The quiet indie drama “Columbus” won’t win over many mainstream moviegoers, but cinema academic-turned-filmmaker Kogonada has crafted a visually immaculate feature debut that can be compared to little else.

Graceful and quite literally quiet, “Wonderstruck” makes for an unconventional (or at least uncommercial) family film, but one worth enduring thanks to director Todd Haynes, the cast and composer Carter Burwell. 

In 2012, I was at the peak of my film-watching powers and saw all kinds of smaller movies that critics loved but audiences generally didn’t find. This past year wasn’t a total return to movie-watching form, but I saw way more movies in 2017 than any of the previous four years to be sure (current […]

Chicago-centric writer/director Joe Swanberg has teamed up yet again with Netflix and his favorite everyman actor, Jake Johnson, for another straight-shooting comedic drama in “Win It All.” Although Swanberg bets once more on his honest-to-goodness, real people living everyday life approach to storytelling, this film has a much stronger narrative focus, marking another step forward […]

“Lucky” puts us squarely into the boots of a nonagenarian — the routine, the attitude and the unknown. We follow Lucky (Harry Dean Stanton) as he goes about his day in the tiny desert town where he lives and his interactions with everyone from the employees at his favorite diner to the convenience store clerk […]

Since it was announced, “Black Panther” has held the promise of something different from Marvel Studios. It’s been 10 years since the Marvel journey began with “Iron Man” and the narratives, spectacles and formula are in perpetual danger of wearing thin. Co-written and directed by Ryan Coogler (“Creed,” “Fruitvale Station”), “Black Panther” writes its own […]

Tonight is the night! As per usual, I wait until the last minute to make my predictions (just some of the major categories this year), and as per usual, you’ll see percentages of the chance each nominee has to win based on various factors, some of which is based on previous awards won, and some […]

The Academy Award for Best Picture has slowly taken on a life of its own, and anyone who confidently thinks they know who’ll win it in 2018 is a fraud.

My work is never done getting to all the most buzzed-about films in a given year, which is why I allow myself until right before the Oscars to publish this list each year, and even then I didn’t get to some in time (“Call Me By Your Name,” “Phantom Thread,” “Coco,” “I, Tonya,” “The Post”) […]

We normally associate Orlando, Florida with the vibrant commercialism and magic of Walt Disney World and the Universal Studios theme parks, but in the shadow of Cinderella’s castle lie motels like the Magic Castle, where indie filmmaker Sean Baker invites us to journey in “The Florida Project.”