The Boy and the Heron is a flawed, yet magical semi-autobiographical tale that spins gold out of our collective dreams and nightmares.
Author Archives: Andrea Thompson
Reeling returns
Reeling International Film Festival is back to showcase a dizzying array of LGBTQ+ content, from campy horror to historical documentaries.
Hello CUFF
The Chicago Underground Film Festival is back, and the longest-running fest devoted to the subculture of movies has quite a variety of attractions.
Review: Perpetrator
A girl walking home alone is such a classic beginning for a horror film that it’s a trope (and title) in itself. This particular opening lends itself to endless continuations and explorations, and when you have a director like Jennifer Reeder, an old story can get retold like no other.
Review: Red, White & Royal Blue
Those who desire mere fluff will be satisfied, but the reason the book became a sensation in the first place was its real awareness of the risks it took to truly build a better world. This groundbreaking love story deserved better.
Review: BAM!
There’s a refreshingly casual diversity that ensures BAM! isn’t only a love letter to Chicago, with many landmarks only natives will recognize, but also one of the best examples of what talented artists can achieve when they refuse to take making art itself for granted.
Pride at the movies
Here’s a list of recommended titles, with an unapologetic slant toward films screening in Chicago theaters.
Review: About My Father
What’s more American for the 1 percent than smiling in the face of blood money while hiding behind a family name and claiming to have the same interests as the very people they most despise?
Review: Polite Society
Nida Manzoor is out to smash far more than a wedding in the action-packed, deeply feminist satire Polite Society.
Review: Renfield
Get ready, because there’s yet another new take on Dracula. But no need to brace yourself, because Renfield feels surprisingly fresh.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Pick your fairy tale and you’ll find a reference, with astonishingly fun, creative action sequences in an animation style that owes more to anime than CGI.
Violent Night
Despite refusing to tip a few scales in the favor of those attempting to rob the rich to feed themselves, Violent Night still manages to conjure its own holiday miracle—the desire for a sequel in a market glutted with them.
The Star Wars Celebration laid bare a franchise in transition
The films’ diversity on-screen hasn’t yet made its way behind the camera—or to the four-day convention.
Sundance 2019 made a call for long-term change
There was also an emphasis on intersectionality and deeply personal filmmaking.