CHICAGO – When two brothers confront the sins of each other and it expands into a psychology of an entire race, it’s at a stage play found in Chicago’s Invictus Theatre Company production of “Topdog/Underdog,” now at their new home at the Windy City Playhouse through March 31st, 2024. Click TD/UD for tickets/info.
Trial
Film Review: Humankind Gets a Necessary Lesson in ‘The Insult’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 2, 2018 - 12:19pmCHICAGO – The clash of ideologies or religion that result in war is one of the most emotional of reasons to fight (and convenient for those who manipulate such emotions). “The Insult,” a contender for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars, shows how feelings can escalate to bitter conflict.
Film Review: American Legal System is Put on Trial in ‘Crown Heights’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 1, 2017 - 10:41amCHICAGO – There is no justice for the poor. That should be carved in stone on courthouses beside all the platitudes of American “equality” and “law.” In an eye-opening narrative film based on a true story, “Crown Heights” explores just how an impoverished individual can be found guilty and imprisoned unjustly for years.
Film Review: The Fog of Battle is a Heavy Burden in ‘A War’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 22, 2016 - 10:51pmCHICAGO – Humanity and war simply do no mix. You could have the biggest guns, the most powerful bombs and the greatest army, but you’re also going to eliminate innocent lives, and affect those soldiers who do the killing. This topic is pungently realized in the Danish film “A War.”
Film Review: Inauthentic ‘The Judge’ Guilty of a Stale Confrontation
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 11, 2014 - 6:20pmCHICAGO – Here comes “The Judge,” here comes “The Judge.” That 1960s catchphrase gets new meaning in the film featuring Robert Downey Jr. and veteran Robert Duvall, in a angry generational face-off that makes little sense and provides a stiff courtroom drama that felt like bad TV.