Robb Moss has always had a sense of how things end. In 1978, the then-aspiring filmmaker took a Bolex camera with him on a trip down the Colorado River, where he was accompanied by five of his friends—an assemblage of hipsters with a propensity for nudism—over the course of thirty-five days. A short documentary materialized […]
Those who have played tennis know that there is a distinct loneliness to the sport. It’s often just you, your opponent, and your brain fighting against each other to come out on top. As physical as the sport is, it’s mental too. Leonardo Van Dijl’s Julie Keeps Quiet is one of the few tennis-centric films […]
As the two competing main characters with the same “profession” (more on that later) of Wolfs are forced to collaborate, little shared tics and tendencies of, dare I say, senior age arrive and blend. In one scene midway through the film, both of our men pull out similarly styled reading glasses from inside of their […]
Since their debut in 1984, Joel and Ethan Coen have established themselves among the most idiosyncratic and celebrated of American filmmakers. There are no outright synonyms for “Coenesque,” yet we all recognize it when we see it: a breed of films typified by dark humor, eccentricity, explorations of the central myths of American identity and […]
One of the most powerful aspects of cinema is its ability to reflect the real world. Often times stories involve seasonal settings that relate directly to familiar sensory experience, whether conveyed through dates on a calendar or extreme climate. Viewers can enjoy the nostalgic feeling of horror or Halloween favorites during October, or films with […]
Growing up was full of ups and downs and contained some of the best moments of our lives. Yet the sting of heartbreak, high hopes, and crushed dreams also prevailed. Despite those prolific ups and downs, that time remained one of the most transformational periods as we came into our young adult and adult existence. Everyone […]
To begin with, I love everything about Almost Famous. Cameron Crowe’s heartfelt masterpiece has stood the test of time since its release in 2000. Vanilla Sky and Jerry Maguire also came from Crowe’s brilliant mind, yet this movie is unique because it was deeply personal to him, as it is semi-autobiographical and borrows from events […]
In thinking back on the films I saw that received a wide commercial distribution in 2022, I noticed how my favorites were all linked by themes of home and family, be it through stories of origins, reunions, departures, legacies, or alternative-family constitutions. This observation was not itself surprising (home and family are among the most […]
Maintaining its status as North America’s longest-running competitive international film festival, the 58th Chicago International Film Festival rolls out its red carpet for some excellent Special Presentations and Spotlight features this year. In addition to the Opening Night (A Compassionate Spy), Festival Centerpiece (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery), and Closing Night (White Noise) films […]
It doesn’t matter how many times you watch William Shakespeare’s 17th century play Macbeth performed. It doesn’t matter where you see it adapted, whether it’s on a high school stage or a West End one, a DIY YouTube video, or the grandest silver screen treatment. Give the production an inspired look, let the verses stoke […]
Right there with “great,” “epic,” “tour de force,” and many other film criticism terms, the adjective “raw” is one of those vague words exhaustingly assigned to any number of traits in a film. Some viewers see that and go “what does that even mean?” or run with a poor guess. If it’s only dropped for […]
Sometimes the oldest stories are the most alluring. Such is the case with the Coen Brothers’ (Joel and Ethan) debut film, Blood Simple. All of the elements could be pulled from the Old Testament. The young attractive wife Abby (Frances McDormand) of a local less-than-scrupulous bar owner Marty (Dan Hedaya) has an affair with her husband’s […]
Here you'll find all collections you've created before.
James Y. Lee
Tina Kakadelis
Don Shanahan
Hal Kitchen
Seth Lamey
Lilli Keeve
Will Scheibel
steve wandling