The Velvet Underground. 2021 Directed by Todd Haynes. Featuring Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Maureen Tucker, Nico, Andy Warhol, John Waters, Mary Woronov, Amy Taubin, Merrill Reed Weiner, and Doug Yule. SYNOPSIS: The Velvet Underground explores the multiple threads that converged to bring together one of the most influential bands in rock and roll. […]
57th Chicago International Film Festival Capsule Review – The Last Duel
The Last Duel, 2021. Directed by Ridley Scott. Starring Jodie Comer, Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Ben Affleck, Marton Csokas, Harriet Walter, Clare Dunne, Zeljko Ivanek, Nathaniel Parker, Michael McElhatton, Alex Lawther, Zoé Bruneau, Ian Pirie, William Houston, Sam Hazeldine, Brian F. Mulvey, Caoimhe O’Malley, Serena Kennedy, and Julian Firth. SYNOPSIS: King Charles VI declares that […]
54th Chicago International Film Festival Review – What They Had (2018)
What They Had, 2018. Written and directed by Elizabeth Chomko. Starring Hilary Swank, Michael Shannon, Blythe Danner, Robert Forster, Taissa Farmiga, and Josh Lucas SYNOPSIS: WHAT THEY HAD centers on a family in crisis. Bridget (Hilary Swank) returns home to Chicago at her brother’s (Michael Shannon) urging to deal with her ailing mother (Blythe Danner) and […]
53rd Chicago International Film Festival Review – Breathe (2017)
Breathe, 2017. Directed by Andy Serkis. Starring Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Tom Hollander, Ed Speleers, Diana Rigg, Dean-Charles Chapman, and Hugh Bonneville. SYNOPSIS: The inspiring true love story of Robin and Diana Cavendish, an adventurous couple who refuse to give up in the face of a devastating disease. Their heartwarming celebration of human possibility marks the […]
53rd Chicago International Film Festival Capsule Review – The Shape of Water (2017)
The Shape of Water contains physically intimate expressions of love between two different sets of characters, both inordinately different in tone. One is rather awkwardly aggressive with no real affection shown by either member of a married couple, while multiple other sequences depict Sally Hawkins’ sign language communicating mute Elisa and the film’s centralized human reminiscent amphibian […]
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 […]
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 […]
53rd Chicago International Film Festival Capsule Review – Last Flag Flying (2017)
“Those that have been following the acting career of Steve Carell are most likely aware that he has made attempts to shed his comedic image by taking on dramatic roles, particularly ones that also benefit from his natural timing for humor. However, in Last Flag Flying (the latest film from extremely talented writer and director Richard Linklater) […]
