The Boy and the Heron: Animated film by veteran Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki

It is reported to be Miyazaki’s final film, but the writer-director has already come out of retirement more than once.

Noir City festivals highlight critical US films from 1948 on 75th anniversary

This significant cultural event highlighted films that take a sharp look at postwar American life.

George Clooney’s The Tender Bar: Writing as a mere “state of mind”

Actor-director Clooney’s new coming-of-age drama film falls short in its treatment of an aspiring writer on Long Island, New York in the 1970s and ‘80s.

“This is what insanity looks like”

A Chicago Public Schools parent condemns the deadly return to school

Opposition among parents, teachers and students remains high to the forced return to schools agreed to by the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) in the midst of an unprecedented surge of the Omicron variant.

A comment on the Iranian film, Mermaid, and an interview with writer-director Saber Mostafapour: “Cinema is nothing without reality”

A number of recent Iranian short films stand out not simply for their aesthetic quality, but also for their realistic approach and the seriousness with which they treat the problems of wide layers of the population.

Stellantis announces mass layoffs at Belvidere Assembly plant

The UAW has remained silent as Stellantis announced it would lay off 400 workers at the Belvidere, Illinois Assembly Plant next year.

In the Heights: Film version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical about life in New York City neighborhood

In spite of its insufficiently critical treatment of the “American Dream,” In the Heights offers some genuine and compelling pictures of life in Washington Heights.

Chicago Ford workers face hardship after eight weeks on layoff due to chip shortage

Workers at Ford Chicago Assembly Plant have been forced to shoulder the brunt of the global shortage of semiconductor chips, a product of capitalist anarchy, that has idled auto production on several continents.

Native Son: Restoration of suppressed film starring, co-scripted by author Richard Wright

The restored 1951 film version of Wright’s Native Son paints a lacerating picture of social life in America’s second city.

Minding the Gap: Skateboarding to “get away” in decayed Rockford, Illinois

The documentary film about Rockford, Illinois follows the lives of three young working-class men, trapped by harsh social circumstances, who love to skateboard.