A revelatory, vérité-style documentary that should go down as one of the year’s defining films, “No Other Land” exposes Israel’s relentless campaign of violence against the Palestinian community of Masafer Yatta in a southern area of the occupied West Bank.  Having lived in their villages since the 19th century, the local population faces the threat of mass […]

Amidst the grim offerings of the Chicago International Film Festival, I found myself comforted by a trio of documentaries, which enchant in their reminder that the hope of renewal and transformation is never too far away. A son trying to connect with his mother amid her late-stage dementia, the construction of an iconic Chicago monument, […]

In its 28th year of showcasing films at the Chicago International Film Festival, the Black Perspectives Program has put archival classics back on the big screen, giving them the ability to impact new audiences in new ways. With the power of 4K restorative technology, meaning the visual and audio of a film are remastered and […]

Back in the mid-1970s, the great Robert Altman was reportedly planning a film of Kurt Vonnegut’s 1973 best-seller “Breakfast of Champions,” his wild, satirical novel aiming at the increasingly brutal nature of American society. It would follow two characters crossing paths: Dwayne Hoover, a big-shot car dealer in Midland City who seems to have it […]

It’s the time of year when even casual fans are looking for something spooky to watch, but where do you begin? Of course, all the streaming services have robust catalogs of some of the best that the horror genre has ever offered, but maybe you want to catch up with something from this year too? […]

“I was doing a soap opera in New York. One day, somebody called me and asked if I could come out to Gary, Indiana,” recalls actor J. A. Preston. “Gary, Indiana? Are you crazy?” The film that would bring Preston to Indiana was director Ivan Dixon’s audacious adaptation of Sam Greenlee’s radical novel “The Spook […]

It’s a tough time to be a fan of the political world in that it’s, well, basically on fire. And so it’s an interesting choice to drop the 6-episode second season of Netflix’s Emmy-nominated “The Diplomat” into the vitriolic stew that passes for international politics in late 2024. Someone must have decided that a season […]

The Best Movies category awards the best-reviewed film regardless of their release, whether they went straight to streaming or swung onto the silver screen. Spider-Man: No Way Home became the mega-cultural event that would entice moviegoers back into theaters, and it lived up to the hype for critics, as well. It was a music-filled year […]

Synopsis The Madrigals are an extraordinary family who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia in a charmed place called the Encanto. The magic of the Encanto has blessed every child in the family with a unique gift — every child except Mirabel. However, she soon may be the Madrigals last hope when she discovers […]