Amy Nicholson –

‘Ask Dr. Ruth’ review: Documentary looks at how a Holocaust survivor blazed a trail in sex therapy

May 2, 2019 at 12:19 p.m.

In Ryan White's breezy documentary "Ask Dr. Ruth," the 90-year-old Ruth Westheimer asks a fair share of the questions. "Are you hungry?" "Are you sure you're not hungry?" And with...

‘Wild Nights with Emily’ review: Molly Shannon imbues poetry with passion

April 23, 2019 at 5:35 p.m.

In a plummy warble, a woman named Mabel Todd (Amy Seimetz, hilarious) lectures a rapt audience about her good friend Emily Dickinson (Molly Shannon). No, she never spent any "Wild...

‘Overlord’ review: The Nazi undead battle U.S. soldiers in J.J. Abrams-produced WWII thriller

December 11, 2018 at 8:56 p.m.

In case there are any young folks out there who aren't convinced that the Nazis were bad — shockingly, there still seem to be stragglers — here stomps Julius Avery's...

Film Review: Netflix’s ‘Sierra Burgess Is a Loser’

December 12, 2018 at 4:14 p.m.

Teenager Sierra Burgess (Shannon Purser) steps out of the shower and gradually comes into view. Strong legs, pink robe, and finally, in the foggy mirror, a face: red hair, freckles,...

Lakeith Stanfield, star of "Sorry to Bother You," at the Crosby Hotel in New York City last month.

Is Hollywood ready for the brilliant weirdness of Lakeith Stanfield?

December 12, 2018 at 8:29 p.m.

Lakeith Stanfield arrives wearing a captain's hat. It's an incongruous capper to his casual outfit: a football jersey of a player he doesn't know, and Gucci loafers embroidered with insects,...

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>

‘Half Magic’ review: Heather Graham casts a spell in her writing-directing debut

May 24, 2018 at 3:18 p.m.

"I'm not saying I'm against women's rights, I'm just saying there's no market for their films," insists vainglorious action star Peter (Chris D'Elia) to his miserable development assistant and girlfriend...

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