North America’s longest-running competitive film festival, the 53rd Chicago International Film Festival begins on Thursday, Oct. 12 at the AMC River East 21 (where almost every CIFF screening will, once again, be […]
Based on Nikolai Leskov’s novella Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (and adapted by Alice Birch), Lady Macbeth confirms something that probably wasn’t that difficult to figure out: Things were pretty awful for British […]
This is a classic example of a host of talented people missing the mark because the resulting film places its emphasis on the least interesting characters. The Exception is the curious World […]
You’ve likely never seen a story before like the one told in director Aisling (The Daisy Chain) Walsh’s Maudie, even though this particular one springs forth from real life, which is consistently […]
Writer-director Ana Lily Amirpour is one of the most provocative filmmakers working today, but you might not realize it because her films also happen to be works of art worthy of a […]
Making the transition from acting to directing is Amber Tamblyn, working from a book by Janet Fitch concerning Josie (Alia Shawkat), a young woman trying to cope with the sudden death of […]
It didn’t surprise me in the slightest to find out that the Scottish film Whisky Galore! was, in fact, a remake of a 1949 Ealing Studios work (which in turn was an […]
I’ll give actor Dan Stevens credit: after leaving the comfort of “Downton Abbey,” he’s done everything in his power to not only shake the image of simply being the safe, handsome leading […]
Imagine if the couple in Once had ended up together, gotten married, and after about 10 years together, the spark that brought them together was in danger of going out. They realize […]
This is a film about escalation, about small moments becoming larger ones, about pleasant conversation becoming hostile, and in a not insignificant way, it’s about the powerless overtaking the powerful, if only […]
Writer-director Brett Haley (along with his co-writer Marc Basch) make gentle films about a tough subject that a great many films are afraid to tackle—getting older. Their previous collaboration, I’ll See You […]
I liked every documentary I’ve ever seen directed by Steve James, from his epic-length, groundbreaking Hoop Dreams to his recent Roger Ebert biography, Life Itself. But not even in his anti-gang violence […]