In what has become an annual day-after-hangover and post-Oscars tradition, I have this editorial that closes the book on one awards season and declares the next one open for competition. Each year, I pull out the crystal ball and look into the murky future to prognosticate which films coming in 2018 will we be applauding for at this time next year for the 91st Academy Awards. Here are 19 films to watch for the 2019 Oscars.
Read MoreNow entering its thirteenth year, the Beloit International Film Festival, hosted across the “Cheddar Curtain” border in Wisconsin, is no slouch of a gathering for film lovers. For ten days, the organizers, backers, and lucky audience members have the pleasure of discovering over 100 national and international films of all genres. The visiting filmmakers are welcomed by full venues and eager audiences looking to share the love of independent filmmaking. I honored to have absentee press access to the BIFF and it’s my pleasure to share reviews of its highlighted films.
Read MoreWith each year of PR and press access, I’ve been diving deeper to experience more and more of what this art form and entertainment source has to offer. For the second year in a row and on the heels of the Oscars putting a bow on all things 2017, I wanted to share a list of personal recommendations of hidden gems from last year. Even these 17 are but drops in a larger bucket. There so many little gems that I have yet to see.
Read MoreConstantly bucking stereotypes made about the perceived flaws of the Second City, the progressive and affluent enclave of Rogers Park statistically contains the highest level of racial diversity in Chicago. It is as great a place as any in the urban metropolis to tell a blended story of the hardened hearts within hard-working people. A blanketing sunrise over the freshwater surf of that aforementioned Great Lakes welcomes viewers to Rogers Park.
Read MoreTogether at The Century Bar of the Landmark Century Centre Cinema, fellow CIFCC critic Jeff York and I critiqued the ten short films nominated for the 90th Academy Awards for Best Live Action Short Film and Best Animated Short on the "Page 2 Screen" bost on the International Screenwriters' Association network. Both categories of contenders boasted impressive range and buried treasure. Enjoy our reviews and discussion!
Read MoreAudiences will need to go beyond “brave” to describe and complement the shattering performance of Daniela Vega starring in A Fantastic Woman. Searing the screen with moments of serenading song and ever-present fortitude, the openly transgender Chilean actress and model seethes with uncommon determination. Saying “good for her” is not enough praise.
Read MoreHere are my collected reviews for the Oscar nominees for Best Animated Short Film. Listed in order of rating and true to my website’s hook, each review includes a life lesson takeaway. A collected program of these films is available from various theater chains, including the Landmark Cinemas locations here in Chicago, starting on February 9th. In 90 minutes-and-change, you get five exceptional works for one ticket. Calling all Oscar completists!
Read MoreIn a reversal of this practical parable’s usual cadence, one man’s treasure is another man’s trash. This is where the tastes, descriptions, and comparisons begin for 1975’s The Astrologer. A young man named Craig Denney set out to direct and star is his own feature film to break into stardom. It was a passion project of sorts derailed by a backstory of avoidable failure. Along the same lines as trash versus treasure, one filmmaker’s passion project is another man’s vanity film.
Read MoreScoot Cooper’s grizzled western Hostiles opens with a quote from novelist D.H. Lawrence that reads: "The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted.” Those four adjectives and labels assigned by the English writer ring true for the late 19th century historical era he observed and also for the film itself you will watch. Each of those traits are embedded within Cooper’s difficult and impressive film.
Read MoreFor anyone who thinks Suicide Squad star and The Wolf of Wall Street vamp Margot Robbie is just a hot bod and a pretty face, watch I, Tonya. The 27-year-old Aussie’s ferocious and zealous performance riding the peaks and valleys of disgraced former champion figure skater Tonya Harding will erase those old notions centered solely on attractiveness. Brimming with depravity and teaming with talent, I, Tonya may be the brashest film you will see seen this year
Read MoreNo matter the charm and beauty, what can be questioned is the connection. Circle all of the emotionality back to the opening essential questions. Your tolerance is the key to connecting to Call Me By Your Name. Your comfort level for the homoerotic summer romance being woven and your acceptance of the controversial age difference within this narrative are everything. Either of those two qualities could be easily ignored obstacles for some or a no-go hang-ups for others
Read MorePhantom Thread is a exquisite film of elevated aesthetics that drape over a scintillating story of tumultuous potential discord. There is infinite richness within the despair, spun by Daniel Day-Lewis re-teaming with his There Will Be Blood director Paul Thomas Anderson, as the fictional 1950s tailor of status. Mundane in some moments and mysterious in others, the sum of the literal and figurative details within the stitches and seams of this film make it one of the year’s best.
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