The discolored and dingy tile grout at the bottom of a swimming pool and the imagery effect of rippling water seen under the surface bending the images above perspective starkly symbolize the many warped dimensions of Liquid Truth. The truth in the title is as slippery as the water in director Caroline Jabor’s simmering social commentary. The film may be foreign from Brazil, but it typifies all too many social media ills that would explode in a parallel fashion here in this country.
Read MoreEmmanuel Noisette of Eman's Movie Reviews is an emerging film critic tackling both written and video reviews. His YouTube channel is must-watch and automatic-subscribe material. Emmanuel is one of the co-directors with me of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle. Between us two busy Chicago critics and working fathers, Emmanuel and I are orchestrating a trade of "guest reviews" for each other's sites. Horror is not my cup of tea and he was all over It.
Read MoreThrough my collaboration with the folks at the Feelin' Film Podcast, I have had the pleasure of crossing virtual paths with Chad Hopkins, the host of The Cinescope Podcast. He cordially invited me on as a guest for a podcast talk on John Avildsen's The Karate Kid as an off-shoot sample of American values just in time for Independence Day.
Read MoreI was invited to be a contributor on their weekly Super News Live program on Facebook. The page has a whopping 474,000+ likes! One of their new segments collects quick reviews and hot takes of current new film releases from site contributors like myself. Check out your boy batting second in this video talking Baywatch.
Read MoreMike Crowley's YPA Reviews was soliciting for participants and topics for a video series of discussions highlighting guest-chosen overrated films, performers, and filmmakers. I nominated myself and the highly regarded auteur of Terrence Malick and a meeting and a rant on camera was born. Enjoy both the refined and uncut versions of our enlivened talk below!
Read More100% of you right now are reading this review via the internet on either a computer or a mobile device. Like it or not, you and I leave digital footprints everywhere we go. The new pseudo-dystopian thriller “The Circle” incites the over-obvious social media and data-mining fears of our present surveillance society of sharing and shines them up into a shiny and engrossing yarn of mainstream entertainment. Fiction or not, it’s the kind of film that may or may not irk you enough to take that Facebook sabbatical you keep saying you’ll do.
Read More“The Sex Addict” is tailor-made to serve comedy fans that soak up humor akin to “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation.” The humor is naturally vulgar and dark, which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. The crowd that will be repulsed can be replaced by those rolling on the floor laughing. “The Sex Addict” is a ways away from the supreme mockumentary exemplars of Christopher Guest, but that’s the perfect plane for Amir Mo and company to aspire to.
Read MoreIf the Windy City can show us anything, it’s that die-hard Chicago Cub fans come in all shapes, sizes, and ages. More so, fans come from different walks of life, waving flags of different colors, including, best of all, the rainbow-colored variety. “Landline,” from local do-it-all filmmaker Matthew Aaron, is a fun-loving LGBTQ+ comedy merging ardent North Siders with snappy musings on our societal obsessions with technology, all in proximity to the heavenly palace that is Wrigley Field.
Read MoreMatching my signature niche, I pitched the Feelin' Film website on writing a weekly column on the serious and farcical life lessons learned each week from either the current film releases or the prevailing movie industry trends of the moment. Since mid-January 2017, that idea has become the column "What Did We Learn This Week." My weekly column features commentary and content I don't post anywhere else, not even here.
Read MoreBack in January, I introduced you to my involvement on BAG Movies as one of their "PRO" critics and contributors. In April, I was one of their inaugural "Critics of the Month." As of today, I've logged over 650 reviews on their site. I am happy to report that BAG Movies has gotten a massive facelift making it even more organized, personalized, and interactive than before. Their new-and-improved website just launched here in June 2016.
Read MoreI wanted to formally update my followers and readers of a cool new platform and opportunity for both you and this website. This past fall, I was approached by the one of the co-founders of the young website BAG Movies to add a professional profile to their community site. Founded in February 2015, BAG aims to be "one-stop shopping" for finding, watching, and sharing movies and TV shows. It can become your new place to talk and listen to your friends about what you're loving (and hating) in entertainment.
Read MoreFor quite some time, I've been meaning to add more momentum and engagement to my presence on Facebook and Twitter. I'm active with posting my reviews and shared fun stories, but that content is more random than formal or thematic. It lacks a guiding regularity. So, as of this new year and new work week, I'm adding daily themes to my posts and threads shared on my Facebook and Twitter pages. I have a blast talking to all of you casually and I would like to do more. Here's the plan:
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