[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 three new movies in this week's capsule (short) movie reviews for Friday, July 31st, 2026. 1) SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY Whenever I review a comic book movie, I feel obligated to begin with the same disclaimer: I am not a comic book guy. I never grew up reading them, I do not follow t

If you've spent any time in Chicago this summer, you already know why I felt compelled to put this list together. This has been one brutal stretch of weather. Late June and July have been unbelievably hot, ridiculously humid, and just plain miserable. We've had day after day after day in the 90s, with heat indices climbing into the triple digits. You walk outside and it feels like somebody threw a hot, wet blanket over your head. The humidity is so thick you can practically c

It's time once again for The Flashback Weekend Chicago Horror Convention, and if you've been reading my work or listening to me for any length of time, you already know how much this convention means to me. It isn't just my favorite weekend of the summer. It has become my favorite weekend of the entire year. I look forward to it twelve months in advance, and every year it somehow manages to exceed my already ridiculously high expectations. This year's Flashback Weekend takes

[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 three new movies in this week's capsule (short) movie reviews for Friday, July 24th, 2026. 1) HER PRIVATE HELL Nicolas Winding Refn has become one of the most polarizing filmmakers working today, and I completely understand why. Early in his career, with the gritty, brutally realisti

One of the things I love most about having this website is that it gives me an excuse to celebrate the people who have brought me an enormous amount of joy over the years. Sure, I use this space to review new movies, talk about television, recommend books, rant about pop culture, and occasionally climb up on one of my many soapboxes But sometimes it's just nice to say, "Hey, here's somebody I absolutely love," and spend a little time talking about why. Usually there's somethi

Every once in a while, a filmmaker comes along who isn't just successful...he becomes a phenomenon. Critics rave. Audiences line up. Studios hand over enormous budgets. Awards pile up. Film schools teach courses about him. Fans dissect every frame, every line of dialogue, every camera movement as though they're studying sacred texts. Christopher Nolan is one of those filmmakers. And here's where I'm probably going to lose some people. I don't think he's the cinematic genius t