Dennis Harvey – Page 3

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>

‘The Autopsy of Jane Doe’ review: Father-and-son morticians must solve mystery of woman’s unnatural death

June 6, 2018 at 2:21 a.m.

Making good on the promise of his very homegrown fantasy-action hit "Trollhunter," Norwegian helmer Andre Ovredal's first English-language feature is something quite different: a chamber horror piece in which a...

‘When Two Worlds Collide’ review: Peruvian government vs. indigenous tribes

June 9, 2018 at 11:23 a.m.

"When Two Worlds Collide" offers a vivid if unabashedly partisan depiction of the clash between indigenous Peruvian minorities and government interests bent on "opening up" protected tribal lands to multinational-corporation...

‘The Blackout Experiments’ review: Not scary enough for the audience

June 10, 2018 at 7:11 a.m.

An intriguing if less-than-full investigation, "The Blackout Experiments" looks at several repeat participants in an activity many would pay not to experience: an "immersive horror" show individually tailored to play...

‘Wedding Doll’ review: Young Israeli woman seeks love, independence

June 10, 2018 at 11:39 a.m.

In what amounts to a contemporary Israeli take on "The Light in the Piazza," a mentally handicapped young woman's dreams of love and marriage are stymied by her overprotective mother...

‘Princess’ review: A complicated family dynamic

June 11, 2018 at 10:48 p.m.

Eerily similar in premise to fellow Sundance title "The Diary of a Teenage Girl," but very different tonally and otherwise, the Israeli drama "Princess" plays out an unsettling scenario of...

‘Viktoria’ review: A girl grows up in Bulgaria, before and after communism

June 10, 2018 at 2:24 p.m.

A strikingly assured and ambitious feature debut for writer-director Maya Vitkova, at least to a point, "Viktoria" has a touch of "Garp" and "The Tin Drum," as well as plenty...

‘Too Late’ review: John Hawkes plays a private eye in cliche-filled film

June 11, 2018 at 1:48 a.m.

"Too Late" is structured around a striking gimmick: Its Los Angeles-set neo-noir tale is told in five non-chronologically ordered segments, each consisting of one continuous shot running a single Techniscope-format...

‘The Automatic Hate’ review: A family secret comically revealed

June 9, 2018 at 12:16 a.m.

The family you never knew you had turns out to be the family you may wish you never met in Justin Lerner's "The Automatic Hate." This arresting seriocomedy deftly walks...

‘Intruders’ review: A shut-in gives burglars their due

June 12, 2018 at 3:11 a.m.

In "Intruders," a trio of would-be burglars surprise a woman alone at home when they thought she'd be out — unaware that she's an agoraphobic and doesn't go out. But...

‘The Forbidden Room’ review: Guy Maddin wears out his welcome

June 16, 2018 at 10:22 a.m.

Guy Maddin's silliest and (relatively speaking) starriest feature since "The Saddest Music in the World," "The Forbidden Room" looks set to gain his widest audience since that 2003 opus. It's...

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