Features
The 4-Star Films of 2019
A collection of the reviews given our highest possible grade in 2019.
A collection of the reviews given our highest possible grade in 2019.
Some of our favorite performances of the year.
The latest on Blu-ray and streaming, including Alita: Battle Angel, Missing Link, Transit, Fast Color, Shazam, Ash is Purest White, and a Criterion edition of Do the Right Thing.
A review of two films making their Chicago debuts at CIFF this year from Christian Petzold and Olivier Assayas.
On two films from TIFF, including the Opening Night offering starring Chris Pine.
A report from Berlin on three new films from international auteurs.
A bunch of 2016 Oscar nominees and must-own Criterion releases just hit Blu-ray. Pick your favorite!
The writers of RogerEbert.com on some of our favorite performances of 2015.
"Vertigo" is an obvious inspiration for "Phoenix," but there are other films and books that the film brings to mind.
A review of "Phoenix," one of the best films of TIFF 2014.
This past Wednesday, German documentary filmmaker Harun Farocki passed away at the age of 70. An admirer and student remembers him, and reflects on the meaning of his work.
Marie writes: It's no secret that most Corporations are evil - or at the very least, suck big time. And while I have no actual proof, I'm fairly certain there is a special level of Dante's Hell reserved just for them. (Map of Dante's Hell.)That being the case, when my younger brother Paul wrote me about a cool project sponsored by Volkswagen, I was understandably wary and ready to denounce it sight-unseen as self-serving Corporate shyte. As luck would have it however, I was blessed at birth with curiosity and which got the better of me and why I took a look. For what I found was nothing less than extraordinary....
What does it take to get your film into a world class festival? That's the question asked with gleeful irreverence by "The Woman in the Septic Tank," which screened at the recently concluded 2012 Berlinale, one of the world's foremost festivals. This hilarious satire of international art filmmaking finds two aspiring auteurs sitting in a Manila café, jealously regarding a rival's Facebook photos taken at the Venice film fest. They vow to devise the ultimate movie to win festival audiences and prizes: a single mother of five suffering in the slums is forced to sell her son to a rich pedophile. But like Mel Brooks' "The Producers" (1968), the project gets out of hand, and before we know it we're watching a musical version with the pedophile singing "Is this the boy / who'll bring me endless hours of joy?" It's one of many delightful detours taken by these filmmakers seeking the road to art house glory.
UPDATED 10/16: Here are brief reviews of all the Chicago Film Festival movies we have seen, in alphabetical order, written by Bill Stamets and Roger Ebert. More will be added as we view them. For a full CIFF schedule, go to www.chicagofilmfestival.com or call (312) 332-FILM.
