Persona Non Grata: The Persona of 3 Women on Mulholland Drive
I wrote the following essay back in college and later presented it at the University of Notre Dame’s Midwest Undergraduate Film Conference. It was written for Dan Rybicky’s class on […]
Ten Underrated Performances in 2014
As the summer fades to black, critics are already bracing themselves for the aggressive onslaught of awards campaigns that will be vying for their attention in the coming months. We’ll […]
Indie Flashback: One Hour Photo
If any film was ever built for the 1.33:1 aspect ratio, it is music video director Mark Romanek’s deeply unsettling 2002 feature debut, “One Hour Photo.” I hadn’t seen the […]
How Hollywood Destroyed “The Giver”
Lois Lowry’s 1993 classic, “The Giver,” is a novel set in a deceptively utopian society where everything is literally black and white. People have a perfectly genial demeanor but there […]
O Captain! My Captain!
“Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild: With a faery, hand in hand. For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.” This infamous […]
Wandering in the Wilderness: Christian Indies of 2014
At its highest level, cinema can serve as a religious experience. It can strengthen our spiritual connection to the world around us while bringing us closer to life’s mysteries, illuminating […]
Seven Scenes by Joe Swanberg
In a recent interview with Moviemaker Magazine, Chicago’s trailblazing indie auteur Joe Swanberg was praised by writer Sean Hood for creating a “sustainable production model” based on creative tribalism. The […]
“Boyhood”: The Art of Winging It
Perched on the cusp of manhood, Mason (Ellar Coltrane) looks back on the narrative of his life and finds nothing but loose ends. “What’s the point?” he asks his father […]
How to Train Your Human
Interesting how two of this summer’s most entertaining and expertly crafted blockbusters are ultimately about the same thing. Dean DuBlois’ “How to Train Your Dragon 2” and Matt Reeves’ “Dawn […]
Sam Fleischner on “Stand Clear of the Closing Doors”
Though much of the Windy City’s indie buzz is focused on “Boyhood” this weekend, another film is set to open for a week-long run, and in the opinion of this […]
Indie Outlook 