So with Scream 7   in theaters, I thought, okay… this is the moment. Not to talk about whatever corporate committee is keeping Ghostface on life support like a horror franchise CPR dummy, but to talk about the guy. The guy who mattered. The guy who actually had a brain, a point of view, a sense of humor, and a real filmmaker’s instinct for how to scare you and also how to mess with you while he’s scaring you. Wes Craven . The real deal. The master. And yes, before anybody ge

[Get the exclusive video  version of these weekly reviews each Friday by becoming a paid subscriber!] My Film Critic pants are quite fetching; they are on, pressed, and ironed. I'm ready to review six new movies in this week's capsule (short) movie reviews for Friday, March 6th, 2026. 1) THE BRIDE! I really wanted The Bride!  to work. I like Maggie Gyllenhaal . I admired her first film as a director, The Lost Daughter . The cast here is phenomenal. And the idea itself, revisi

It’s that time again. My favorite time of the month. The second Wednesday, when I get to take over the big house at the Classic Cinemas Lake Theater in Oak Park , pick a movie I love, put it on the biggest screen possible, introduce it, and watch it the way it deserves to be seen. And now, on top of all that, these screenings have become book-signing nights too, which still kind of blows my mind. So yes, you can come see the movie, you can come talk movies with me, and you c

It’s that time of year again. The time when I start pacing around the house muttering about snubs. The time when I rewatch acceptance speeches from 1974. The time when I yell at nominations, cheer surprises, and prepare myself emotionally for the inevitable moment when the Academy gets something spectacularly wrong. Oscar Sunday is coming. And this year, we’re doing it live. In Chicago. The right way. Before the 98th Annual Academy Awards air on March 15th, I’ll be on stage

[Get the exclusive video  version of these weekly reviews each Friday by becoming a paid subscriber!] My Film Critic pants are quite fetching; they are on, pressed, and ironed. I'm ready to review five new movies in this week's capsule (short) movie reviews for Friday, February 27th, 2026. 1) SCREAM 7 Before I jump into the full review, I do have to say this up front: in order to review Scream 7  in a complete way, I’m going to talk about plot points, and I’m going to mention

You know what’s funny? Every time some new “adult animated” show pops up on a streaming service and people act like it’s this brand-new, edgy invention, like animation just discovered profanity and sex and politics yesterday, I want to gently take them by the shoulders, turn them around, and point them directly at Ralph Bakshi . Because if an irreverent, TV-MA, adult animated comedy like Strip Law  can debut on Netflix in 2026 with a big-name voice cast and a mainstream plat

Malcolm McDowell is one of my favorite actors. One of those performers who can literally do anything and somehow make it feel dangerous, funny, elegant, unhinged, or all four at the same time. He’s often described as a great British character actor, which is true, but the guy also has the looks, charisma, and presence of a leading man. He always has. He just happens to be a leading man who likes to dance on the edge, play lunatics, rebels, villains, monsters, and complicated

[Get the exclusive video  version of these weekly reviews each Friday by becoming a paid subscriber!] My Film Critic pants are quite fetching; they are on, pressed, and ironed. I'm ready to review seven new movies in this week's capsule (short) movie reviews for Friday, February 20th, 2026. 1) I CAN ONLY IMAGINE 2 I should probably begin this by saying I am not the target audience for I Can Only Imagine 2 . Not even close. I didn’t see the first I Can Only Imagine  from 2018.

The TV theme song. Just saying those words makes me smile. Or sigh. Or get a little pissed off. Or all three at once. Because once upon a time, the TV theme song mattered. It wasn’t just background noise. It wasn’t something you skipped past so you could shave ten seconds off your binge-watch session. It was an event. It was a statement. It was mood, tone, personality, storytelling, and sometimes the entire damn plot of the show, delivered in under a minute. And now? It’s pre

Sam Rockwell is one of those actors who feels like he’s always been there. You know his face. You know his voice. You know that sideways grin, that jittery energy, that dangerous intelligence behind the eyes. And yet somehow, for a very long time, people didn’t quite know what to do with him. He was “that guy.” The guy who shows up, steals scenes, elevates mediocre material, and leaves you thinking, wait a minute… who was  that? And then you realize it was Sam Rockwell again