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A smart and straightforward drama, Margin Call has a simmering of corporate tension along with a hugely stacked cast. I hadn’t thought too much about it until watching this, but we don’t get very many cut-and-dry dramatic movies these days. A film where emotions are kept on the backburner and you are essentially watching a…
A movie that slipped through my fingers as a child, Big Trouble In Little China is an 80s comedy with moments of great humor and lots of stereotyping played for fun. Some of it has not aged well, but it is fast-paced and entertaining. As a cinephile, there are a lot of movies in my…
A tense post-apocalyptic thriller, 40 Acres grabs hold of you and doesn’t let go. It makes you ask the question, when there’s very few people left, is there anyone you can trust? There have been a lot of films written about the “end of society,” but in my opinion, only a few have it pretty…
A light and airy romance film in the first half, The Storied Life Of A.J. Fikry is a slow burner that finds emotional depth and nuance by the end. Films based on books can be a risk. If you have a great many people who love a book, they love the book. It is a…
Amazingly gorgeous to look at, The Life Of Chuck has a great cast and an interesting story to tell – it just lacks the connection you may be looking for. When you think of Stephen King books, there are two routes that you can go down – horror and story. While some people may love everything…
With hectic coverage of the evening before the first live airing of what would be “Saturday Night Live,” Saturday Night is a nostalgic combination of humor and chaos. “Saturday Night Live” is one of those cultural staples that feels like it’s always been there. Before streaming and cable, if you didn’t want to go out…
A black comedy about a couple on vacation before adopting a baby, I Don’t Understand You brings the laughs as well as the carnage. Black comedy movies can be hilarious. I am not a fan of straight-up horror with the creepy music and the jump scares, but a guy pulling the arm off of a…
An excellent live-action recreation of the original Dreamworks film, How To Train Your Dragon is gorgeous and touching with a truly lovely message. There are a lot of movies being recreated these days. Movies that were written and produced years ago, either released with brand new actors or the same actors in the same story…
Based on a true story of a journalist and a taxi driver who sneak into Gwangju, South Korea during the 1980 student uprising, this film is both gutting and heart-warming. A must-see. A Taxi Driver is one of those films that has been in the ether for a few years. I’d heard of it, I’d…
Focusing on real-life broadcaster Edward R. Murrow and the conflict resulting from challenging anti-communist tactics, Good Night, and Good Luck is a slow burning revelation. Many of you know that I work as a Chicago theater critic in my off hours. I have always been a play and musical enthusiast, so when I heard that Good…
A cute romantic comedy, Imagine Me & You is light and fun with likeable characters and a standard formula. So many romantic comedies follow the same formula. Girl meets boy, they fall for each other, there is an obstacle in their way, one of them says they can’t be together, and then they end up…
A short documentary about the elusive Voynich manuscript, this film does a nice job of introducing the indecipherable book as well as the theories that surround who created it and when. Decoding ciphers has long been a hobby for many. We see references to ciphers in books and movies like The Da Vinci Code or…
