Movies
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Shakespeare gets malled in ‘Juliet & Romeo’
May 08, 2025 12:07 pm - Panning a movie like “Juliet & Romeo” is a little like kicking a puppy. This maladaption of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” only wants to please its target audience of early-middle-school girls by replacing iambic pentameter with lots and lots of pop songs. This isn’t a movie, it’s a prom theme.
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‘Words of War’ commemorates the courage of a Russian journalist
May 08, 2025 5:15 am - There’s no dazzling CGI in “Words of War.” There’s just one woman: Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist who sought to uncover the truths of the Second Chechen War and paid the ultimate price for it.
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What to stream: ‘Poker Face,’ Blake Shelton, the spy thriller ‘Black Bag’ and Vince Vaughn
May 05, 2025 5:30 am - The popular whodunit series “Poker Face” starring Natasha Lyonne is returning for its second season and Steven Soderbergh’s sleek and lean spy thriller “Black Bag” are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.
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‘Thunderbolts*’ kicks off summer movie season with $76 million at the box office
May 04, 2025 2:33 pm - Marvel Studios’ “Thunderbolts*” opened with $76 million in domestic ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday, kicking off the summer box office with a solid No. 1 debut that fell shy of Marvel’s more spectacular launches.
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Here’s why May the 4th is celebrated as Star Wars Day across the galaxy
May 04, 2025 10:24 am - It didn’t begin a long time ago or in a galaxy far far away, but every May 4 it feels like images, memes and promotional deals involving “Star Wars” have an inescapable gravity.
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‘Groundhog Day’ inn gets another role, this time in upcoming Christmas movie shot in Woodstock
May 02, 2025 10:29 am - Although the Easter Bunny just visited McHenry County, the Cherry Tree Inn in Woodstock recently was decorated for Christmas. The Cherry Tree Inn played host to filming for another holiday movie during the week of April 21.
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Do yourself a favor: Decline ‘Another Simple Favor’
May 02, 2025 9:19 am - “Another Simple Favor” is a textbook example of what I call the Location Vacation Movie: a film so dreadful that it’s a mystery why actors of any credibility would have signed on — until you realize they’re getting paid to spend time in a gorgeous setting.
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Arlington Heights actor reflects on enduring legacy of ‘Draft Day’May 01, 2025 6:07 pm - Buffalo Grove High School graduate Pat Healy talks about his memorable role in “Draft Day,” and what makes the film endure a decade later.
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‘Rust’ is a serviceable Western, haunted throughout by its tragic offscreen history
May 01, 2025 12:10 pm - Surely, bringing an audience to tears with a poignant ending is something every filmmaker dreams of. And yet the moment that inspires a genuine, unambiguous tear in “Rust” is born of a true nightmare.
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Cage’s commitment to edgy acting shores up a quirky, confounding tale touting toxic masculinityMay 01, 2025 5:30 am - Like fingerprints, no two Nicolas Cage characters are exactly the same. Which brings us to the actor’s latest showcase, the psychological thriller “The Surfer,” in which Cage plays a down-on-his-luck dad who takes his son to Australia to surf his childhood beach, only to be stopped by some rough-and-tumble territorial locals.