Confessions of a Dangerous Mind You can tell that veteran actor George Clooney has wanted to direct for a long time. In Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, his directorial debut, he uses elaborate camera moves, meticulously choreographed scenes, various film stock and video footage, and a non-linear narrative line to adapt game show producer Chuck […]
Chuck Koplinski
Writing for Illinois Times since 1998, Chuck Koplinski is a member of the Critic's Choice Association, the Chicago Film Critics Association and a contributor to Rotten Tomatoes. He appears on WCIA-TV twice a week to review current releases and, no matter what anyone says, thinks Tom Cruise's version of The Mummy is a woefully underrated film.
Posted inArts & Culture
Movie Reviews – Daredevil, The Hours
Daredevil Daredevil is the Marvel Comics take on Stan Lee’s Batman. Like Gotham’s Dark Knight, Daredevil is a costumed vigilante who prowls New York to mete out justice and restore order, a mission prompted by the death of his father. Both have costumes no sane person would wear in public, have remarkable gadgets, and commit […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Movie Reviews – The Pianist, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
The Pianist Roman Polanski’s The Pianist approaches the Holocaust by telling a personal story of despair and ultimately triumph against the broad canvas of World War II. Polanski and writer Ronald Harwood put a face on this massive tragedy by focusing on Wladyslaw Szpilman, a renowned Polish-Jewish pianist, passionately portrayed by Adrien Brody. Though tragedy […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Movie Reviews – Cradle 2 the Grave, The Life of David Gale
Cradle 2 the Grave If anyone can build an acting career on a glower, it’s DMX. The vowel-deficient rapper started his film career in the underrated Belly and then moved on to Romeo Must Die and Exit Wounds. He sports a steely, narrow glare and tightly drawn mouth whether shooting bad guys, cracking wise, or […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Movie Reviews – Phone Booth, Basic, The Core and A Man Apart
Phone Booth Who would have guessed that Joel Schumacher–the director of bloated, empty movies such as Batman and Robin and the Anthony Hopkins-Chris Rock spy turkey Bad Company–would be capable of delivering a riveting film that depends on economic, narrative filmmaking. He does just that with the taut thriller Phone Booth, a tight 81-minute claustrophobic […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Movie Reviews – X2: X-Men United, The Lizzie McGuire Movie
X2: X-Men United Director Bryan Singer delivers the first subtle superhero movie. Yes, there are great stunts and flexing muscles. Heroes slice and dice their foes, shoot fire and ice, transport across time and space, and perform many other tricks. But it’s obvious Singer and screenwriters Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris are far less interested […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Movie Review – Williard, The Hunted
Willard While sitting through Glen Morgan’s update of the cult horror film Willard, I couldn’t help but wonder whether there must be other practical purposes for being able to communicate with rats than having them tear your boss to shreds. They could put those German Shepherds to shame searching out earthquake victims. Or say you’ve […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Movie Review – Confidence, The Real Cancun, It Runs in the Family, Identity
Confidence There’s no question that screenwriter Doug Jung is a student of film noir. His script for Confidence touches on nearly every convention of the genre and straddles the line between homage and rip-off. We have a doomed protagonist, a sultry femme fatale, a sure-fire heist that’s bound to become complicated, and more double crosses […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Movie Review – Holes, Bulletproof Monk
Holes For adults with children who are either past or awaiting tweenhood, Louis Sacher’s novel Holes is probably unfamiliar. But for tweens it’s revered, a story with irresistible, high-interest hooks (an ancient curse, lost treasure, an intriguing mystery, and a happy ending) and a resonate message (put-upon kids find justice and redemption among cruel adults […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Overlooked and underappreciated
In a festival that celebrates recorded moments, the highlight may be a live performance. Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert’s fifth Overlooked Film Festival in Urbana-Champaign will feature a special benshi performance next week to accompany the Japanese silent film, I Was Born, But. . . A benshi, Ebert explains, was a performer who stood […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Movie Reviews- What a Girl Wants, Head of State
What a Girl Wants What seventeen-year-old Daphne Reynolds (Amanda Bynes) wants is to meet her long lost father, an English aristocrat named Lord Henry Dashwood (Colin Firth). Seems a freak accident threw him and pop singer Libby Reynolds (Kelly Preston) together. A whirlwind romance ensued and Daphne was the result. Evil machinations of a family […]
