Top 20 Films of 2019: Part I
It’s humbling to realize that out of the twenty films I’ve selected as the finest of the year, only a small handful have received a wide theatrical release. Such is […]
It’s humbling to realize that out of the twenty films I’ve selected as the finest of the year, only a small handful have received a wide theatrical release. Such is […]
Witches have always cast a spell on me. The more they frightened me as a child, the more I loved them. A few years ago, I ranked my top ten […]
If Universal’s classic series of interlocking monster movies stands as the forbearer to Marvel’s current superhero franchise, then Dracula is surely the original Iron Man. His film was the one […]
“No bags allowed,” said the theater attendant. Initially, I was shocked. I had carried my laptop bag with me to film screenings for the last several years, but today was […]
Few performers in modern cinema have managed to reinvent themselves with as much spectacular success as Charlize Theron. Her various transformations over the last two decades have been astonishing to […]
There were three film critics whose work I read on a weekly basis while growing up in Northern Illinois: Roger Ebert at the Chicago Sun-Times, Michael Wilmington at the Chicago […]
Steven Spielberg is not only the undisputed king of summer movies, he invented them. Films were no longer mere entertainments, they were grand cultural events. The highest compliment one can […]
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, audiences around the country have two pieces of cheerfully dumb, studio-approved, hard R-rated pornography to choose from at mainstream theaters. One is Sam Taylor-Johnson’s […]
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 […]
There’s a reason why great works of art are built to last. They tap into universal themes that can be applied to any generation, any culture, any personal life experience. […]