Mesmerizing describes the film as a whole and its incomparable lead performance from Academy Award winner Natalie Portman playing First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in the immediate hours and days following her husband's 1963 assassination. Far from a biopic and more of a psychological examination, Portman and Larrain sear the screen with emotion and imagery that is as captivating as it is difficult. It is astonishing that it takes a foreign director to create the most empowering portrait of American history put to film in years.
Read More
I dare you to look into the painful eyes of the three ages of Chiron and their matching performers and not have your soul triple in weight. The arc in "Moonlight" from the innocence of the little boy to the uncomfortable vulnerability hiding underneath the muscles and gold fronts of the hardened resulting adult is arduously moving on multiple levels. Observing his difficulties forces you to absorb the conflict and inescapable trepidation that surrounds the shared character. Pressing his heart to your own makes for one of the most moving and rewarding film experiences this year.
Read More
52nd Chicago International Film Festival U.S. Indies entry and presentation
“Middle Man” blends an acidic edge with showy panache that bleeds from every character, large and small. Credit the devious fun of Crowley for the snappy dialogue that pops from each character. The comedy is clever instead of coarse while maintaining its darkness. Nearly every speaking part of this colorful cast of funhouse mirrors nails a zinger or two that fits right into that line of taste.
Read More
For the third year in a row, this website has been granted press credentials to cover the many facets of the 52nd CIFF. I am targeting the U.S. Indies slate and will add selections from the Special Presentations, Black Perspectives, and World Cinema programs. Most of these films are appearing either before or without distribution dates, meaning my reviews here will stay brief capsule form. Come back to this page often and I will add films as I go!
Read More
The second annual Irish American Movie Hooley at the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Arts Institute of Chicago. Presented by 2 Gingers Irish Whiskey and produced by Hibernian Transmedia, the spirited mini-festival has a slate of three films, two making their Chicago premieres between September 30 and October 2. This very writer and website was privy to viewing and reviewing this year’s Irish American Movie Hooley selections in advance. Here are my capsule reviews and recommendations.
Read More
All eyes are on the hotly anticipated live-action "re-imagining" of Walt Disney Pictures' enormously successful "Beauty and the Beast" from 1991. That March 2017 sure-fire blockbuster will garner tremendous attention in its attempt to honor the animated Best Picture Oscar nominee and double Academy Award winner. In the meantime, the fairy tale's home country of France throws down its own gauntlet to give Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve's 1740 original story and Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's abridged 1756 standard the grand, epic big-screen treatment it warrants. Let's just say the French sure know what they are doing.
Read More
Cinema aficionados will quickly point fingers towards a few familiar comparisons for director Taika Waititi's New Zealand-based festival favorite, "Hunt for the Wilderpeople." The trouble is they will be shoehorning the film into an unshapely and narrow box where many containers are needed. "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" is rich and broad film with a charm and a sprawling ambition that will ping more that a few of your favorite film sensibilities. Broken into ten cheeky episodic chapters and boasting beautiful natural beauty shot by cinematographer Lachlan Milne, you will find a fun experience that may feel familiar, yet is wholly unique.
Read More