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Last Wednesday, December 11th, the Chicago Film Critics Association  kicked off the film awards season with its annual Awards Dinner at Budweiser Brickhouse Tavern  on Gallagher Way , right next to Wrigley Field (yeah, where the Yum Yum Donuts  used to be). I have been a member of the CFCA, on and off, since the organization began in 1989. I've presented awards, made phone calls, tallied votes, set up chairs, and even driven celebrity presenters and winners to and from the a

Below is my list of the 20 Best Movies of 2024 in my order of preference, with the first being the Best Film of the Year 2024 was a solid year for movies—not great, but solid. You will notice that there are many films on my list that aren't on many other critics' lists, as there are many films that are NOT on my list that are included on my colleagues' lists. That's not on purpose; it's just how it worked out. A huge number of extraordinarily overrated movies were released th

So, it's no secret that I adore the "Mad Max" film series more than most humans adore things like their children, and food, and breathing. They are quite simply five of the greatest films ever made, and examples of the finest that cinema has to offer, made by George Miller , one of the most extraordinarily gifted directors to ever step behind a camera. One of the people who is quite aware of my love for these movies is fellow film critic and podcast host Jim Laczkowski , th

NOTE: In this post, anytime that I compliment and/or rave about some of the huge special effects/action sequences in the new movie "Twisters," please keep in mind that all of the phenomenal scenes in this film (or in any other 2024 movie for that matter), absolutely PALE in comparison to the stuff in "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga," and especially in "Dune Part Two." Those two films (again, especially "Dune Part Two") are the Gold Standard by which to compare any of the big spec