The elusive path for arthouse film survival
Holyn Thigpen, Contributing Writer
April 15, 2019
Filed under Arts/Life, Film & TV
Over 100,000 film fans across the world signed an online Change.org petition last November to save FilmStruck. The Turner Classic Movies streaming service, which housed a library of over 1,000 classic, arthouse and international films, was discontinued by AT&T after the corporation’s acquisitio...
As ‘Veep’ enters final season, Julia Louis-Dreyfus cements legacy fit for comedy royalty
Lacey Latch, Arts & Life Editor
April 15, 2019
Filed under Arts/Life, Film & TV, Showcase
For the past three decades, Julia Louis-Dreyfus has been on television nearly every season. As such, Louis-Dreyfus has secured over 300 episodes of comedy under her belt that delivered her seven Emmys for acting and five Screen Actors Guild awards for her singular work, let alone a slew of other awar...
What’s Fresh on Climate Change
Lacey Latch, Arts & Life Editor
April 15, 2019
Filed under Arts/Life, Film & TV
Our Planet (Netflix) In the introduction to the first episode of this new Netflix series “Our Planet,” the mission is clearly stated. David Attenborough narrates that the show will “celebrate the natural wonders that remain and reveal what we must preserve to ensure people and nature thrive.”...
‘High Life:’ a touching and terrifying trip to space
Michael Brezinski, Staff Writer
April 15, 2019
Filed under Arts/Life, Film & TV
Space has and always will be an enthralling setting to explore on film. Whether it be the grand operatic fantasies like the “Star Wars” and “Alien” franchises, of the more avant-garde fantastical artistic expressions like “2001: A Space Odyssey” or “Interstellar,” it always proves to be a d...
New ‘Star Wars’ film promises ‘The Rise of Skywalker’
Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press
April 12, 2019
Filed under Arts/Life, Film & TV
"No one is ever really gone," says the voice of Luke Skywalker in the first teaser trailer for "Star Wars: Episode IX," which audiences finally learned will be called "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" Friday at a fan event in Chicago. The closely guarded film from director J.J. Abrams will put an...
The Beach Bum
Michael Brezinski, Staff Writer
April 8, 2019
Filed under Arts/Life, Film & TV
Harmony Korine has made a career for himself out of being America’s resident cinematic rule-breaker. Ever since his wildly controversial feature film screenwriting debut “Kids” rocked the way modern youth had been portrayed on screen in the U.S., Korine has gone for the kill in making a brand for h...
“Game of Thrones”: 5 must-see episodes
Kevin Donahue, Contributing Writer
April 8, 2019
Filed under Arts/Life, Film & TV
To watch every episode of Game of Thrones would take 2 days, 15 hours and 30 minutes. That is over 63 hours of one of the most talked-about shows ever. However, many people may be out of the loop come April 14. That is when the first episode of the final season of Game of Thrones will air on HBO. ...
What’s Fresh on Hulu
Lacey Latch, Arts & Life Editor
April 8, 2019
Filed under Arts/Life, Film & TV
Shrill “Saturday Night Live” staple Aidy Bryant takes the lead for the first time in this Hulu Original series which follows the life of a full-figured young woman who is unhappy with multiple facets of her life and looking for a change with everything but her body. After attending a “Fat Girl Pool P...
‘Climax’: A dance-filled, drug-fueled horror flick
Holyn Thigpen, Contributing Writer
March 17, 2019
Filed under Arts/Life, Film & TV
Certifiably insane dancers, deadly snowstorms, LSD-spiked sangria…no, I’m not describing the contents of a paranoiac nightmare, but rather, Argentine-French director Gaspar Noé’s newest horror flick, “Climax.” Noé has never shied from absolutely shattering audiences’ moral parameters (...
Music Box to host independent film retrospectives
Michael Brzezinski, Staff Writer
March 17, 2019
Filed under Arts/Life, Film & TV
There is a lot to admire in the Chicago film scene and its history. It might also be safe to say that the scene in the city as a whole is epitomized in the form of the historic Music Box Theatre. Chicago’s famed theatrical landmark is known for so many amazing things, primarily its very broad and di...
Isn’t it Romantic
Holyn Thigpen, Contributing Writer
March 13, 2019
Filed under Arts/Life, Film & TV
“Isn’t It Romantic” delights in its own tongue-in-cheek parodying of the rom-com genre, poking fun at the clichés and character archetypes pervasive in classic feel-good films. The premise is simple: Natalie, played by Rebel Wilson, awakens in a hospital bed after a violent mugging incide...
Brie Larson leads the entertaining, if familiar, ’90s-set superhero flick
Garret Neal, Staff Writer
March 11, 2019
Filed under Arts/Life, Film & TV
The end of “Avengers: Infinity War” was a downer and, to some, quite a shock. I heard of audience members staring in disbelief at the screen well past the credits. Tears streamed down viewers’ faces when Peter Parker reached and said, “Mr. Stark…I don’t feel so good.” But we were left ...