As critics we worry so much about plot structure, character development, contrivance, logic—that we sometimes forget that film is primarily a visual medium. When a great-looking film emerges, it’s often derided as style over substance. But it is undeniable that the new adventure, Snow…
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Superbly mounted by director Ridley Scott, the ambitious sci-fi epic Prometheus poses the big questions—origin of the species, science vs. faith and the potential end of Earth—and it’s a hell of a way to spend two hours, inside a smart, visionary, big-budget ride that…
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The Intouchables, about an unlikely friendship between a wealthy quadriplegic and a street-smart young man who becomes his caretaker and friend, won’t surprise anyone in its story of two closed-down souls whose lives take a turn when they are unexpectedly brought together. It’s a…
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The pleasures of seeing a first-rate British cast in a nicely photographed movie about late life rebirth cannot be underestimated. Indeed, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a welcome antidote to the blockbuster summer movie season. As it turns out, audiences are going to…
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Summertime for movie lovers has officially begun in Chicago. According to the Chicago Park District, the 12th annual Movies in the Parks series in Chicago’s parks officially kicked off this evening with a screening of “Vertigo” at Belmont Harbor. The summer-long series will feature…
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In the new adaptation of John le Carré beloved Cold War thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Gary Oldman delivers an engrossing performance as George Smiley, the retired head of the British secret service, who goes back into the fray to hunt a Russian mole…
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Gerard Butler has played some epic characters in his prolific Hollywood career—Beowulf (Beowulf and Grendel) and King Leonidas (300) come to mind, as well as his upcoming turn in Ralph Fiennes Coriolanus. But perhaps his latest role, as a crusading American missionary who takes…
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What I wouldn’t give if filmmaker Whit Stillman would write one—just one—realistic character who doesn’t sound like a hip know-it-all from some far off alien planet. Stillman, the creator of Metropolitan, Barcelona and The Last Days of Disco, is a master at placing arch,…
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Shame, one of the year’s best movies, is a downward spiral into a sad world of sexual encounters for an addict whose limits are about to be tested. He’s played by Michael Fassbender in an extraordinarily exposed performance where the actor goes to hell…
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Have a great short film focused on or produced in Chicago? Create something truly wonderful that Chicago film lovers would appreciate? Submit your film for inclusion on our site by emailing its URL to [email protected].…
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