Not all actors and actresses are motivated by fame and profit. Some are in it for the performance and chance to share culture through an artistic medium. Before the hey-day of cinema, one such actress captured the fascination of an audience higher than any Hollywood premiere and did so as an ostracized minority. Better yourself with a slice of history to learn about Mary Frances Thompson, or, as she was called on stage, Te Ata.
Read MoreThe most superlative aspect of Viceroy’s House and its chronicle of national history for the countries of India and Pakistan is the personal passion behind the project. Bend it Like Beckham and Bride and Prejudice director Gurinder Chadha is the granddaughter of family displaced by the largest migration of people in recorded human history that occurred during the Partition of India of seventy years ago. There is an undeniable core of importance and respect present in the film that shows the great care of Chadha and all involved.
Read MoreIn a terse 80 minutes, The Long Night of Francisco Sanctis locks its suspenseful build and holds your attention. Open-ended as it is, the film could have employed additional time to hammer its points home and offer a payoff. However, it’s minimal surface and suddenness feels intentional to mirror the mysterious fates that befell so many people of this era. Quietly powerful, the effect and feeling are convincing.
Read MoreI cannot beat the drum for the word "timely" enough when it comes to Kathryn Bigelow's Detroit. Her follow-up to Zero Dark Thirty is a jarring yet important film that speaks volumes and draws numerous parallels from 1967 to 2017. As hard as it is to watch, it is equally essentially viewing that poses the challenges for progress, increased empathy, and improved dialogue on a multitude of racial, ethical, and societal issues that have not gone away in a half-century and beyond.
Read MoreFor a film like Detroit with difficult content thrust upon audiences to endure, this is not a place to seek entertainment or joy. Instead, Detroit is a challenge of cementing respect and achieving an empathy deeper than basic sympathy. Step into a beyond-cautionary tale of history that school books skipped or have forgotten. Let Detroit stir and inspire conversations. Let the emotions, good and bad, come and talk about them.
Read MoreBrian Cox one of the most underappreciated character actors in the business today. He has been an accomplished and terrifically versatile mainstay through all levels and genres of film for over thirty years since turning our heads as cinema’s first Hannibal Lecktor in Michael Mann’s Manhunter. Cox is a consummate performer, brimming with fervid screen presence. From Braveheart to Super Troopers, he is never the weak link to any picture. Churchill offers a rare lead performance from Cox and, like the chameleon he’s always been, he reminds us of his indomitable intensity.
Read MoreCircling back to the “timely” label, the film bears the designation in equally positive and negative connotations, depending of your personal capacity. Consider “The Birth of a Nation” to be the antithesis to “Selma” two years ago. This film’s depiction of violent retaliation reverberates far differently than Martin Luther King’s example of nonviolence. Audiences will wrestle with that polar opposite being empowering or troubling in justification.
Read MoreThree top-notch film critics of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle survived the miracle flight recreations and Clint Eastwood's soft touch of "Sully," starring Tom Hanks. Hear the mixed reactions after an advance screening from Jon Espino, Emmanuel Noisette, and myself!
Read MoreCelebrated director Clint Eastwood is no stranger to biopics based on historical figures, making him an ardent practitioner of hero worship. Because the 86-year-old, four-time Oscar winner classically directs with a soft hand and a comely tone, his brand of adoration consistently lands on the veneration half of the definition. Combining forces for the first time with another hero worship professional in All-American leading man Tom Hanks on “Sully,” you have double the cinematic potential of cherished devotion.
Read MoreSince Hollywood has become a hit-generating factory more than a garden of artistry and truth, a historical drama film like “Free State of Jones” only has to raise its barometer to a midpoint of “good enough.” That is because there is nearly unwinnable tug-of-war of disservice between history lessons and entertainment value, especially when your poster reads “based on a true story.” Veer away from the facts too far with dramatic license and the film becomes disingenuous. Veer too close to history without cinematic flashiness and no one will pay to see it. “Free State of Jones” falls somewhere in the middle of that mud pit.
Read MoreNormally, every protagonist in a live-action Walt Disney film gets a unnecessarily thick coat of heroic paint and every encounter, obstacle, or event calls for a full-throated orchestra of peril and self-importance. In a somewhat pleasant surprise, "The Finest Hours" avoids most of the the puffed-up flamboyance that we expect (and commonly grow tired of) from the Mouse House. The key word is "most," as the film thankfully dials down the usual Disney over-inflation while still possessing plenty of imperfections and distractions.
Read MoreSewn with care to document an unopened storybook file on little-rememberd, forgotten Cold War heroics and theatrics, "Bridge of Spies" is the kind of historical drama that Steven Spielberg can make in his sleep. In a way, this is Spielberg's throwback answer to "Argo," three years after Ben Affleck's film swept the top Oscars away from Spielberg's own "Lincoln." He doesn't need that one-upmanship for his ego. "Bridge of Spies" is more a reminder that the master is still capable of making a winner with ease.
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