My recent website article promoting the Wilmette Theatre's upcoming "Science on Screen" series was picked up as a guest post on the local Wilmette-Kenilworth Patch website. My thanks go out to Jonah Meadows for approaching me for the shared use. It's always nice to see your name in a by-line.
Read MorePartnering with The Field Museum of Chicago, The Wilmette Theatre will present SCIENCE ON SCREEN series, a creative screening program matching classic, cult, and documentary films with scientists from the worlds of science technology and medicine offering related scientific information and leading lively discussion. The theme of the first season will be the study of the environment, evolution and protecting wildlife, particularly endangered species.
Read MoreThe 89th Academy Award nominations will be announced Tuesday morning, January 24, 2016 after a longer gap than usual between the Golden Globes that were given out back on January 8th. As always, I've been following the full awards season over on my Awards Tracker page. Using that data as the tea leaves and a truckload of hunches, I'm going to attempt to closely predict the Oscar nominations for the "Big 8" categories for the fourth year in a row.
Read MoreFellow Chicagoans, “Hidden Figures” has been winning big at the U.S. box office. In a great gesture to her hometown, one of the stars of the film would like you see “Hidden Figures” on her dime. Taraji P. Henson has personally bought out a theater at AMC Ford City Mall on Sunday, January 22nd at 2:00PM for the general public.
Read More"Underworld" is an action-horror movie series based on the eternal struggle between vampires and werewolves. The same old formula has been used and abused over and over again on the big screen, and even "Twilight" – a franchise belonging to the romance/fantasy genre – has tapped into the centuries-long skirmish between the two undead clans.
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 MoreThis past week, I was given the outstanding opportunity to be an in-studio guest on WGN Radio's "The Nick Digilio Show" with host and fellow movie critic Nick Digilio. The main reason for my appearance was to represent the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle as one of the co-directors and co-founders to talk about our inaugural CIFCC Awards happening on January 8. I announced the full list of CIFCC nominees and made the exclusive announcement of two of the award winners on Nick's show.
Read MorePlenty of regular everyday people make New Year's Resolutions, but I think bigger entities, namely movie makers and movie moguls, need to make them too. Annually, including this sixth edition, this is my absolute favorite editorial to write every year. I have fun taking the movie industry to task for things they need to change. I'm sarcastic, but I'm not the guy to take it to the false internet courage level of some Twitter troll. This will be as forward as I get all year.
Read MoreIn the same taping as our back-and-forth boosting or spiking "Passengers," host Ian Simmons of Kicking the Seat brought a group of film critic peers to put a bow on 2016. Ian, David Fowlie of Keeping it Reel, Emmanuel Noisette of Eman's Movie Reviews, Harold Egbo, myself, and a pre-taped Pat McDonald of Hollywood Chicago came together to answer a few key pre-selected questions and compare our reflection on the year that was.
Read MoreCapping off their inaugural year, the members of newly-formed Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle, of which I am a director and co-founder, have announced their nominees for their first annual CIFCC Awards. Their voting membership of 28 members strong completed ballots over the holidays with the goal of three final nominees in 25 categories. They will commence a final round of voting ending on January 1, 2017 and host an invitation-only awards banquet at Transistor Chicago on January 8, 2017.
Read MoreSay hello to Mr. and Mrs. Jake and Kimberly Narens! Kim is a former co-worker of mine from back in the day. She was the art teacher and I was a fourth grade teacher at the Lloyd Bond campus of Chicago International Charter Schools during its inaugural school year in 2009-2010. We have both moved on to other jobs since then and also become first-time parents. While I am still in Chicago, she and her husband now call the sultry heat of Chandler, Arizona home. I'm guessing they don't miss shoveling snow.
Read MoreWith the glitzy Los Angeles setting of “La La Land,” many will point to the Old Hollywood musicals of Gene Kelly, especially “Singin’ in the Rain,” as a necessary practice rounds, but “La La Land” is an unequivocally modern-set film. A different range is possible. Furthermore, advising you to re-watch “Whiplash” for Chazelle’s kicks or revisit “Rebel Without a Cause” to touch base with the Griffith Observatory are too easy for practice. Dig deeper and try a few of these on for size as a “La La Land” primer.
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