‘Cry Macho’ review: a sunset ride for Clint Eastwood at 91
This "macho thing," says Clint Eastwood in his latest film, is "overrated." Same with grit, he says. What? What is this, some sort of rickety, sweet-tempered road movie about an...
Home > Reviews
All Stories
‘Scenes From a Marriage’ review: Love + time equals HBO series starring Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac
Each episode of HBO's discreetly juicy adaptation of "Scenes from a Marriage," reworking Ingmar Bergman's Volvos-and-torment 1973 Swedish TV series later reedited into a feature film, begins with a framing...
‘Queenpins’ review: Kristen Bell and Kirby Howell-Baptiste run a coupon scam worth $40 million. Is it enough?
"Queenpins" has its moments, mostly when Kirby Howell-Baptiste is on the screen. As a sort-of-true-crime comedy, spinning a yarn of middle-class larceny and extreme, deeply unlawful couponing, it's likely to...
Kenneth Branagh, Rebecca Hall and their movies coming to this year’s Chicago International Film Festival
Accompanied by their respective films "Belfast" and "Passing," Sir Kenneth Branagh and Rebecca Hall are scheduled to visit the 57th Chicago International Film Festival. This year's edition, Oct. 13-24, also...
‘The Card Counter’ review: In Paul Schrader’s latest, a magnetic Oscar Isaac keeps it close to the vest
So many of God's lonely men populate Paul Schrader's films. They're inveterate self-torturers and diary-fillers, often murmuring in voiceover what they cannot tell another human being. "God's lonely man" was...
Sept. 11 is assessed, 20 years later, in new documentaries both good and bad
On the uncertain timeline we're facing now — the pandemic, its variants and enablers, nearly 650,000 fatalities in America alone since early 2020 — the awful suddenness of the nearly...
‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ review: A Marvel origin story scores 8.5 out of 10 rings as it dances in Jackie Chan territory
Opening this week exclusively in theaters — for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health — "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" really is enough to make...
Remembering Ed Asner: How a Chicago-trained ‘heavy’ met his match with Lou Grant. Twice.
An actor can flourish across an entire career without finding the role that truly understands him. Ed Asner, who died Sunday at 91, found his: Lou Grant, the surly, sneaky-avuncular...
Here’s the French dispatch: Chicago film fest head Mimi Plauche receives award from the Ministry of Culture’s Order of Arts and Letters
Cited as an "internationally recognized programming director" committed to "bringing the best French cinema to Chicago audiences," Chicago International Film Festival artistic director Mimi Plauche has been named Chevalier de...
Citing delta variant spread, Ebertfest film festival postpones September plans until April 2022
With Illinois and worldwide COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations again on the rise, spiked by the delta variant, Roger Ebert's Film Festival, popularly known as Ebertfest, has canceled its Sept. 8-11...