9/10 I have to start this review off by clarifying that I have never actually read Truman Capote’s novels. My mother has told me a couple of times that In Cold Blood would scare the crap out of me (she’s probably right; Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Flannery O’ Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard [...]
5/10 Now normally, I don’t like to blog about things I don’t like be it albums, bands, films, etc. but if blogging about this saves someone from wasting two hours of his or her life, I’m all for it. This film was a bit of a disaster, despite the Chicago Reader review that talked kindly [...]
8.5 out of 10 Remember My So Called Life? It was my favorite show in high school. I was exactly Angela’s (or also Claire Dane’s) age and we were in the same grade. I felt like I was going through the exact same types of things she was going through. I’d look forward to every [...]
DEAR WENDY: 9/10 Well…when I heard this film was written by Lars Von Trier (Breaking the Waves, Dogville, Dancer in the Dark) and directed by Vinterberg, I figured I should see it. And when I heard that it was getting tacked with the dreaded “anti-American” label from pretty much critics across the board here (I [...]
Okay…while my favorite film of all time will probably always be Magnolia, I have to say the Princess Bride is definitely up there. I just finished watching it again (it had been at least a couple of months) and gleefully remembered some of my favorite lines as if I had just watched it yesterday. The [...]
This recently restored 1958 French film was shown at the Music Box (my favorite theater in Chicago). I hadn’t seen the non-restored version but from the reviews I read, it sounds like the restoration really improved the quality of the actual film medium. The other major treat besides the cinematography was the score by Miles [...]
Three films: The Brothers Grimm, Broken Flowers, and 2046 BROTHERS GRIMM: 7/10 Let me tell you something about American children. They don’t really like fairy tales. Oh yes, they love the idea of them and they will gleefully crowd around a reader as long as they feel safe enough in knowing that there’s always a [...]
I give this film an 8/10. I saw this film in Grant Park last night for the first time. The cinematography is brilliant and stark; also very well suited to the intensity of the film. It’s an astonishing and complex character study of what society coloquially terms a psychopath and what the DSM-IV calls a [...]
Maybe I should clarify and explain my rating system for films briefly. 10=Flawless or very very ahead of its time to justify seeing it. Brilliant and life changing. Not to be missed!! Why are you still at home? Get out there and see this film Films I put into this category (but not limited to): [...]
I often wonder what would happen if an alien really were to visit Earth. Best case scenario is the alien goes to the right place. If the alien landed in Canada, they might have the good sense to give him some Douglas Coupland books and a couple of bars of Coffee Crisp (because, it is [...]