CHICAGO – In anticipation of the scariest week of the year, HollywoodChicago.com launches its 2024 Movie Gifts series, which will suggest DVDs and collections for holiday giving.
Jewish
Strange Story of ‘Disobedience’ is Constant Distraction
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 9, 2018 - 9:22am Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The director Sebastían Lelio is no stranger to oddball human stories. His 2017 film, “A Fantastic Woman” – the Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film – was a one-of-a-kind but amazingly poignant story of identity. His latest, “Disobedience,” mines the same human territory with lesser results.
Individualism in ‘Menashe’ Challenges the Tribe
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 15, 2017 - 10:05am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – We all belong to something, be it a family, workplace, congregation or (expansively) a tribe. But within all that belonging is a sometimes nagging feeling of being an outsider. There is not a human being in existence that hasn’t felt that way, and a new film expresses that feeling in “Menashe.”
Jessica Chastain is Steadfast as ‘The Zookeeper’s Wife’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 4, 2017 - 3:29pmRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Jessica Chastain is a memorable and glamorous actress, who continues to challenge herself with in-depth and complex roles. “The Zookeeper’s Wife” is her latest, and her performance outweighs the formulaic based-on-truth story, set during the Holocaust.
Searing Performances Invigorate ‘Walking with the Enemy’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 26, 2014 - 11:19am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In Movie Land, the World War II Holocaust drama has been more personal – and in many ways more horrific – in our modern era. From Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List” to Roman Polanski’s “The Pianist,” the Jewish genocide of the Holocaust has been rendered more artfully and truthfully. The latest film to tell a different story, from a different angle, is director Mark Schmidt’s “Walking with the Enemy.”
An Insider’s View of Religious Tradition in ‘Fill the Void’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 17, 2013 - 1:09pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The absolution of marriage is difficult enough without having the specter of the “arranged” situation within a religious tradition. A new Israeli film, “Fill the Void,” explores the issues and answers within these arrangements, as the modern world pushes against Orthodox Hasidic Judaism.
