Michael Gibson on Musicality
“Baby get moving / Why keep your feeble hopes alive? / What are you proving? / You’ve got the dream but not the drive.” So sang Michael Gibson, bringing down […]
Category Archives: Indie Spotlight
Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami on “Sonita”
Few moviegoing experiences from last year rivaled the sheer emotion of taking two of my cousins to see Iranian filmmaker Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami’s Sundance prize-winning documentary, “Sonita,” at the Chicago […]
My Letter from Mister Rogers
Though I attribute my happy childhood wholeheartedly to my parents, there were two people on television who enriched it beyond measure: Jim Henson and Fred Rogers. I simply couldn’t get […]
Top 100 Favorite Films: 2017 Edition
A few years ago, I was asked by a friend to rank my Top Five Favorite Films. It was so daunting to limit my list to only five titles that […]
Indie Outlook Picks the 2016 Nominees
With Oscar prognostications in full swing, I’m presenting my annual list at Indie Outlook of the five nominees I would personally select in nearly every category, including one that I […]
Top 20 Films of 2016: Part II
I’ve often referred to my all-time favorite films as the gifts that keep on giving. These aren’t pictures that can be fully experienced upon an initial viewing or even the […]
Top 20 Films of 2016: Part I
As we close the book on 2016, a year many of us would rather forget, it’s worth reflecting on the parts of it that are worth savoring—namely, the movies. This […]
Laura Bretan on Her Extraordinary Year
Of all the joyous moments on television this year, few were as memorable or as awe-inspiring as the audition of Northbrook’s own Laura Bretan on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.” Her […]
Jackey Neyman Jones on “Manos: The Hands of Fate”
“DO SOMETHING!” Joel Hodgson shouted at the screen while viewing Harold P. Warren’s staggeringly awkward 1966 curiosity, “Manos: The Hands of Fate,” on his hilarious program, “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” […]
Joost van Ginkel on “170 Hz,” “The Paradise Suite”
The structurally audacious, vividly nuanced work of Dutch filmmaker and playwright Joost van Ginkel has been one of my most cherished discoveries this year. His first feature, 2011’s “170 Hz,” […]
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