As I have grown in press credentials and professional affiliations nationally, I have found myself landing in circles with other film critics of various levels. Recently, I was included in a poll for voting critics for Jordan Ruimy of World of Reel, a fellow Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. His survey was to collect picks for the best films of the 1950s from over 120 critics and other industry folk.
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Every now and then for the big new releases, Rotten Tomatoes will collect the tip-of-the-spear “first reviews” and highlight them in an editorial news column piece. If I can get my work in fast enough and it gets noticed, I have the chance of being selected and included in these round-up features. Recently, I was cited twice for Captain America: Brave New World.
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Online gaming is a new frontier for much more than entertainment. Here, grab real interactions and connections with others. Be it teaming up with your friends or meeting cool new people from across the globe, gaming develops social activity between people in more ways than one.
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Online gaming has generated debate on whether this phenomenon should be termed a competitive sport or not. The measurement events are organized for contests with professional players and a huge global audience, which have created many factors that point to its resemblance with traditional sports; yet it is not that easy to argue out.
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When a movie like Warfare enters a concluded historical period, such as the Iraqi front of the War on Terror from nearly 20 years ago, some viewers will curiously require the film to have a “stance” on said war. Those captious people—looking down their noses with 20/20 hindsight to relitigate the past—are going to be disappointed with Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland, and falsely so.
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A Minecraft Movie is asking those newbies to enter and welcome a weird new universe. This energetic family movie proudly opens its doors to all comers (and wallets) where no prior knowledge is really necessary. Thanks to the exuberant cast and the kind of contagious entertainment they dispensed, you may just come to love something you didn’t know a lick about 101 minutes earlier.
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True 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.
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Freelancer and fellow film critic friend Ben Silverio and his Chicago-based podcast co-host Ansel Burch invited me back for my second stint as a month-long guest on Time 2 Party podcast. They specialize in time travel films. Last time in the fall of 2024, I went romantic with Somewhere in Time. This time around, I move it up the more present era with the vastly underseen 2022 Hawaii-set romantic drama Press Play starring Clara Rugaard, Lewis Pullman, and a stellar soundtrack!
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Mike Osborn and Curtis Menke of the irreverent and laugh-filled podcast “Let’s Talk About Flix are weekly appointment laughs for me and pod I support on Patreon. Mike and Curtis have become two full members of the Chicago Indie Critics group that I co-direct. For the second year in a row, I was honored to be asked on as the return guest during their “Patreon Picks” month. For that guest’s choice theme, I brought them 2018’s The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot starring Sam Elliot. Enjoy our chat! Follow their show on podcast platforms and YouTube!
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Liquor Bank knows that audiences don’t often see the stories that continue after the big commitment to change. They don’t see the temptations, choices, relapses, and secondary victories. In showing Eddie broken in losing a benchmark achievement, Marcellus Cox is unshy to shed light on a time of defeat instead of victory with Liquor Bank.
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Audrey’s Children chisels an important story into an extremely well-meaning film. Not all life-saving feats are glamorous and marked with crowds and cheers. Sometimes, all they are is a stabilized vital signs, hopeful test results to live longer, or a family that walks out the door of a hospital intact instead of grieving a loss. To enjoy and appreciate this film is to watch an uncompromising woman taking risks to put in the diligent work to make a difference for, once again, “her kids.”
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