Celebrating its 11th year gracing the Chicagoland area with delightful film selections with Irish flair, the annual Irish American Movie Hooley, presented by Hibernian Media, proudly returns to the historic Wilmette Theatre in Wilmette, Illinois. The event spans three films across three nights from September 26th to September 28th. It’s the only Irish American film festival in the world, and this year, the festival organizers are so excited to present three extraordinary films.
Read MoreThe Oak Park Illinois Film Festival enjoyed its inaugural year in 2024. Created as a celebration of cinema connected to the titular affluent western suburb of Chicago, the OPILFF brought together audiences and filmmakers at a gala opening at the Classic Cinemas Lake Theatre and a full-day program of over 15 films. The distinctive and valuable festival returns for its second year in 2025 with another excellent kick-off event and a two-day schedule of feature-length and short film selections
Read MoreThe elements of the classic “film noir” genre have found success and inspired other movies for almost a century. Cracking with style, crime, and tension, they are the epitome of the expression “They don’t make them like they used to.” Here in September, fans of noir movies have an oasis arriving nearby with the Music Box Theatre’s annual Noir City: Chicago program.
Read MoreTrue to a play’s performative spine, Eric LaRue rises to become an actor’s showcase building towards two important summits: the aforementioned collection of mothers and the first visit to Eric in prison. Each seated clash places Judy Greer in the unenviable position as the target of ire and the recipient of painful reactions, where no amount of contrition will be enough and immediate peace is impossible.
Read MoreThis past fall, the eclectic western Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois put on their inaugural film festival. The Oak Park, Illinois Film Festival. Divided into five thematic programming blocks, the festival organizers and leading board members curated a total of 17 films. Three of them were feature-length, and two of those were documentaries. Holding firm to local roots, each film entry had to have an Oak Park connect in front of or behind the camera to be eligible.
Read MoreThe trouble is The Brutalist cannot decide whether to peck at that facade with an awl or swing at it with a sledgehammer. Too often, it hands the wrong figurative tool to the actors for the wrong moments. Appreciably, Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce are formidably locked into their roles and stalwart in their respective characters’ competing visions and varying sins of pride. However, big moments get unsuccessfully needled while small ones get overly demolished, which ultimately betrays more characters than Brody’s and Pearce’s
Read MoreSure, it may have taken a bit to get there, but talented writer-director Vincent Grashaw demonstrated the shrewd patience to make those culminating moments happen on their own time and without some grand public showdown or audience. The “what for” and the “why” came to a head with dramatic focus. Bang Bang was never built to be anything close to a cliched sports movie. Instead, what burned intimately for the people involved stayed intimate to the bitter–and therefore realistic–end.
Read MoreIt’s not that the movie or the actors don’t look the part in Sasquatch Sunset. That’s not the issue. It’s more about the purposes and examinations at hand. This film, which enjoyed praise during its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival earlier in the year, is one hell of a bizarre enigma poking and prodding any number of desires and intentions.
Read MoreWhile ambitious as a ripe tangent in borrowing a real-life scandal, the whole shadowing angle of May December overloads what was excessive enough as off-screen history to begin with. Applying a smattering of unlikely kinks and a confounding third act of insecurity swerves sinks the film. Haynes is left with a mood piece of examining taboo with more taboo. and it gets unattractively lost in just that very vibe.
Read MoreJust like the first film that crescendo-ed with the Oscar-nominated “Can’t Stop The Feeling,” the high point of Trolls Band Together arrives with its signature song “Better Place.” It’s sung first by the combined cast during the plot while *NSYNC takes over for the full version over the closing credits. It’s an earworm of a pop ditty and siren’s song for the moms and dads. If “Better Place” were any catchier, it would be made of Velcro, require a multi-stage emergency vaccine, and required to be gloved by MLB All-Star J.T. Realmuto.
Read MoreWhile film stars often grace headlines with their latest roles, fashion choices, or glamorous events, some aspects of their personal lives, such as home maintenance, remain relatively under the radar. Among the myriad considerations a homeowner faces, roofing is pivotal. But do film stars, with their hectic schedules and luxurious lifestyles, personally dive into the world of roofing contractors? Let's shed some light on this less-discussed facet of celebrity homeownership.
Read MoreMany romantic comedies skew heavily to presenting the female perspective. Most of those movies are built to follow a woman’s plight to get away from the wrong partner and find the right one. We side with her, cheer on her actions, and sneer at the suitors. In a unique way, Shortcomings is different. This one stays on the bad partner and, for that, it has a little extra engrossment going for it.
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