New York City

CHICAGO – One of the hottest films from the first half 2019 festival season was an emotional story about family, and scored the Best Picture at the 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards on February 8th. “The Farewell” is a breakout for both the lead actor Awkwafina (“Crazy Rich Asians”), Zhao Shuzhen (who won the Indie Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress) and their director Lulu Wang. Wang’s story of her grandmother became a universal spirit about our relative connections.

CHICAGO – How does a movie company put together a major release like “21 Bridges”? The behind-the-scenes mechanics are handled through various companies, and one of them is MWM Studios. Two Executive Producers from MWM and the film are Rachel Shane and Adrian Alperovich, and they talked to HollywoodChicago.com about the business of show business and their backgrounds in film and TV.

CHICAGO – The term “Movie Palaces” might seem foreign to most people, as our movie viewing has evolved to the current super centers of multiple theaters under one roof or the big screen TV at home. But there was a brief period in the early days of movies, pre-television, when theater builders wanted to give the audience a luxurious palace to view their favorite films.

CHICAGO – It’s the ladies turn to harken back to the badass 1970s, more precisely 1977 in Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City. In an adaptation of a DC Vertigo comic series, “The Kitchen” features Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss finding their destiny in taking over mobster duties.

CHICAGO – One of the hottest films from the first half 2019 festival season was an emotional story about family. “The Farewell” is a breakout for both the lead actor Awkwafina (“Crazy Rich Asians”) and her director Lulu Wang. Wang’s story of her grandmother became a universal spirit about our relative connections.

CHICAGO – “Spider-Man: Far From Home” is remarkably light on its feet considering it takes place in the wake of the events of “Avengers: Endgame.” After the five year period between finger snaps which is now referred to as “the blip,” Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and some of his classmates have returned the same age, while everyone else has gotten five years older.

NEW YORK CITY – The 18th edition of the Tribeca Film Festival will open with a love letter to a New York City Harlem neighborhood icon. The legendary Apollo Theater will screen the Opening Night film, “The Apollo,” on April 24th, 2019. This documentary chronicles the unique history and contemporary legacy of this New York City landmark, and kicks off the two week festival, Wednesday, April 24th through Sunday, May 5th.

CHICAGO – Although mostly set in the early 1920s, “The Chaperone” has some pungent lessons regarding identity, and living life authentically. The story of former silent film star Louise Brooks and her first trip to New York City expresses both how we can live today and how they lived back then.

CHICAGO – Admittedly, horror films are not my thing. I find them redundant, pandering and more reliant on gore rather than story. “Greta” is somewhat of a thriller horror film, about an older lady stalker preying on a younger New York City woman, but it had both a seen-it-before and unreliable plot.

CHICAGO – “Isn’t It Romantic” knows exactly what it is, and what it wants to be. It is simultaneously for people who love Romantic Comedy, and those who profess to hate them … but may secretly love them. It’s an amusing trifle that’s about as surprising as a heart shaped box of chocolates, but sometimes that’s what you want.