Jack C. Newell on “Open Tables”
Few filmmakers have attempted to mine the Windy City’s wealth of improv talent with as much tenacity and exuberance as Jack C. Newell. His first feature-length directorial effort, 2012’s “Close […]
Category Archives: New Releases
CIFF Exclusive: “12 Years a Slave”
American cinema has never shied away from depicting human atrocity through a historical prism, though the history is rarely that of its own country. Nearly 150 years after the abolition […]
CIFF Exclusive: In Praise of Long Takes
One of the most refreshing things about an international film festival is its utter disinterest in catering to America’s overly indulged demographics. Studios are so petrified to lose their audiences […]
Kill Bill: Top Ten Chapters
If Stuntman Mike had hallucinated while getting beaten to a pulp in the final moments of “Death Proof,” his gleefully nihilistic fantasy may not have looked all that different from […]
Chicago International Film Festival: 2013 Preview
The 49th Chicago International Film Festival, running from Thursday, October 10th through Thursday, October 24th, has the best line-up to hit the Windy City in ages. Indie Outlook will be […]
Damon Maulucci and Keir Politz on “Detonator”
Nothing shatters the dreams of youth quite like the inescapable march of adulthood. As soon as there are mouths to feed apart from one’s own, the days of uncertainty and […]
Indie Double Bill: “Short Term 12” and “Monsieur Lazhar”
Some movies are made to come in first at the box office or win overhyped accolades. Others are made because the filmmakers had to make them, not because of a […]
Gabe Klinger on “Double Play: James Benning and Richard Linklater”
Cinephiles in Chicago are in for a mightily enticing feast as the 25th Onion City Experimental Film and Video Festival comes to a close this weekend. A special sneak preview […]
Darren Orange and Lucas Thompson on “InSpectres”
Supernatural exterminators have rarely resorted to scrappier methods than in Darren Orange’s new horror satire, “InSpectres.” It’s an indie production bursting with ambition that has been made to fill a […]
“Ain’t Them Bodies Saints” Casts Haunting Spell
Claiming that David Lowery’s exquisitely accomplished feature, “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints,” is a mere imitation of Terrence Malick is about as shallow as labeling “There Will Be Blood” as a […]
Indie Outlook 