20 Films in 10 Years: How “Iron Man” Kicked Off the MCU
The last film I reviewed as a critic for my college paper, The Columbia Chronicle, prior to my graduation in May 2008, was Jon Favreau’s “Iron Man.” I gave it […]
Tag Archives: Inception
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 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 […]
Same Old Song: 8 Great Reuses of Movie Music
Quentin Tarantino was once quoted saying that no filmmaker should use a song that has already been powerfully featured in a previous picture. The irony is that Tarantino recycles iconic […]
Reel Essentials: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
There simply isn’t a more engaging and gifted actor in modern American cinema than Joseph Gordon-Levitt. As a lifelong fan who hasn’t seen a single episode of “3rd Rock From […]
Indie Outlook 