Menashe, 2017. Directed by Joshua Z. Weinstein. Starring Menashe Lustig and Ruben Niborski. SYNOPSIS: Within Brooklyn’s ultra-orthodox Jewish community, a widower battles for custody of his son. A tender drama performed entirely in Yiddish, the film intimately explores the nature of faith and the price of parenthood. Spoken primarily in Yiddish and subtitled in English, […]
Exclusive Interview – Veep creator Armando Iannucci talks The Death of Stalin, political satire, Russia ban, and casting Donald Trump
Robert Kojder chats with The Death of Stalin director Armando Iannucci… The Death of Stalin continues to expand its theatrical reach this weekend, and to coincide with that I was given the opportunity to interview its director, the very talented Armando Iannucci. I have a feeling you will find his answers just as amusing as […]
Lady Bird takes home Chicago Film Critics Association’s top prizes
Although Call Me by Your Name and The Shape of Water dominated the Chicago Film Critics Association in nominations, Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut Lady Bird walked away with the highest honors. The circa-2001 Catholic highschool-set coming of age comedy was awarded Best Picture while stars Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf emerged victorious from their respective, fiercely […]
53rd Chicago International Film Festival Capsule Review – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
Mark Twain once wrote that “Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured”, which is true and a lesson the residents of the titular town of Ebbing, Missouri will come to realize. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri isn’t like the […]
53rd Chicago International Film Festival Capsule Review – Mudbound (2017)
It is undeniably perplexing that a person, regardless of any race, gender, or sexual orientation, can willingly enlist and fight in a war only to come home treated like mud. There are a lot of intertwining stories going on in Mudbound (a film directed by Dee Rees and adapted from the novel by Hillary Jordan that is […]
Exclusive Interview: Carlos Sanz talks rescuing Jeff Bauman in Stronger, what Bauman represents, Crank, and more
Robert Kojder chats with Carlos Sanz about his role in Stronger… Carlos Sanz gives an incredibly moving and emotional performance as “the hero in the cowboy hat” that saves Jake Gyllenhaal in the Jeff Bauman biopic Stronger. On the TV side, he’ll also be appearing in the brand new series Ten Days in the Valley which premiered a couple weeks ago on ABC. From […]
Movie Review – You Were Never Really Here (2017)
You Were Never Really Here, 2017. Written and Directed by Lynne Ramsay. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsanov, Alex Manette, Frank Pando, John Doman, Alessandro Nivola, Jason Babinsky, Vinicius Damasceno, and Judith Roberts. SYNOPSIS: A traumatized veteran, unafraid of violence, tracks down missing girls for a living. When a job spins out of control, Joe’s nightmares […]
All the Money in the World reshoots will replace Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer
In a new report from Deadline it has been announced that director Ridley Scott, along with the cast and crew, have chosen to replace Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer in the upcoming Christmas release thriller All the Money in the World. It’s an unprecedented, praise-worthy decision considering trailers released for the picture show Spacey to […]
53rd Chicago International Film Festival Capsule Review – I, Tonya (2017)
Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street gave Margot Robbie a huge opportunity that she fearlessly seized, dressing up as Harley Quinn broke her into the mainstream as a Hollywood star, and now I, Tonya should net her a first-time Oscar nomination. Directed by Craig Gillespie (last year’s The Finest Hours), the biopic depicts the figure skating career of the infamous […]
53rd Chicago International Film Festival Capsule Review – Lady Bird (2017)
In the hands of many other writers, the titular, self-proclaimed Lady Bird – real name Christine McPherson played by renowned Irish actress Saoirse Ronan – would come across as whiny, entitled, and unlikable to the point where the entire film comes crumbling down. Fortunately, Greta Gerwig is unlike most writers, as her directorial debut is […]
