|
3/4
|
61%
|
Valentin (2004) |
"
The film is plenty charming, but lacks a connection to its time and place that would put Valentin's dilemma in context."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted May 21, 2004
|
|
3/4
|
84%
|
The Seagull's Laughter (Mávahlátur) (2001) |
"
Writer-director Agust Gudmundsson skillfully balances romantic comedy and melodrama with a coming-of-age story and morality play."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted May 6, 2004
|
|
3.5/4
|
90%
|
James' Journey to Jerusalem (2004) |
"
This wise, clever Israeli film reintroduces the once-popular concept of film as allegory, as it follows a Christian pilgrim on his bumpy road to salvation."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Mar 11, 2004
|
|
2/4
|
64%
|
Koroshiya 1 (Ichi the Killer) (2001) |
"
Any serious message has been sacrificed on the altar of excess, making us realize why the stylish story probably worked better as a graphic comic book than as a film."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Oct 23, 2003
|
|
3/4
|
92%
|
Secret Lives - Hidden Children and Their Rescuers During WWII (2001) |
"
The overriding sense one gets from this short but powerful film is awe."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Sep 4, 2003
|
|
4/4
|
83%
|
Stone Reader (2003) |
"
Moskowitz may soon find himself in the same boat as many of the artists he is analyzing, because Stone Reader is going to be one tough act to follow."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jul 10, 2003
|
|
3.5/4
|
72%
|
Bonhoeffer (2003) |
"
[A] well-crafted film."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jun 26, 2003
|
|
3/4
|
82%
|
Charlotte Sometimes (2003) |
"
Byler is too savvy a filmmaker to let this morph into a typical romantic triangle. Instead, he focuses on the anguish that can develop when one mulls leaving the familiar to traverse uncharted ground."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted May 1, 2003
|
|
2/4
|
——
|
S.O.S. Planet (2002) |
"
Though its intentions are honorable, SOS Planet turns out to be more convoluted than motivational."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Feb 19, 2003
|
|
4/4
|
79%
|
Daughter from Danang (2004) |
"
It rapidly develops into a gut-wrenching examination of the way cultural differences and emotional expectations collide."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Feb 13, 2003
|
|
.5/4
|
10%
|
Darkness Falls (2003) |
"
A lamebrained attempt at horror that is just a derivative pastiche of ideas lifted from other bad films."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jan 23, 2003
|
|
3/4
|
82%
|
Shanghai Ghetto (2002) |
"
A salute to those who were blessed not only with savvy and courage, but something between an uncanny sense of foresight and an unforeseen stroke of good fortune."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jan 16, 2003
|
|
1/4
|
19%
|
Just Married (2003) |
"
I laughed exactly once during the whole film."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jan 9, 2003
|
|
3/4
|
81%
|
Biggie and Tupac (2002) |
"
You don't need to know your Ice-T's from your Cool-J's to realize that as far as these shootings are concerned, something is rotten in the state of California."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jan 9, 2003
|
|
3.5/4
|
100%
|
Fudoh: The New Generation (2000) |
"
If you're a connoisseur of this type of gory head-banging, you should be impressed."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Dec 19, 2002
|
|
3/4
|
67%
|
Berlin Babylon (2000) |
"
This film would be an excellent companion piece to Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire, which deals with angels looking down on this scarred city."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Dec 13, 2002
|
|
3.5/4
|
40%
|
Some Body (2001) |
"
[Bennett's] quite convincing as she tries to figure out what has gone wrong in her personal life -- and how she can fix it before it is too late."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Nov 14, 2002
|
|
3/4
|
63%
|
Cuba Feliz (2002) |
"
A quasi-documentary by French filmmaker Karim Dridi that celebrates the hardy spirit of Cuban music."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Oct 17, 2002
|
|
2.5/4
|
100%
|
Kwik Stop (2001) |
"
This is the debut feature for Columbia College graduate Gilio, and it shows great promise."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Oct 10, 2002
|
|
2/4
|
54%
|
Uzumaki (2002) |
"
Gussied up with so many distracting special effects and visual party tricks that it's not clear whether we're supposed to shriek or laugh."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Oct 3, 2002
|
|
3/4
|
57%
|
Pantaleon y las Visitadoras (2002) |
"
Goofy but enjoyable."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Sep 27, 2002
|
|
2.5/4
|
60%
|
Crop Circles: Quest for Truth (2002) |
"
Less a pure documentary than it is a fact-finding mission, with the real story waiting to be presented somewhere down the line."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Sep 26, 2002
|
|
3/4
|
69%
|
Kaosu (Chaos) (Hideo Nakata's Chaos) (2003) |
"
It's a difficult film to follow and figure out (I've only seen it once), and yet there is something mesmerizing about the way director Nakata whips the tale to a frenzy and drags us in."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Sep 5, 2002
|
|
2/4
|
71%
|
Chain Camera (2001) |
"
Absorbing in places, but considering the large and diverse pool the filmmakers had to draw from, it's a surprisingly repetitive and predictable collection of big-city sagas."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Aug 29, 2002
|
|
3/4
|
64%
|
Eisenstein (2002) |
"
If you're content with a clever pseudo-bio that manages to have a good time as it doles out pieces of the famous director's life, Eisenstein delivers."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Aug 22, 2002
|
|
1.5/4
|
33%
|
Secret Society (2001) |
"
Starts out with tremendous promise, introducing an intriguing and alluring premise, only to fall prey to a boatload of screenwriting cliches that sink it faster than a leaky freighter."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Aug 15, 2002
|
|
4/4
|
100%
|
The Big Heat (2001) |
"
In many ways, Fritz Lang's The Big Heat, scripted by former crime reporter Sydney Boehm, laid the groundwork not only for "Dirty Harry," but for the whole sub-genre of 'rogue cop' films that began to surface during the Vietnam era."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jul 20, 2002
|
|
3.5/4
|
88%
|
Late Marriage (2002) |
"
One of those welcome visitors, a movie that turns out to be much more than we expected."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jul 20, 2002
|
|
3.5/4
|
96%
|
Johnny Guitar (1954) |
"
One of those classic westerns that has maintained its status by reinventing itself every decade since its release in 1954."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jul 11, 2002
|
|
3/4
|
59%
|
Siddhartha (1973) |
"
Rather than living on as reminder of India in the early 1900s, the film now exists as a period piece of another sort, namely, as a cult film of the psychedelic era."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jul 11, 2002
|
|
3/4
|
100%
|
This Sporting Life (1963) |
"
It's impossible not to appreciate the remarkable performances (both Harris and Roberts were nominated for Oscars) or the realistic rugby scenes that earned Harris a broken leg."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jun 27, 2002
|
|
3/4
|
75%
|
Ivans XTC. (2002) |
"
I have no way of knowing exactly how much is exaggeration, but I've got a creepy feeling that the film is closer to the mark than I want to believe."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jun 27, 2002
|
|
3/4
|
87%
|
Home Movie (2001) |
"
Smith is careful not to make fun of these curious owners of architectural oddities. Instead, he shows them the respect they are due."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jun 27, 2002
|
|
2.5/4
|
54%
|
The Cherry Orchard (2000) |
"
Any Chekhov is better than no Chekhov, but it would be a shame if this was your introduction to one of the greatest plays of the last 100 years."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Apr 4, 2002
|
|
2.5/4
|
90%
|
Adanggaman (2001) |
"
There are ... images that are shocking and disturbing."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Mar 21, 2002
|
|
|
95%
|
The Endurance (2001) |
"
Most of all, it is a salute to Shackleton himself, whose calm and grace under extreme pressure helped guarantee that not a single crew member would be lost."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jan 3, 2002
|
|
3.5/4
|
89%
|
The Human Body (2001) |
"
My guess is that The Human Body will inspire more than a few enterprising young men and women to consider entering the fields of science and medicine."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Dec 29, 2001
|
|
2/4
|
15%
|
The Affair of the Necklace (2001) |
"
Shyer ... exhibits little flair for the ebb and flow of a costume caper movie."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Dec 24, 2001
|
|
1.5/4
|
2%
|
Texas Rangers (2001) |
"
The end result may not be a full-blown disaster, but it comes close."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Dec 6, 2001
|
|
3/4
|
67%
|
Une Vraie Jeune Fille (A Real Young Girl) (A Real Young Lady) (2000) |
"
An intelligent coming-of-age story about a girl who realizes, for better or for worse, that there's no turning back."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Nov 15, 2001
|
|
|
55%
|
Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha (1999) |
"
Ultimately a disappointment because it refuses to take any aspect of itself seriously."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Oct 19, 2001
|
|
|
71%
|
New York Beat Movie (Downtown 81) (2001) |
"
Gives us a glimpse of the city as it was, suggesting that there was something revolutionary, even inspiring, about those days of not-so yore."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Sep 20, 2001
|
|
|
42%
|
China - The Panda Adventure (2000) |
"
If you can ignore the cookie-cutter story and wooden characters and focus instead on the natural wonders that are passing us by as we travel up the Yangtze, chances are good that you won't be disappointed."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Sep 13, 2001
|
|
|
4%
|
Soul Survivors (2000) |
"
The concept of the story is far more interesting than the finished product, which is standard fare at best."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Sep 13, 2001
|
|
|
91%
|
Cure (1998) |
"
Once again [Kurosawa] takes on a familiar genre, the murder mystery, but he imbues it with so much angst and psychological juice that it takes on a life of its own."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Aug 16, 2001
|
|
|
53%
|
The Young Girl and the Monsoon (2001) |
"
Kinney is solid, as usual, but it is young Muth who gobbles up the screen."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jul 20, 2001
|
|
|
90%
|
Our Song (2001) |
"
Rich with scenes of affection, anger and reconciliation, along with moments of unfeigned humor."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jul 5, 2001
|
|
3.5/4
|
89%
|
Himalaya (L'Enfance d'un Chef) (Caravan) (1999) |
"
Juxtaposes breathtaking cinematography with an ancient, almost epic story."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jul 5, 2001
|
|
|
86%
|
The Closet (Le Placard) (2001) |
"
We are left with a mildly amusing comedy and the lingering memory of a sterling cast that deserved better material."
—
Chicago Tribune
Posted Jul 5, 2001
|
87%
24%
91%
85%
45%
40%
