My Courses

After a verrry long and fruitful week in Montreal, I’m now back in Chicago. Festivals can wear and tear on even the most sleep-deprived critic, especially at a fest like Fantasia, where the sheer volume of films on display can be downright overwhelming. Even so, I was grateful for my time there, catching up with…

“They love music, and they’re not faking it. We sense to a rare degree the real feelings of the two of them; there’s no overlay of technique, effect or style.” – Roger Ebert on “Once” The world was shocked by the tragic passing of Glen Hansard on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, after an early morning…

Sprinkled throughout the narrative of the sophomore season of “Diarra from Detroit” (relocated to Paramount+ after the shuttering of BET+ this year) are references to beloved stories in which a gang of friends comes together to solve a puzzle. “Scooby-Doo” gets a shoutout, so does “The Goonies.” But in the opinion of this writer, season…

In concept, Mike Mills is a comprehensive chronicler of his own fractured family dynamics. Three of his most recent (and well-known) films—2010’s “Beginners,” 2016’s “20th Century Women,” and 2021’s “C’Mon C’Mon”—tap into Mills’ anxieties around his strained, challenging relationships to his parents and the neuroticisms that come from the impossible act of parenthood. In “Beginners,”…