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The 62nd Chicago International Film Festival is underway, and, as usual, it's been a terrific time! There's something really special about this festival, and it's not just the movies. It's the excitement in the air, the packed theaters, the people waiting in line, striking up conversations with complete strangers, and talking about the films they've seen, the ones they're looking forward to, and the ones they absolutely hated. I love that stuff. For a couple of weeks, theater

The 62nd Chicago International Film Festival is underway, and, as usual, it's been a terrific time! There's something really special about this festival, and it's not just the movies. It's the excitement in the air, the packed theaters, the people waiting in line, striking up conversations with complete strangers, and talking about the films they've seen, the ones they're looking forward to, and the ones they absolutely hated. I love that stuff. For a couple of weeks, theater

There are a lot of reasons October is my favorite month of the year. Halloween is my favorite holiday, so obviously there's that. It's horror movie season. It's that beautiful time in Chicago when summer finally gets the hell out of here, the weather cools down, the leaves start changing, and you can actually walk around outside without feeling like you're being slowly cooked. I love autumn. I love October. And I love October because every year it also means the return of one

October in Chicago is a special time. The leaves turn, the wind gets meaner, the Bears still look lost, and, thankfully, the Chicago International Film Festival rolls into town to remind us that this city is more than just Italian beefs, potholes, and politicians who should probably be in jail. This year marks the 61st edition of North America’s longest-running competitive film festival , and the lineup is pretty amazing. We’re talking 111 feature films, 70 shorts, 39 premie

The 60th annual Chicago International Film Festival , with its screenings, special events, tributes, and other events, has ended. It was quite a successful festival that was a pleasure to cover. Here are my final four exclusive reviews of CIFF movies; these will be commercially released or available for streaming in the coming weeks. 1) THE RULE OF JENNY PEN John Lithgow terrorizes Geoffrey Rush in the new horror film "The Rule of Jenny Pen." I didn't do enough reading on thi

The 60th annual Chicago International Film Festival is now underway, with screenings, special events, tributes, and other festivities happening all over the city until Closing Night on October 27th. Here are five more exclusive reviews of CIFF movies; these films will be commercially released in the coming weeks and available for streaming. 1) GRAND TOUR The very talented Portuguese auteur Miguel Gomes has made another strikingly original film that is as lyrical as it is con