The Best Films of 2024…So Far
In a year where it feels like the movies are finally coming back (post-pandemic, post-strike), 2024 is only half over and we’ve already seen some of the best films of […]
Review: A Creature Feature Where Mother Nature is the Monster, Twisters Leans into Nostalgia With a Charismatic Cast
The only real through-line between 1996’s summer blockbuster Twister and this week’s “stand alone sequel” (whatever that is), cleverly titled Twisters, is that in a dramatic prologue that sets up […]
Review: Not Just Pretty Flowers—Georgia O’Keeffe: My New Yorks at the Art Institute Through September 22
Some think that painter Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) was a sleepy Southwesterner who primarily depicted labial flora. But the Art Institute’s exhibit chronicles a more complete origin story with the energetic […]
Review: American Blues Theater’s The Last Wide Open Is a Charming Romantic Comedy
“You know what I wish? Just once for my life to be like the movies.” Lina and Mikołaj sit on the ground of the Polish diner where they both work. […]
Review: Romeo and Juliet Simmers With Young Love and Tragedy in Midsommer Flight’s Theater in the Park
Is there anything as lovely as theater in the park on a warm summer evening? That’s the concept behind Midsommer Flight’s annual summer series of Shakespeare in the park. This […]
Review: Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus Offers Stephenson, Beethoven, and a Beautiful Requiem by Maurice Duruflé
On yet another lovely evening, the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus gave an equally lovely performance on Friday at Jay Pritzker Pavilion. Leading the orchestra and chorus was Giancarlo Guerrero […]
Review: Sun-Drenched French Family Drama Last Summer Is as Sexy as It Is Complicated
Writer/director Catherine Breillat returns to cinemas this week with her first film in a decade, and what a return it is. Last Summer is so quintessentially French, so perfectly seductive, […]
Review: Guy Pearce Stars as a Historical Figure Inserted Into Indigenous Affairs in Smart, Beautifully Rendered The Convert
New Zealand-born director Lee Tamahori has a proven track record for character-driven action films (The Edge, Once Were Warriors)—he even made a Bond movie (Die Another Day). With The Convert, […]
Review: Memories, Missed Connections and What Could Have Been in Touch, a Moving, Emotional Story of Searching
Why anyone would release an awards-worthy drama like writer/director Baltasar Kormákur’s Touch in the heart of the summer is a mystery to me, but don’t let this deeply moving film […]
Review: Fly Me to the Moon Stars Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson in NASA Moon Landing as America’s Marketing Campaign
Blending comedy, drama and a touch of historical fiction, director Greg Berlanti (Love, Simon and the showrunner of the CW’s Arrow-verse) sends us skyward with Fly Me to the Moon, […]
Review: Goodman Theatre’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Needs Pruning
The new and eagerly awaited production of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil at Goodman Theatre fails to present a unified story and collapses under its own weight […]
Review: Eddie Murphy Heads Back to California in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, a Nostalgia-Heavy Cop Comedy
I sometimes feel guilty about coming down on a film that hits all the nostalgia buttons and makes people feel good about the things they enjoyed growing up. But with […]