June 2019

Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – As a Beatles fanatic who has a band because of their existence, the premise of “Yesterday” was can’t miss. A man wakes up after an accident to discover he’s the only person to know that The Beatles existed? Sign me up and buy me popcorn. It’s unfortunate that the story went in a direction that did miss.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – There is such an unnerving quality to older dolls, which is why they lend themselves so perfectly to horror stories. There’s just an unsettling feeling when looking at their static expression, usually plastered with a permanent smile that gives me terrible flashbacks to when I worked retail. Oddly enough, “Annabelle Comes Home” similarly elicits familiar feelings of terror but channels it through an 80’s horror homage.

CHICAGO – Miranda Bailey has a proven track record as a film producer of big title independent films, and has worked as a writer and actor. She has now conquered the creative side, as she makes her debut as a feature film director with “Being Frank.” The film features comedian Jim Gaffigan in the title role, and also features Anna Gunn, Samantha Mathis and Alex Karpovsky.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – There are some fears in this world that seem irrational to us. Like a fear of clowns or the fear of using an elevator. Horror films are at the core of some of these fears, with the truly great ones creating new things to fear. The “Child’s Play” franchise may have had its roots in psychopathic soul transfers, but the update focuses on the ghost in the machine.

CHICAGO – Rock royalty is coming to town, both in the presence of Jakob Dylan (The Wallflowers) and in a new documentary where Dylan explores the roots of the California rock sound of the 1960s, entitled “Echo in the Canyon” (many of the rockers back then lived in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Laurel Canyon). Director Andrew Slater will join Dylan for the film perspective, and Dylan will perform after the screening, taking place on June 21st, 2019, at the historic Music Box Theatre. For more information and tickets, click here.

CHICAGO – She calls her style of grindhouse and gore films “Tex Mex,” and you won’t find a better femme fatale producing a better debut film in that genre. Director Gigi Saul Guerrero gave Chicago audiences a sneak preview – at the Cinepocalypse Film Festival at the Music Box Theatre – of her debut “Culture Shock,” which will premiere for Hulu on July 4th, 2019, part of their “Into the Dark” series of horror films through Blumhouse Television.

CHICAGO – When you’ve brought to life one of the greatest animation series ever produced, there is not much to prove. The “Toy Story” series has relied on the strong and emotional stories since 1995, and after a nine year break comes back for one more intriguing spin for their characters, finding a new path in “Toy Story 4.”

CHICAGO – Before Jordan Peele, before Mike Flanagan, before James Wan, and especially before all of Blumhouse, there were other masters of horror who paved the way for the filmmakers we know today. The Carpenters, the Cravens, and the Argentos of the world helped turn horror into the thriving genre it is today. Jim Jarmusch’s “The Dead Don’t Die” openly acknowledges this with their love letter approach to the genre itself.

CHICAGO – One the most exciting moments in the culture of music is the anticipated new talent sensation. Warner Music Group’s Elektra France recently discovered a German-born singer known as NORAA – who was supplementing her music career by working as a school teacher – and took her out of the classroom and into the recording studio. She has already made in-roads in her native European scene, and now is poised to conquer the USA. Her first single, “Lie to Me,” was released in April, and is already made its way to radio station and streaming playlists in Europe and America.

CHICAGO – What is life but a constant climb? The Brown Paper Box Co., one of the most vital storefront theater groups in Chicago, asks that question and more in the significant “Grace, Or the Art of Climbing.” Using a woman’s journey through some difficult situations, the parallels of “the climb” become a artfully performed story that is all inspiration and uplift. The play runs through July 7th, 2019, at Stage 773 in the Belmont Avenue Theater District in Chicago. For more information and tickets, click here.

CHICAGO – San Francisco is dying. Not from blight or fault lines, but by the excess of new tech money that has been buying the city block by block. The diversity that made the town is also going away, and this circumstance is poignantly rendered in the new film “The Last Black Man in San Francisco.”

Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – As a pet owner, I know firsthand that I want an exciting life for my guinea pigs. When I’m off at work, I’d like to think that they throw parties or have some sort of hangouts with other guinea pigs or pets in the area. The alternative being the sad realization that they are stuck in their cage while I’m away, probably bored out of their little minds. “The Secret Life of Pets” franchise continues to brings the fantasy to life, even if the sequel feels too tame.

Rating: 2.0/5.0

CHICAGO – “Men in Black International” is less a reboot than a frantic attempt at CPR for the once viable franchise … which never should have made it to a fourth installment. That’s not to say this is totally unwatchable. But it’s a kind of okay not-that-great-not-that-awful iteration which neither reminds us why we liked the series in the first place nor has much of a reason to exist.

CHICAGO – Genre films, those categories of movies that have specific themes – horror, thriller, comedy – but remain undefined in their unique qualities, is exactly what the Cinepocalypse Film Festival is all about. The week-long 2019 edition of the fest kicks off on Thursday, June 13th, at Chicago’s historic Music Box Theatre with the World Premiere of “Verotika,” written and directed by Glenn Danzig, founder and vocalist of the legendary band Misfits. Danzig will appear on behalf of the film. For more information and tickets, click here.