Alissa Simon –

‘Border’ review: A supernatural Nordic fairy tale for adults

December 12, 2018 at 10:44 a.m.

A Swedish customs officer with a special talent for detecting contraband must ultimately choose between good and evil in the idiosyncratic thriller "Border," an exciting, intelligent mix of romance, Nordic...

A grown-up Christopher Robin returns to the Hundred Acre Wood and his best friend Winnie the Pooh.
<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/sc-mov-christopher-robin-rev-0802-story.html" target="_blank">Read the review.</a>

‘The Girl Without Hands’ review: A Grimm fairy tale rendered in watercolor

June 3, 2018 at 12:30 a.m.

Marking the long-anticipated feature debut of French animator Sébastien Laudenbach, a much-awarded shorts director known for his sense of line and poetry, "The Girl Without Hands" is a minimalist but...

Nick Cave has been singing about mortality for decades, and he's really good at it. Whether the narratives are biblical or pulpy, the victims innocents or death row convicts, the circumstances comprehensible or cruelly random, Cave's songs are on intimate terms with the infinite ways a life can be extinguished. And yet, "Skeleton Tree", his latest album with his estimable band, the Bad Seeds, is a relatively concise song cycle shadowed by death that feels different than all the rest. <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/kot/sc-music-nick-cave-skeleton-tree-ent-0916-20160916-column.html" target="_blank">Read the full review.</a>

‘Emily and Tim’ review: Longtime companions viewed in six vignettes

June 10, 2018 at 7:47 a.m.

Chronicling a marriage of 60 years in half a dozen segments with six different pairs of actors portraying the long-hitched couple, "Emily & Tim" illustrates writer-director Eric Weber's politically correct...

‘Wednesday, May 9’ review: From Iran, three O. Henry-esque stories

June 11, 2018 at 4:49 a.m.

Three O. Henry-esque stories from contempo Tehran are woven together with mixed results in "Wednesday, May 9," the debut feature of multihyphenate Vahid Jalilvand. Excellent acting from top star Niki...

Review: ‘Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me’

April 5, 2019 at 8:59 p.m.

In 2011, while country crooner and legendary guitarist Glen Campbell prepared to tour in support of his latest album, his family revealed that he had received a diagnosis of Alzheimer's...

Variety Critics’ Choice Helmer Noaz Deshe Reveals Multi-disciplinary Plans

August 25, 2021 at 1:22 a.m.

There are barely enough hours in the day for Israel-born, Berlin-based helmer Noaz Deshe , winner of the Venice fest "Lion of the Future" for his debut "White Shadow," to...

Cannes Film Review: ‘The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films’

August 25, 2021 at 12:27 a.m.

Both an affectionate tribute and a cautionary tale, "The Go-Go Boys" is a solid documentary that offers, as its subtitle promises, one version of the "inside story of Cannon Films."...

Cannes Film Review: ‘The Owners’

August 25, 2021 at 12:26 a.m.

Three orphaned siblings fight a corrupt bureaucracy in order to keep a roof over their heads in "The Owners," the small but scrappy third feature from prize-winning Kazakh writer-director Adilkhan...

Cannes Film Review: ‘Tu dors Nicole’

August 25, 2021 at 12:15 a.m.

A 20-something Quebecoise has some growing up to do in "Tu dors Nicole," a sweetly absurd, wryly comic third feature from French-Canadian helmer Stephane Lafleur ("Continental, a Film Without Guns")....

Film Review: ‘Mateo’

August 24, 2021 at 10:21 p.m.

An at-risk teen learns a lesson about values, the importance of community, and the liberating power of art in "Mateo," a straightforward social-issues drama from Colombia-born, NYU- and La Femis-trained...

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