Writing for RogerEbert.com: Vol. 4
A surreal and wonderful event occurred during my coverage of the 90th Academy Awards for RogerEbert.com. I was in the official press room surrounded by 200 other journalists, including Ebert […]
Tag Archives: Columbia College Chicago
Top 20 Films of 2017: Part I
Over the past 11 years I’ve spent on the movie beat in Chicago, there have never been as many contenders for my annual “best of” list as there are in […]
CIFF 2017: “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” “The Shape of Water” and Eight More to Remember
The 53rd Chicago International Film Festival is now complete, and my mind is swimming with countless flickering images that have become forever etched into my consciousness. I was honored to […]
Emer Kinsella on “Jungle,” “Faith,” Hack Music LA and More
Ever since she moved to Los Angeles last year, I have been following the career of Emer Kinsella with great interest. She is a composer and experimental violinist who has […]
Emer Kinsella on a Life in Music
While covering a Columbia Links fundraiser held last summer at the childhood home of Ernest Hemingway, I was entranced by the live music performed throughout the evening by film composer […]
Brad Bischoff on “The Grasshopper”
Let’s forgo beating around the bush and cut to the chase: Brad Bischoff is one of the most exciting writer/directors in the Chicagoland area. He’s made several short films, many […]
Sean J.S. Jourdan on “Teddy Boy”
There’s something a bit off about James (Joey Bicicchi) as soon as he appears in the couple’s driveway. He identifies himself as a tennis player in town for a tournament, […]
Jim Hemphill on “The Trouble with the Truth”
He was the American journalist who vanishes after the Chilean coup d’état in Costa-Gavras’ 1982 classic, “Missing.” She was Marty McFly’s mother in Robert Zemeckis’ ageless 1985 crowd-pleaser, “Back to […]
Love Is Honesty: The Catharsis of “Almost There”
There’s a brief close-up that occurs early on in Dan Rybicky and Aaron Wickenden’s documentary, “Almost There,” of hands covered in glitter, those infuriating particles so often caked onto supposedly […]
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 […]
Indie Outlook 