Ognjen Glavonić on “The Load”
There’s a scene early on in Serbian writer/director Ognjen Glavonić’s profoundly tense narrative feature debut, “The Load,” that is worthy of Hitchcock. A police car gradually appears in the side […]
Tag Archives: Terrence Malick
Dazzling “Cielo” Provides Dose of Spiritual Awareness
Alison McAlpine’s documentary “Cielo” is the sort of meditative tone poem guaranteed to evoke moments in life that altered your perception of existence. That first ride on a plane where […]
Indie Flashback: David Lowery on “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”
The following interview was originally published on August 27th, 2013 at HollywoodChicago.com. Even if “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints” hadn’t premiered this year, snagging two Sundance awards in the process, 2013 […]
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 […]
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 […]
CIFF 2015 Preview: “Anomalisa,” “James White” and Six More
There comes a point when a film festival turns from a casual diversion and into an obsession. That happened to me last year during the Chicago International Film Festival, when […]
Indie Outlook: Third Anniversary
Nothing excites me more than discovering an artist whose work is unlike anything I’ve seen before. The third year of Indie Outlook, my labor of love devoted to covering cinema’s […]
All Things Shining in Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life”
Four years ago this month, Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. I published the following piece at HollywoodChicago.com on June 3, 2011. “Where is […]
Malick, Lincoln and “The Better Angels”
I saw A.J. Edwards’ “The Better Angels” on a double bill with “The Thin Red Line,” Terrence Malick’s 1998 war epic that deserves to be experienced in its full majesty […]
CIFF 2014: Six Films to Remember
As a lifelong movie lover, it made my heart swell to see the AMC River East 21 jam-packed over the last two weeks with crowds vying for rush tickets to […]
Indie Outlook 