Chicago film lovers will get the chance to mark off a massive chunk of their movie lists at the tenth annual Chicago Critics Film Festival (CCFF).
Author Archives: Maxwell Rabb
Posted inFilm
Review: Tetris
The real story is interesting enough without what seems like unnecessary sensationalism.
Posted inArts & Culture
Cycles of grief
Ecuador celebrates the New Year with fire and ashes. Every year’s final day is defined by reflection and renewal as people erect bonfires to burn painted effigies assembled from old clothes, sawdust, and papier-mâché. These figures, the año viejos, embody the misfortunes of the previous year. Together, Ecuadorians engage in the ritual of rejuvenation, discarding […]
Posted inArts & Culture
An art gallery for the living room
“Most of the time, the ideas come to us. They are falling into our net,” says Jonas Mueller-Ahlheim, co-founder of the sspatz collective. When pandemic lockdowns closed art galleries in 2020, Mueller-Ahlheim and fellow sspatz cofounder, Thomas Georg Blank, were already hoping to reimagine art venues. Suddenly, their idea coincided with reality, as the world […]
Posted inFilm
Review: Full Time
Julie, a single mother of two played by Laure Calamy, lives in the Parisian suburbs but works tirelessly as the head housemaid for a five-star hotel located in the heart of Paris. Her daily routine begins by waking up the children and gathering herself for a lengthy, claustrophobic commute. Once she drops the children off […]
Posted inFilm
Review: All That Breathes
“Delhi is a gaping wound,” says Mohammad Saud in director Shaunak Sen’s Oscar-nominated documentary All That Breathes. The documentary opens at night, fixed on a horde of rats racing across an otherwise arid wasteland. For longer than expected, Sen leaves the audience with the vermin before introducing the skies, narrowing in on the black kite—a […]
Posted inTheater Review
Right To Be Forgotten questions how much the Internet should remember
Producing a commentary on the Internet is typically an exercise in redundancy, tasked with avoiding tropes beaten into media by shows like Black Mirror or 13 Reasons Why. At this point, we clearly understand that we live inseparably from our digital footprints as we inadvertently document our own legacies. Despite the risk of redundancy, the […]
Posted inFilm
FIRSTHAND: Life After Prison illuminates the challenges of reentry for five Chicagoans
FIRSTHAND: Life After Prison offers audiences an intimate, compassionate look into the experiences of people attempting to restart their lives after incarceration.
Posted inFood & Drink
Boozy tiki drinks, Cantonese cuisine, and Elvis Live!
The parking lot is full, illuminated by a fading yellow sign adorned with a tiki drink and a palm tree. Unassumingly tucked away in North Riverside, just west of Chicago, Chef Shangri-La is preparing for a lively night—not uncommon for the suburban mainstay. The entire restaurant is bustling, packed with families that fill the festively […]
Posted inFilm
Review: No Bears
Panahi’s latest film interrogates the limits of art, placing cinema and documentation under a critical eye.
Posted inFilm
Review: Living
Living is the remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 film, Ikiru, but director Oliver Hermanus and novelist Kazuo Ishiguro managed to gracefully reimagine this sentimental film.
Posted inFilm
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Glass Onion introduces us to the eclectic cast of characters with a puzzling invitation. And I mean that literally.
Posted inFilm
One of a kind
The 28th Black Harvest Film Festival, hosted at the Gene Siskel Film Center, invites Chicago to experience a rich selection of films devoted to amplifying Black storytelling and promoting the careers of young filmmakers.
