Adorned with the weights of divorce, loss, and tested friendship, “The Invitation” wears those issues like a cloak to hide its real menacing intent and implications underneath. Karyn Kusama’s film holds a marvelous poker face that siphons your piqued curiosity and unraveling attention. “The Invitation” might be labeled as a horror film, but it far better fits the prodigious “mindfuck film” subgenre. Enjoy the steady increased heart rate and spinning cerebrum this film has to offer.
Read MoreAny savvy film fan should know that first-rate musical biography films are less about the music and more about the artist. The music becomes extroverted accompaniment to the introverted human elements behind the persona. Presenting a career-best performance from Ethan Hawke, "Born to Be Blue" earns its place as one of the best jazz movies to grace the screen. The film is an impressive creative step forward for Canadian director Robert Budreau in just his second feature-length effort.
Read MoreIn the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the adjective form of "special" can be defined as "held in particular esteem" and "readily distinguishable from others in the same category." For a film to earn that distinction it has to do more than have the word in its title, as is the case with the Jeff Nichols film "Midnight Special." It has to possess exemplary qualities to revere that enable it to stand out from its peers. As one of the most striking, imposing, and spell-binding original science fiction films in recent memory, "special" is fitting trademark for "Midnight Special."
Read MoreThrough two parallel veins of his filmmaking career, director Richard Linklater freely operates between free-wheeling fun and poignant realism with scant middle ground. His movies are either a party or a deep character study. Kick back and turn off the introspection for "Everybody Wants Some!!" This is a shameless dudes' flick and Party Linklater of the highest order. Those of you with Y chromosomes are going to love every minute.
Read MoreIt sure is nice to see a surprise stay a surprise. In today's day and age of instant and nearly universal access to information, news, and buzz, it's very hard to keep anything the size of a movie a secret. The filmmakers of "10 Cloverfield Lane" and its studio have pulled off a marketing stunt that has now paid off as a entertainment coup. "10 Cloverfield Lane" is capricious blast of horror, drama, and science fiction all rolled into one twisty enigma.
Read MoreHighlighting the worthy American legend that is James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens, the new film "Race" may not roundly deviate from the tried-and-true sports film formula we have seen in dozens of films. Nonetheless, director Stephen Hopkins's film radiates an impassioned heart that few other films of the sports genre can rival or surpass. In a present day of questionable athletic role models (and on the timely heels of Black History Month), this is the kind of film we should be sending buses of school students of all ages to instead of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle" movies.
Read MoreFor this writer and website, the films of Joel and Ethan Coen are pegged as acquired tastes. Slot the brothers and their work right next to Quentin Tarantino in that regard. Their creative brilliance and their reverent place in the upper echelon of superb storytellers are indisputable, proven by their six Oscar wins. Sometimes, in the measure of taste, their choices and results are a maddening or confounding mess. When the Coen brothers are on their game, they are white hot. "Hail, Caesar!" won't go down as one of their best, but there is no denying its draw as a thoroughly entertaining hoot.
Read More“Kung Fu Panda 3” bursts at the seams with exuberant fun for your inner kid at heart. The self-proclaimed “awesomeness” we have missed for too long returns with flair in every possible direction. Its nimble combination of clever humor and endearing heart is undeniable. This is a can’t-miss crowd pleaser that pulses with energy in all the right places.
Read MoreFilmmaker Asif Kapadia captures the bracing and startling rise and fall of the late jazz singer Amy Winehouse in "Amy." Accessing an enormous wealth of old videos from friends and family, self-read letters of lyrics and songwriting, archived phone conversations, backstage footage, media appearances, and unreleased performances, "Amy" weaves a masterful and compelling narrative. It is on the 2016 Oscar short-list for Best Documentary Feature and is available now for home viewing.
Read MoreIn Spike Lee's film, the symbolism is thick and the underlying truths are even thicker. "Chi-Raq" is fiercely intelligent with its farcical parable and fearless in its vicious social commentary. Both exhibit equal power. That balanced ability is tremendously difficult to pull off with honesty and Lee has done it.
Read More51st Chicago International Film Festival Highlight special presentation
When you have a film adaptation of a William Shakespeare play as arresting, brawny, and commanding as Justin Kurzel's "Macbeth," one has to throw the theater snob rant out the window. They are exactly like the "book is better than the movie crowd" only more under-served. We get it. No cinematic adaptation is ever going to satisfy everyone. My advice is get over the nit-picking and soak in a movie and treat it as a different medium entirely than the static stage. This new "Macbeth" is an event, not a play, and a darn good one.
Read MoreDirected by Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino, “Youth” is a cornucopia of quirk colliding with decadence. We get to see how the other half lives through messy characters making sense of their lives while soaking in a lavish vacation. Thanks to a stellar cast and brilliant performances, “Youth” surprises us to show how much interest and intrigue can be found in foppish people we normally wouldn’t closely identify with as an audience.
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