Chicago Tribune: Michael Phillips
Since his documentary on the peculiar tastes and hypocrisy of the Motion Picture Association of America rating system (easy on violence, harder on everything else), filmmaker Kirby Dick has upped his technical and design game. "Outrage," in which Dick urges closeted politicians to quit the charade and own up to who they are, is a more artfully assembled doc than the earlier "This Film Is Not Yet Rated." more
Chicago Tribune: Michael Phillips
After "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," which exists primarily for its 7-Eleven Slurpee tie-in, the world needed a better franchise product, one that works with an audience rather than simply working it over. more
Chicago Tribune: Michael Phillips
"Battle for Terra" twists the premise of "The War of the Worlds" so that the invading aliens are humans, homeless (Earth is no more, owing to a war with colonies from neighboring planets) and desperate to find a new life-supporting residence. The invaded are noseless, tadpole-like creatures with dewy alien eyes, heretofore living a peaceful life devoted to the liberal arts and hang-gliding. more
Chicago Tribune: Michael Phillips
If you look up the word "typecasting" in the dictionary, you'll find Matthew McConaughey's smirk affixed to the title "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past." Nonetheless, director Mark Waters' Lothario-learns-a-lesson comedy is better than its already sour reputation. more
Chicago Tribune: Betsy Sharkey
There are endless ways to film a face, particularly one with such a rich landscape as Isaach De Bankole's - cheekbones rising sharply over deep valleys, thundercloud eyes gazing straight into the gathering storm, and a wide plain of a forehead riding high above. more
Chicago Tribune: Michael Phillips
Shot in Chicago two years ago, "The Merry Gentleman" isn't exactly merry, and its portrait of a hit man in existential crisis isn't daisy-fresh. But Michael Keaton's wry directorial debut will mean a lot to Chicago audiences interested in how their city's used on screen. more
Chicago Tribune: Michael Phillips
A chaotic headbanger, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" is saved from pure flat-footed blockbuster franchise adequacy by six things, three of them on Hugh Jackman's left hand, three on his right. more
Chicago Tribune: Michael Ordona
It's called "Fighting," and its unpolished, messy fracases are among the film's highlights. But there's much more to it than that: more than the easily sold idea of Channing Tatum as Shawn, a down-on-his-luck drifter, drawn by two-bit hustler Harvey (Terrence Howard) into New York's underground fighting scene; more than Shawn's romance with struggling single mother Zulay (Zulay Henao). more
Chicago Tribune: Michael Phillips
"You can't make it in this town unless you're willing to do some awful things," says the panicky-looking actor/doorman, and we see plenty of those things in "The Informers." The late Brad Renfro plays the doorman; the actor died earlier this year of a heroin overdose. If only he could've arranged for a better farewell picture. This one's a certifiable soul-sucker, dining out on its characters' venalities while wagging a finger at the horror, the horror. more
Chicago Tribune: Michael Phillips
"The Soloist" is a duet for homeless street musician and crusading columnist. Another way to put it: The film showcases a 102-piece orchestra, in which a yearning solo cello struggles, mightily, to be heard amid 101 Hollywood strings of schmaltz. more
