Stephanie Merry –

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>

‘Flower’ review: Zoey Deutch blossoms in weird, dark story of revenge

December 14, 2018 at 6:10 p.m.

When we first meet Erica, the 17-year-old girl at the center of "Flower," she's in the process of blackmailing a police officer while her friends secretly film the encounter from...

Rape is an overused plot device; here’s how one new show smartly flipped the script

June 2, 2018 at 5:48 a.m.

Rape is everywhere on television. It's an overused plot device, and in recent years, viewers have started calling it out for what it is: a cynical trope that's casually employed,...

The final ‘Game of Thrones’ episodes will be very pricey, so what does that mean for viewers?

June 2, 2018 at 6:17 a.m.

HBO is shelling out major cash for the final season of "Game of Thrones." Each episode will cost around $15 million, according to Variety. To give some frame of reference,...

The new ‘Top of the Lake’ has some pretty screwed up male characters — does that matter?

June 2, 2018 at 12:24 p.m.

Jane Campion is known for many things: being the only woman to ever take home the Palme d'Or at Cannes; winning an Oscar for screenwriting for "The Piano"; and creating...

‘Game of Thrones’ used to be all about the journey. Now it’s about the destination.

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

The boats and horses on "Game of Thrones" are moving faster than ever. On Sunday night's episode, Daenerys dispatched Tyrion and Davos to King's Landing and, moments later, the men...

Are the dragons in trouble on ‘Game of Thrones’?

June 3, 2018 at 5:04 a.m.

"Game of Thrones" is full of ominous foreshadowing, but it's rarely as explicit as what viewers saw Sunday night when Qyburn unveiled a deadly new contraption. Cersei had promised a...

Some ‘Game of Thrones’ stars are better than others at keeping secrets

June 3, 2018 at 8:11 a.m.

The "Game of Thrones" cast has mastered the art of talking without actually saying anything. They've been making the rounds recently, doing endless publicity for the start of Season 7,...

‘A Quiet Passion’ review: Cynthia Nixon brings Emily Dickinson to life, joyously

June 4, 2018 at 8:11 p.m.

In "A Quiet Passion," the period-drama veteran Terence Davies ("Sunset Song," "The House of Mirth") turns his attention to poet Emily Dickinson. The prolific writer may not have had the...

President Donald Trump, left, at the White House in Washington on March 13, 2017 and filmmaker Michael Moore at the 20th Annual Webby Awards in New York on May 16, 2016.

Michael Moore wants to take down a president; it’s not the first time

June 4, 2018 at 8:12 p.m.

Michael Moore was one of few liberals who predicted Donald Trump's victory last November, and since then he's returned to his crystal ball to add a few other prophecies. Shortly...

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>

Brad Pitt talks about alcohol, therapy and matcha tea in his first post-split interview

June 5, 2018 at 12:05 a.m.

For the first time since news of his split with Angelina Jolie last September, Brad Pitt is back on the interview circuit. The occasion is his new Netflix movie, "War...

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