2019 CCFF Review: BRITTANY RUNS A MARATHON

by Patrick Bromley

Jillian Bell becomes a movie star.

2019 CCFF Review: SAINT FRANCES

by Patrick Bromley

This is my favorite movie of this year's Chicago Critics Film Festival.

2019 CCFF Review: PINK WALL

by Patrick Bromley

Love hurts.

2019 CCFF Review: THE ART OF SELF-DEFENSE

by Patrick Bromley

Fear does not exist in this dojo.

2019 CCFF Review: OLYMPIC DREAMS

by Patrick Bromley

A romantic comedy shot at the actual Olympic Games.

10 Movies I Can't Wait to See at the 2019 Chicago Critics Film Festival

by Patrick Bromley

One of my favorite movie weeks of the year kicks off this Friday!

Horror Highlights of the 2016 Chicago Critics Film Festival

by Patrick Bromley

My favorite week of movies every year has introduced me to some great horror films since it launched in 2013. This year is no different.

Batkid Begins - Chicago Critics Film Festival Review

by Patrick Bromley

I thought I was going to have to walk out of this one. I was wrong.

Obvious Child - Chicago Critics Film Festival Review

by Patrick Bromley

You know those movies where you get to watch someone become a star in the span of a single film? That's Jenny Slate in Obvious Child.

Dead Snow: Red vs. Dead - Chicago Critics Film Festival Review

by Patrick Bromley

Two zombie armies are better than one.

I Put a Hit On You - Chicago Critics Film Festival Review

A romantic comedy with hitmen and Canadians? Sounds like my jam.

Animals - Chicago Critics Film Festival Review

I'm generally not a fan of drug addiction movies. I'm a huge fan of Animals.

Willow Creek - Chicago Critics Film Festival Review

by Patrick Bromley

In which Bobcat Goldthwait proves that found footage isn't dead. It just needs to be used the right way.

Nick Offerman: American Ham - Chicago Critics Film Festival Review

Whatever happened to the stand-up concert film?

They Came Together - Chicago Critics Film Festival Review

by Patrick Bromley

Joke for joke, They Came Together is the funniest movie since 2001's Wet Hot American Summer. That shouldn't be a surprise, since both films are directed by the great David Wain and written by Wain and Michael Showalter. They've done it again.

Unsung!: Sorcerer

Thirty-seven years ago I saw William Friedkin’s Sorcerer and it knocked my little socks off. I thought it was one of the best films I had ever seen. Critical opinion at the time held that Sorcerer was a stinkeroo. Then the film disappeared. Last Sunday I had a chance to see Sorcerer again. Who would prove right in their original critical judgment: most of the world’s film critics or the fourteen-year-old me?

Fasten your seat belts, dear readers, Sorcerer DEFINES “unsung!”

I Declare War - Chicago Critics Film Festival Review

by Patrick Bromley

Well, here it is. I Declare War is the best movie I saw at the Chicago Critics Film Festival and one of my favorite movies of the year.

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane - Chicago Critics Film Festival Review

by Patrick Bromley

Since 2006, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane has been one of the Holy Grails of horror movies -- championed by many, but impossible to see. Thanks to the Chicago Critics Film Festival, I can finally check it off the list. Was it worth the wait?

The Dirties - Chicago Critics Film Festival Review

When the opening title card for The Dirties first appeared on screen saying something to the effect of "Out of respect for the families, none of the following footage has been altered," my heart sank. Fuck. Another found footage movie.

Boy, was I wrong.

The Kings of Summer - Chicago Critics Film Festival Review

If the kids from Stand by Me accidentally wandered into a movie co-directed by Wes Anderson and Terrence Malick, it would be The Kings of Summer.