Shailene Woodley’s Star Sails to New Heights
Shailene Woodley’s breakout role as the spunky oldest daughter of George Clooney in The Descendants (2011) has proven her acting abilities aren’t a one-off—in fact she’s been sailing… Read more about Adrift (PG-13) ★★★…
Cynical, Potty-mouth Anti-hero is Fun!
To begin, I’m strongly advising you see Deadpool starring Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson, before attempting to view Deadpool 2. The original highly successful R rated film is the first… Read more about Deadpool 2 (R) ★★★…
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Wine Bottle
For those of us that are currently in a book club or those of us who’ve been in one in the past, we are undeniably privy to the… Read more about Book Club (PG-13) ★★★½…
Younger Hans Solo Has Grit and Drive
Solo: A Star Wars Story is a fun-filled, entertaining prequel; mostly due to its lead and co-stars. Alden Ehrenreich (Hans Solo) first caught my attention in the romantic… Read more about Solo: A Star Wars Story (PG-13) ★★★½…
My interview for the movie Book Club, with director Bill Holderman and screenplay writer Erin Simms was held in a suite at the beautiful Park Hyatt Hotel in Chicago, May 11, 2018. It’s always easier… Read more about Bill Holderman and Erin Simms Interview “Book Club”…
Check in to Live with the Stars
I’ve always maintained that The Carlyle Hotel is a captivating art enthusiast destination in New York City due to the paintings of Ludwig Bemelman that adorn the walls… Read more about Always At the Carlyle ★★…
McCarthy’s Sweet Mom-Com Has a Ginormous Heart
Undeniably, Melissa McCarthy is one of the funniest women working in Hollywood to date. After her break-out role in Bridesmaids (2011), the female version of The Hangover, McCarthy… Read more about Life of the Party (PG-13)★★★…
Authentic Portrayal of Motherhood
Tully is a female character driven movie from the heart, which mothers universally will champion and applaud for its realism—to be clear, it is not the flawlessly staged Mommy Blog Instagram… Read more about Tully (R) ★★★½…
A Triller with John Hamm Leading the Way
Beirut once known as the Paris of the Middle East hasn’t seen those days of glory since the 1975 Civil War, the 1982 Lebanon War with Israel,… Read more about Beirut (R) ★★★½…
(Chicago, IL) — The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA), (of which I’ve been a member since 2009), the Chicago-area print, online and broadcast critics group that celebrates the art of film and film criticism Film… Read more about Chicago Film Critics 6th Annual Film Festival May 4-10 2018 Music Box Theater…
Both Exciting and Exhausting, the Underwhelming Supervillain Further Bogs Down the Overwhelming Amount of Characters and Scope
Avengers: Infinity War is part one of a ten-year Marvel finale, that includes 18 movies starting in 2008 with… Read more about Avengers: Infinity War (PG-13) ★★½ by S. Knight Adamson…
The 20th annual Roger Ebert Film Festival (Ebertfest), began on April 18 and ended on April 22, 2018, at the Virginia Theater in Champaign, Illinois. Film-goers were treated to a spotlighted celebration of past years… Read more about Ebertfest (Roger Ebert’s) 20th Anniversary Film Festival, Critical Mass Panel, It’s a Wrap…
Hysterical “Blockers” Boasts Great Cast
The film Blockers main premise is most parents’ worst nightmare−the discovery your teen has made a haphazard life-altering decision. A parent’s glimmer of hope−they just may be able to “block”… Read more about Blockers (R) ★★★½…
Shh…Don’t Say a Word
Sci-fi giant spider-like creatures can’t see you—so no need to hide—except, if they hear you—they’ll kill you instantly. That’s the premise of this tightly edited, spine-tingling sci-fi horror film. Be prepared… Read more about A Quiet Place (PG-13) ★★★½…
Popcorn Movie is Worth the Price of Admission
Plot revolves around losing yourself in fantasy worlds, it zip-lines at hyper speed and changes environments just as quickly, jam-packed action with numerous pop-culture nostalgia. Yep, it’s… Read more about Ready Player One (PG-13) ★★★½…
My interview with writer/director Susan Walter of the film, All I Wish, a romantic comedy starring Sharon Stone as a late forties single woman who hasn’t found her dream career or the love of her… Read more about Susan Walter Writer/Director Interview “All I Wish”…
Sharon Stone Still Rocks
Should a 60-yr-old actress permanently be typecast as a mom or a grandma? Sharon Stone can answer that question—the answer—an emphatic no way! When first-time director Susan Walter took a chance on… Read more about All I Wish (R) ★★★…
Action Sequences Mirror Transformer Films
The sequel to Pacific Rim continues the ten years after the setting of the original film, the year is now 2035 in a science fiction world where monsters are at… Read more about Pacific Rim: Uprising (PG-13) ★★…
I Kill Giants
Pre-teen Struggles with Family Trauma
I Kill Giants is based on the graphic comic book series of the same name written in 2008 by the famous comic book writer Joe Kelly, of… Read more about I Kill Giants (PG-13) ★★½…
Estonia Gains a Hero
This inspiring universally themed fictionalized story of Endel Nelis (Märt Avandi) an Estonian fencing champion who becomes a role model and mentor to students in his homeland is my kind of… Read more about The Fencer ★★★ ½ Foreign Language Film…
WWI Drama Shows Courage and Heart
When one reflects back to WWI, images of soldiers fighting in trenches come to mind. Journey’s End, is a riveting account of those claustrophobic tight quarters along with the… Read more about Journey’s End (R) ★★★½…
Yes, it’s a Non-stop Video-game with Little Pizazz
Tomb Raider (PG-13) stars Swedish actress Alicia Vikander it’s the remake of Laura Croft -Tomb Raider that starred Angelia Jolie in 2001. Both are based on a… Read more about Tomb Raider (PG-13) ★★½…
Director’s Sharp Lens Keeps Us Watching
We all know teens do get into trouble, but how about murder? The awful step-dad, Mark (Paul Sparks) just ‘has’ to vanish from existence, and upper-class Lily’s (Anya Taylor-Joy)… Read more about Thoroughbreds (R) ★★★…
Family Centered, Features a Rising Star-Storm Reid
Madeleine L’Engel’s novel A Wrinkle in Time, 1962 was first introduced to me in the late 80s when I began teaching fourth and fifth-grade gifted literature. We considered… Read more about A Wrinkle in Time (PG) ★★★…