“The Piano Lesson” is a theatrical play masquerading as a movie. Based on the 1987 play by August Wilson, the film adaptation is proof that sticking to a story’s theatrical roots can pay off on screen...

Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths” is a strikingly empathetic portrait of people on the fringes of society while simultaneously being in the midst of it. Re-teaming with Leigh twenty-eight years after their...

Wow! Not sure what else to say. This was my first experience with Gints Zilbalodis’ work – Latvian filmmaker, animator and director of “Flow” – and I can confidently say that I am a fan. “Flow”...

Flashes of the past and present are overlaid on top of one another throughout “Grand Tour.” A dance of motorcycles swirling around a roundabout is played simultaneously with footage of the Chinese...

A post-apocalyptic anti-musical overwhelmed with guilt and grief, Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The End” follows a billionaire family and the cracks that start to form when a young woman shows up in the...

The rarity of something like Jules Rosskam’s “Desire Lines” is reason enough for its existence. Woven in-between talking heads interviews with gay trans men speaking frankly about their experiences...

When did we lose the art of subtlety? Somewhere buried in the hour-and-a-half run time of “Nightbitch” is a truly fascinating story about motherhood, but the film’s reality is a sad case of no show...

The Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) brought the lights, cameras and action from the big screen to the Southport corridor for their Opening Night Block Party Oct. 11.  The second annual event...

The idea of the “influencer” is a relatively new yet endlessly debated concept in the world of digital media. Where celebrities’ personal lives were once the subject of gossip columns and trashy...

When the word “Chicago” is brought up in the entertainment industry, there are a number of famous faces that are immediately, intrinsically associated with the city — Bill Murray, Chance the Rapper,...

Beginning on Thursday, Oct. 14, the city of Chicago will once again be home to the Chicago International Film Festival — albeit with a Covid-enduced twist. The festival, which has celebrated international...

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused many events that we know and love to be cancelled this year. Music festivals, conventions and even our graduation ceremonies all got put on hold for the time being. However,...