In her solo feature directorial debut, Greta Gerwig has stepped in and pushed this cinematic species tremendously forward with the dramedy Lady Bird. The film destroys any notion of the “manic pixie dream girl” fakery. Lady Bird is a cornucopia woven with striking candor and filled with delightful oxymorons artfully composed to challenge taboos and stereotypes. Let’s give each oxymoron a life lesson and a paragraph or two along the way.
Read MoreInspired by true events, which will cause a fun double take as the film transpires, The Dunning Man is adapted from the published short stories of producer Kevin Fortuna. Precariously, at times, balancing somewhere between an urban drama and paperback crime novel, the film presents a seedy slice of Atlantic City calmed by nostalgic scene transitions of vintage footage of the city in its decadent heyday.
Read MoreOne of the perks of becoming a regular blogging contributor on a podcast site is getting the occasional chance to appear on the actual podcast. Aaron White, one of the hosts of "Feelin' Film," connected time zones to bring myself and Popcorn Confessional critic Steve Clifton together for an extended post-Oscar wrap-up show. Listen to our reactions, rants, loves, and heartbreaks to both the 89th Academy Awards and the website's first annual "Feeler's Choice Awards."
Read MoreI’ll have you know that this is the latest this website has ever posted a “10 Best” list in its six-plus year history. I want to say that 2016 exhausted me, but it didn’t. “Every Movie Has a Lesson” published a personal-best 114 film reviews in 2016. Even after a record year, there is part of me that sits here and knows there was room for more. The to-do list of recommended films and overdue titles is never empty.
Read MoreThe 28 film critics and voting members, including yours truly, of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle completed their final ballots in 25 categories for their first annual CIFCC Awards. The CIFCC hosted an invitation-only awards reception at Transistor Chicago on January 8, 2017.
Read MoreIn a tonal shift from the trumpeted and showy norm of Oscar bait, “Lion” is yet another performance-driven dramatic film of 2016 entering this holiday season favoring prudence over theatrics. The feature film debut of award-winning commercial director Garth Davis, is a love letter instead of a power ballad that delivers genuine emotional heft all on its own, without the need to manufacture it for the sake of a movie.
Read MoreThere is an unmistakable layer of “people-watching” cinema brings to its artistic atmosphere and aesthetic. An omnipresent camera grants private points-of-view, shines light on secrets, and challenges the observational skills of the audience. Kenneth Lonergan’s “Manchester by the Sea” introduces the wearisome life of one solitary man and proceeds to unearth the repressed sorrow and unspoken emotions that lie underneath his mundane exterior. The most praiseworthy character-driven films have the patience to cultivate its truths with substance and the wisdom to never give you everything. Lonergan’s near-perfect jewel is a new exemplar of such qualities and one of the finest films of 2016.
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