Chicago Reader

Self-delusion is the principal subject of this short, acerbic comedy by Nathan Silver.

Posted Dec 21, 2018

3/4

Shoplifters (Manbiki kazoku) (2018)

Kore-eda is at his best when he's suppressing his sentimentality, not when he's indulging it, but like his characters, fans of this inspired filmmaker must learn to take the good with the bad.

Posted Dec 20, 2018

People's Republic of Desire (2018)

In this thematic emphasis, Wu points to the hollowness of a lot of Internet culture-his subjects are bound by a desire to lose themselves in a fleeting sense of fame.

Posted Dec 19, 2018

I, Robot (2004)

It's much more of an action flick than either Metropolis or Blade Runner, but there's a provocative and visionary side to this free adaptation of Isaac Asimov's SF classic that puts it in the same thoughtful canon.

Posted Dec 14, 2018

Event Horizon (1997)

The pits.

Posted Dec 14, 2018

2/4

The 20th Annual Animation Show of Shows (2018)

More amusing than inspired; my favorite works in the program provided me with momentary delight rather than lasting astonishment.

Posted Dec 13, 2018

Charm City (2018)

Filmmaker Marilyn Ness gains extraordinary access to her subjects and apparently their trust.

Posted Dec 13, 2018

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1994)

Gus Van Sant adapts Tom Robbins's comic, countercultural novel of the 70s... and while the results are both cheerful and occasionally inventive, they can't hold a candle to his previous features.

Posted Dec 10, 2018

Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)

Predictably slapdash but indefatigably good-natured and sometimes funny to boot.

Posted Dec 6, 2018

Overlord (1975)

An interesting failure, this rarely seen 1975 English feature about World War II combines documentary and fictional elements, though they tend to undermine each other.

Posted Dec 3, 2018

Species (1995)

In spite of all its unexplained and semiridiculous plot premises it works surprisingly well as a genre exercise, perhaps because, like Alien, it knows how to exploit misogynist biological and sexual anxieties for all they're worth.

Posted Dec 2, 2018

4/4

The Favourite (2018)

As the intrigue heightens in The Favourite, so do the film's surreal touches.

Posted Nov 30, 2018

3/4

Burning (Beoning) (2018)

The film paints vivid portraits of three distinct characters and inspires sympathy with a bewildered protagonist; moreover, it depicts a particular social milieu in such a way that one comes to see it as existing beyond the subjects' control.

Posted Nov 30, 2018

2/4

Outlaw King (2018)

Outlaw King might be summarized as one big lapse in good sense for David Mackenzie.

Posted Nov 29, 2018

3/4

Dovlatov (2018)

Dovlatov takes the novel approach of dramatizing just six days in the protagonist's life. And where traditional biopics devote at least some time to the subjects' creative achievements, Dovlatov is concerned exclusively with the hero's failures.

Posted Nov 29, 2018

At Eternity's Gate (2018)

Dafoe fully commits to his performance, as does Schnabel to the painter's vision and humanity.

Posted Nov 25, 2018

3/4

Museum (Museo) (2018)

Even after the story runs out, it's still a joy to watch.

Posted Nov 16, 2018

Overlord (2018)

Overlord takes many elements you've seen before and creates a mashup that's able to deliver some gory fun, riveting suspense, zombie horrors, and terrifying depictions of modern war in equal measure.

Posted Nov 16, 2018

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)

The Crimes of Grindelwald feels hollow and disconnected, like it could have been made by anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of Rowling's wizarding world.

Posted Nov 15, 2018

1/4

The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018)

Noah Berlatsky

Lisbeth Salander has suffered a great deal. But turning her into a vehicle for overdetermined, conscienceless violence still hurts.

Posted Nov 9, 2018

Boy Erased (2018)

Kidman delivers a delicate and nuanced performance as usual, while Edgerton's take on the manipulative head therapist is disturbingly accurate.

Posted Nov 8, 2018

Suspiria (2018)

Guadagnino is so intent on fulfilling his vision he doesn't seem to have room for any perspective besides his own, leaving the women in his narrative underserved in spite of his incredibly skilled efforts.

Posted Nov 1, 2018

3/4

Monrovia, Indiana (2018)

These are lovely images, but they leave a disturbing aftertaste. The final take away from Monrovia, Indiana, is that the town is a great place to be an inanimate object.

Posted Nov 1, 2018

Love, Gilda (2018)

It's Radner's voice-especially when describing her struggles with food, fame, and men-that shines brightest.

Posted Nov 1, 2018

Beautiful Boy (2018)

The leads are superb, buoyed by Amy Ryan as Nic's mom, Maura Tierney as his stepmother, and LisaGay Hamilton in a moving cameo.

Posted Oct 26, 2018

4/4

Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)

Dmitry Samarov

McCarthy and Grant are both note-perfect in their portrayal of two people at the end of their rope who have no business being friends, or getting away with as much as they do, or having such a good time along the way.

Posted Oct 26, 2018

4/4

Private Life (2018)

Private Life [is] such an affecting-and ultimately devastating-work.

Posted Oct 26, 2018

Halloween (2018)

There are gaping plot holes and characters make idiotic decisions, but watching three generations of women take on Myers-with some great callbacks to the original-is irresistibly satisfying.

Posted Oct 25, 2018

Hunter Killer (2018)

The film is largely uncontroversial, save for a climax that could double as an advertisement for the Navy and America itself.

Posted Oct 25, 2018

3/4

The Oath (2018)

One thing that's admirable about The Oath is that Barinholtz never apologizes.

Posted Oct 18, 2018

Dominick and Eugene (1988)

The film's shameless efforts to reach for the jugular mainly land in bathos.

Posted Oct 17, 2018

The Hate U Give (2018)

The filmmakers understand their characters so thoroughly that the insights seem to grow organically from their experiences. This is American studio filmmaking at its finest.

Posted Oct 12, 2018

Black '47 (2018)

The movie sits in a murky place between appropriately weary historical drama and a more nimble action-Western hybrid, spurred by an outlaw's revenge

Posted Oct 12, 2018

Wolkenbruchs wunderliche Reise in die Arme einer Schickse (2018)

This Swiss-German romantic comedy delivers on its whimsical title.

Posted Oct 10, 2018

Volcano (2018)

Unfortunately Bondarchuk doesn't have as much to contemplate as he lets on; the movie often disintegrates into superficial art-film moodiness.

Posted Oct 10, 2018

Transit (2019)

...the characters' very realistic reactions to the increasingly encroaching violence means their stories hit home.

Posted Oct 10, 2018

Too Late to Die Young (2018)

In fact the film is so commanding in its presentation of social rituals and the natural world that it takes a while for the story to come into focus, yet for all the loping camera movements and narrative digressions, this never feels meandering.

Posted Oct 10, 2018

Sofia (2018)

Kathleen Sachs

Compelling by virtue of its insight into the struggles faced by women and impoverished people in other parts of the world, the film is also a sad reminder that those same people are often the ones responsible for drawing attention to those injustices.

Posted Oct 10, 2018

Retablo (2017)

Alvaro Delgado Aparicio examines societal notions of masculinity, and how an artistic temperament can be both a vulnerability and a lifeline in a harsh world.

Posted Oct 10, 2018

Rafiki (2018)

It's hard to escape the feeling that the film is basically an extended public service announcement; Kahiu has few discernible goals apart from drawing attention to an important subject.

Posted Oct 10, 2018

Non-Fiction (2019)

In terms of surface tone, this is one of the airiest things the director has made, though what it has to say about the Internet is as unsettling as Demonlover...

Posted Oct 10, 2018

In the Aisles (In den Gängen) (2018)

Stuber refuses to allow any action his protagonist Christian (Franz Rogowski) takes to truly go anywhere.

Posted Oct 10, 2018

Hard Paint (Tinta Bruta) (2018)

Jamie Ludwig

Hard Paint explores what makes a true human connection in an era when emotional and sexual gratification can be obtained with a click.

Posted Oct 10, 2018

The Great Buster: A Celebration (2018)

Peter Bogdanovich brings his formidable knowledge of movies to bear in this incisive portrait of Buster Keaton...

Posted Oct 10, 2018

The Good Girls (Las niñas bien) (2018)

With this subtle drama about high-society social maneuvering, writer-director Alejandra Márquez Abella essentially transplants Edith Wharton's thematic concerns to Mexico City in 1982.

Posted Oct 10, 2018

Friedkin Uncut (2018)

Dmitry Samarov

Unfortunately, Francesco Zippel's fawning, cookie-cutter tribute is nothing more than an add-on for a DVD box set, were they still making those.

Posted Oct 10, 2018

Facing the Wind (Con el Viento) (2018)

Marissa De La Cerda

The film considers the issue of uprooting in all its complexity.

Posted Oct 10, 2018

The Etruscan Smile (2018)

Marissa De La Cerda

It's a quiet film, full of pain, love, life, and death that highlights generational divides. Brezis and Binnun offer little camera movement, making for simple shots that show the characters' emotional complexity.

Posted Oct 10, 2018

Diane (2018)