarian Frederick Wiseman, whose style of filmmaking is passive in the filming and quite active in the editing. There’s no […]

Steve Prokopy /

Your Chicago Curated Weekend: 11/30 and Beyond

Start your final month of the year right with all the fun things going on this weekend! Tons of events are going on like concerts, movies, plays, markets, and so […]

Julian Ramirez /

Review: Staatskapelle Berlin and Conductor Jakub Hrůša Are Masterful

The music of Johannes Brahms is featuring prominently in a series of concerts at Symphony Center this week. On Tuesday night, under the direction of Jakub Hrůša, the Staatskapelle Berlin […]

Louis Harris /

Review: American Symphony Charts An Incredible, Difficult Year as Jon Batiste Creates a New Work of Art

Some people have busier than normal years, and then there’s musician Jon Batiste’s 2022. Simultaneously, Batiste was the most celebrated artist of the year—he earned 11 Grammy nominations including Album […]

Steve Prokopy /

Review: Goodman Theatre Continues a Fine Holiday Tradition with A Christmas Carol

The Goodman Theatre’s 46th annual production of A Christmas Carol is the kickoff to the holiday season in Chicago. The last time I saw it was over 12 years ago […]

Kathy D. Hey /