Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park remains an innovative, groundbreaking and inspiring classic as it did when it was originally released 25 years ago in June. Shortly after the incident on Isla Nublar and the quick introduction of lawyer Donald Gennaro, the film really gets going with paleontologists Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and paleobotonist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) digging up a velociraptor in Montana. Their dig is shortly interrupted by a helicopter, which leads to Grant and Sattler…
"Jurassic Park Remains A Classic After 25 Years"Tag: Chicago Critics Film Festival
Beach Rats won’t be a film that appeals to the masses but Eliza Hittman delivers a quality film nevertheless. Written and directed by Eliza Hittman, the film stars Harris Dickinson, Madeline Weinstein, and Kate Hodge. Set in Brooklyn, Frankie (Dickinson) is struggling with who he is as his father is dying of cancer. He searches the internet to hookup with older men but he never really comes out as gay in the film. He chats…
"Beach Rats: Not Quite a Coming-Out Story"
Person to Person is certainly a unique film that has different story lines that don’t quite meet up like I had hoped for. Written and directed by Dustin Guy Defa, the New York-based movie stars Abbi Jacobson, Michael Cera, Tavi Gevinson, Michaela Watkins, Philip Baker Hall, Bene Coopersmith, George Sample III, Ben Rosenfield, Olivia Luccardi, and Isiah Whitlock. It’s a short film with a running time of only 84 minutes but there is so much…
"Person to Person unique but doesn’t intersect"
Releasing on Netflix this week, The Incredible Jessica James is one of the best comedies that I’ve seen this year. Written and directed by Jim Strouse, the comedy stars Jessica Williams, Chris O’Dowd, Lakeith Stanfield and Noël Wells. Zabryna Guevera, Taliyah Whitaker, Sarah Jones, Will Stephen, Susan Heyward, and Megan Ketch also star. Jessica Williams, The Daily Show alumnus, breaks out in her role as Jessica James, a young playwright in New York City. At…
"The Incredible Jessica James is innovative, genuine"
Director Christopher Nolan, whose new film Dunkirk hits theaters on Friday, had some not-so-nice things to say about Netflix and their aversion to theatrical releases. Nolan spoke with Indiewire this week in an interview. “Netflix has a bizarre aversion to supporting theatrical films,” Nolan said in an interview this week. “They have this mindless policy of everything having to be simultaneously streamed and released, which is obviously an untenable model for theatrical presentation. So they’re…
"Director Christopher Nolan declares war on Netflix"
The Little Hours returned to Chicago two months after its appearance in the Chicago Critics Film Festival and is one of the funniest movies of the year. Writer/Director Jeff Baena and star Aubrey Plaza were on hand for a Q&A session at two of screenings this weekend. Written for the screen and directed by Baena, the film stars Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Kate Micucci, Aubrey Plaza, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Fred Armisen, Jemima Kirke,…
"The Little Hours: One of The Most Hysterical Films of 2017"
David Lowery’s A Ghost Story closed out the Chicago Critics Film Festival with a nearly sold out crowd. Reuniting his Ain’t Them Bodies Saints co-stars, Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara, writer-director Lowery returned to Sundance this year with a film that could only be made as such. A story of this nature could not be done in any other medium, be it print or visual. Affleck stars as a white-sheeted ghost who returns to his…
"CCFF: A Ghost Story closes out festival"
Menashe brings Yiddish back to the big screen for the first time in some 60-70 years. Directed by Joshua Z Weinstein, this is his first narrative feature. The screenplay was written by Weinstein, Alex Lipschultz, and Musa Syeed. Starring Menashe Lustig, the film is loosely inspired by his life. Given that the film is in Yiddish with English subtitles, it will be interesting to see what will happen come awards season and whether it will…
"CCFF: Menashe brings Yiddish back to the big screen"
Mr. Roosevelt shows what happens when a struggling comedian returns home to Austin to bury her cat. It’s the directorial debut for Saturday Night Live alumnus Noël Wells. SNL may not be for everyone but that doesn’t mean that cast members can’t be successful following a short stint. Her performances in The Incredible Jessica James and her work on Mr. Roosevelt shows that a brief career on SNL isn’t the end of the world. She…
"CCFF: Mr. Roosevelt shows comedy, grief"
La Barracuda deals with family drama in a new way two half-sisters meet for the first time in Texas. Julia Halperin and Jason Cortlund direct from a screenplay written by Cortlund. The film stars Allison Tolman, Sophie Reid, JoBeth Williams, Luis Bordonada, Larry Jack Dotson, Butch Hancock, Bob Livingston, and The Mastersons. Sophie Reed stars as Sinaloa, a British woman whose mother has died and has come to Texas in order to meet her half-sister,…
"CCFF: La Barracuda is a new take on family drama"