Starting October 11, CIFF will once again grace the halls of the Music Box Theatre (and a number of other local venues), delivering 150 films from more than a dozen countries to movie lovers across Chicago.
Category: Film
Reeling returns
Reeling International Film Festival is back to showcase a dizzying array of LGBTQ+ content, from campy horror to historical documentaries.
Review: A Haunting in Venice
A Haunting in Venice officially derails Kenneth Branagh’s rebooted Agatha Christie films.
Review: The Nun II
The Catholic horror wheel isn’t reinvented, but the jump scares are so nonstop and occasionally clever that I was left wondering: is this the most fun I’ve had at the movies all summer?
Review: My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3
In spite of its third-film shortcomings, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 has some genuine laughs and a healthy dose of heart.
Review: Our Body
The political is found firsthand to be personal, here through an assemblage of intimate vignettes, and thus it becomes all the more impactful when the director joins the ranks, a stand-in for our collective body.
Review: Dumb Money
Any cash and time moviegoers choose to spend on Dumb Money will be well invested, indeed.
Review: El Conde
Power and money will scoop out your soul, and fascism is very hard to kill. The real Pinochet died in 2006, but those particular truths, unfortunately, live on.
Review: The Equalizer 3
There are dad movies, and then there’s the Equalizer, a John Wick-adjacent franchise composed of 50 percent semi-retired assassin Denzel Washington inflicting bone-crunching violence on the criminals of the world, and 50 percent average Joe Denzel Washington performing community service with a smile. Neither of the first two movies in the series are all that […]
Review: Joyce Carol Oates: A Body in the Service of Mind
For nearly ten years, Stig Björkman endeavored to get Joyce Carol Oates on board for a documentary. At first, Oates denied his request, opting to keep her life and mind private. But eventually, the beloved American author accepted Björkman’s proposal, which, admittedly, seemed to verge on incessant prying. Joyce Carol Oates: A Body in the […]
Review: The Mountain
On a whim, Pierre, a robotics engineer played by Thomas Salvador (also a cowriter and director), abandons his comfortable life in Paris. Before traveling to the French Alps for work, he sits sullenly in his modern apartment, deep in thought, sipping an espresso alone. Immediately, we see that Pierre is contemplative, often lost in thought, […]
Hello CUFF
The Chicago Underground Film Festival is back, and the longest-running fest devoted to the subculture of movies has quite a variety of attractions.
Review: Bottoms
Just gather your nonsqueamish WLW friends and go see Bottoms immediately.
Documenting the ‘pure childhood joy’ of baseball
Solutions for violence disruption often fall on the shoulders of politicians and policymakers, but one youth baseball league is tackling the issue through the power of organized sports, as highlighted in an upcoming documentary.
Review: The Eternal Memory
In the remarkable documentary The Eternal Memory, director Maite Alberdi brings us one of the most heartfelt renditions of life, love, and memory in recent years of cinema.