2025

• “Not From Around Here: How Roger Corman Captured The Intruder” (review of Corman’s The Intruder), Perisphere, September 12, 2025.
• “Live From New York: How Rod Serling’s Patterns Elevated TV Drama” (review of Fielder Cook’s Patterns), Perisphere, August 22, 2025.
• “A Criminal Reputation: George V. Higgins From Page to Screen” (review of Peter Yates’ The Friends of Eddie Coyle and Andrew Dominik’s Killing Them Softly), Perisphere, May 11, 2025.
• “Little Man With a Gun in His Hand” (review of John G. Avildsen’s Joe), Perisphere, April 27, 2025.
• “Lenny Bruce: Out of the Shit-House for Good” (review of Bob Fosse’s Lenny), Perisphere, January 25, 2025.

2024

• “Don Hertzfeldt Has Something to, um, Tell You” (review of ME), Perisphere, November 1, 2024.
• “Generals and Majors Everywhere” (review of John Frankenheimer’s Seven Days in May), Perisphere, September 13, 2024.
• “Civility in Politics: Lutheran Legislators Speak Out on the Importance of Being Respectful,” Living Lutheran, August 1, 2024.
• “Jerry Falwell and the End of the World” (review of Keri L. Ladner’s End Time Politics: From the Moral Majority to QAnon), Living Lutheran, March 21, 2024.

2023

• “The Body and the Soul in The Whale” (review of Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale), Living Lutheran, March 7, 2023.

2022

• “500 Years of God’s Word in Common Language: The True Story of Martin Luther’s ‘September Testament,’” Living Lutheran, October 31, 2022.

2021

• “Behold the Beauty of Starved Rock in Winter,” Chicago, January 2021.

2020

• “Mary Poppins Returns, and She’s Closer to the Feisty Original,” in For Kids of All Ages: The National Society of Film Critics on Children’s Movies, ed. Peter Keogh (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2020).
• “A Hidden Life: A Faith of Conviction and Action” (review of Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life), Living Lutheran, January 9, 2020.

2019

• “The Accidental Movie Mogul: The Hollywood-size Saga of How Alex Pissios Made Chicago a TV and Film Capital,” Chicago, December 2019.
• “Cult Songwriter Amy Rigby Makes Her Book Debut,” Chicago Reader, October 18, 2019.
• “Where Film Buffs Gather in an Art Deco Landmark,” Chicago, March 2019.
• “Roger Ailes Lived by the Sword—and Died by It,” (review of Alexis Bloom’s Divide and Conquer), Medium.com, January 2, 2019.

2018

• “Buzzcocks Front Man Pete Shelley Grappled With Metaphysical Questions as Eloquently as He Wrote About Physical Desire,” Chicago Reader, December 11, 2018.
• “Who Killed Sandra Bland? After All, It Was You and Me” (review of Kate Davis and David Heilbroner’s Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland), Medium.com, December 3, 2018.
• “Show Us the Money” (review of Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You and Carlos Lopez Estrada’s Blindspotting), Chicago Reader, July 19, 2018.
• “A Large Story Writ Small” (review of Debra Granik’s Leave No Trace), Chicago Reader, July 12, 2018.
• “Triplets Ripped From Family in a Nazi-like Experiment, probed in Tim Wardle’s Three Identical Strangers,” Chicago Reader, July 5, 2018.
• “Crack Panther” (review of Director X’s Superfly), Chicago Reader, June 21, 2018.
• “Chicago Underground Film Festival: Tribulation 99,” (review of Craig Baldwin’s Tribulation 99: Alien Anomalies Under America), Chicago Reader, June 7, 2018.
• “Chicago’s Wax Trax! Records Portrayed as a Romance Etched in Vinyl” (review of Julia Nash’s Industrial Accident—The Story of Wax Trax! Records), Chicago Reader, June 4, 2018.
• “Some Strings Attached” (review of “The Puppet Master: The Complete Jiri Trnka”), Chicago Reader, May 31, 2018.
• “Blocking the Light” (review of Paul Schrader’s First Reformed), Chicago Reader, May 24, 2018.
• “Deadpool 2: Not Enough Orgies,” Chicago Reader, May 17, 2018.
• “Mom, the Ticking Bomb” (review of Jason Reitman’s Tully), Chicago Reader, May 10, 2018.
• “Critic, Review Thyself!,” Chicago Reader, May 3, 2018.
• “Fun With Fragments” (review of Guy Maddin’s The Green Fog), Chicago Reader, April 26, 2018.
• “Chappaquiddick: How to Spin a Movie About Spin?,” (review of John Curran’s Chappaquiddick), Chicago Reader, April 19, 2018.
• “A Boy Is a Horse, of Course, of Course” (review of Andrew Heigh’s Lean on Pete), Chicago Reader, April 12, 2018.
• “Stephen Spielberg Finds His Avatar” (review of Ready Player One), Chicago Reader, March 29, 2018.
• “Money for Silence” (review of Basil Dearden’s Victim), Chicago Reader, March 21, 2018.
• “The Man Who Would Be Dictator” (review of Armando Iannucci’s The Death of Stalin), Chicago Reader, March 15, 2018.
• “Fear and Biosphere” (review of Alex Garland’s Annihilation), Chicago Reader, March 1, 2018.
• “The Bitch Is Back” (review of Sally Potter’s The Party), Chicago Reader, February 22, 2018.
• “Animation Gets Real” (review of Ali Soozandeh’s Tehran Taboo and Jian Liu’s Have a Nice Day), Chicago Reader, February 15, 2018.
• “We Knew Them When” (review of The Oscar Nominated Short Films: Live Action), Chicago Reader, February 6, 2018.
• “Closed Minds in Open Court” (review of Ziad Doueiri’s The Insult), Chicago Reader, February 1, 2018.
• “I Can’t Quit You, Babe” (review of Tom Palazzolo’s Love It/Leave It), Chicago Reader, January 26, 2018.
• “About to Explode” (review of Fatih Akin’s In the Fade), Chicago Reader, January 25, 2018.
• “One Hundred Percent Fresh” (review of Brett Morgen’s Jane and Alexandra Dean’s Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story), Chicago Reader, January 18, 2018.

2017

• “Worst of Chicago: Joe Ricketts,” Chicago Reader, December 21, 2017.
  “J.R. Jones Picks the Best Films of 2017,” Chicago Reader, December 21, 2017.
• “We Shall Sweep the Oscars” (review of Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour), Chicago Reader, December 7, 2017.
• “In Search of Greta Gerwig” (review of Lady Bird), Chicago Reader, November 30, 2017.
• “Sleep of the Just” (review of Dan Gilroy’s Roman J. Israel, Esq.), Chicago Reader, November 23, 2017.
• “Light in Auggie” (review of Stephen Chbosky’s Wonder), Chicago Reader, November 16, 2017. Reprinted in For Kids of All Ages: The National Society of Film Critics on Children’s Movies, ed. Peter Keogh (Lanham, MD: Roman & Littlefield, 2020).
• “Try These Eyes on for Size” (review of Eyeworks Festival of Experimental Animation), Chicago Reader, November 9, 2017.
• “When Johnny Comes Crawling Home” (review of Jason Hall’s Thank You for Your Service), Chicago Reader, November 2, 2017.
• “Things That Go Hump in the Night” (review of James Whale’s The Old Dark House and Tod Browning’s The Unknown), Chicago Reader, October 26, 2017.
• “Brush With Greatness” (review of DK and Hugh Welchman’s Loving Vincent), Chicago Reader, October 19, 2017.
• “Back to the Stacks” (review of Frederick Wiseman’s Ex Libris: The New York Public Library), Chicago Reader, October 5, 2017.
• “How Bill Morrison Makes Magic With Found Footage” (profile of the filmmaker), Chicago Reader, September 27, 2017. Best Arts Reporting and Criticism, Chicago Headline Club, 2018.
• “Day of Terror, Night of Luxury” (review of Bertrand Bonello’s Nocturama), Chicago Reader, September 7, 2017.
• “Rough Sledding Postwedding” (review of Joachim Lafosse’s After Love and Lake Bell’s I Do … Until I Don’t), Chicago Reader, August 30, 2017.
• “Police Lives Flattered” (review of Jack Webb’s Dragnet), Chicago Reader, August 24, 2017.
• “Red, White, and a Thin Coat of Blue” (review of Steven Soderbergh’s Logan Lucky), Chicago Reader, August 17, 2017.
• “Unsafe at Any Speed” (review of Claude Sautet’s Les Choses de La Vie), Chicago Reader, July 20, 2017.
• “Sisters and Their Mister” (review of Jeff Baena’s The Little Hours), Chicago Reader, July 13, 2017.
• “Driven to Extremes” (review of Nick Hamm’s The Journey), Chicago Reader, July 6, 2017.
  “A Pig Too Big, on a Screen Too Small,” (review of Bong Joon Ho’s Okja), Chicago Reader, June 29, 2017.
• “Best of Chicago: Urban Rabbits,” Chicago Reader, June 22, 2017.
• “A City Under Siege” (review of Matt Tyrnauer’s Citizen Jane: Battle for the City), Chicago Reader, May 11, 2017.
• “No Child of Mine” (review of Rick Barnes, Olivia Neergaard-Holm, and Jon Nguyen’s David Lynch: The Art Life), Chicago Reader, May 4, 2017.
• “Up Close—and Maybe Too Close—With Julian Assange” (review of Laura Poitras’ Risk), Chicago Reader, May 4, 2017.
• “The Norman Conquest” (review of Joseph Cedar’s Norman: The Rise and Fall of a New York Fixer), Chicago Reader, April 27, 2017.
• “Better Off Not Knowing” (review of Charlie Siskel’s American Anarchist and Mark Webb’s Gifted), Chicago Reader, April 13, 2017.
• “A Film of One’s Own” (review of “Lois Weber: Pioneer Progressive Filmmaker”), Chicago Reader, April 6, 2017.
• “Good From the First Shot” (review of Danny Boyle’s T2: Trainspotting), Chicago Reader, March 23, 2017.
• “To Hell and Back” (review of Liang Zhao’s Behemoth), Chicago Reader, March 9, 2017.
• “Clowntime Is Over” (review of Sara Taksler’s Tickling Giants), Chicago Reader, March 1, 2017.
• “Dying Is Easy, Comedy Is Hard” (review of Lloyd Stanton and Paul Toogood’s Dying Laughing), Chicago Reader, February 23, 2017.
• “A Complete Background Check” (review of Michael Dudok de Witt’s The Red Turtle), Chicago Reader, February 16, 2017.
• “Stars of Stage and Screen” (review of Marcel Pagnol, Marc Allegret, and Alexander Korda’s “The Marseilles Trilogy”), Chicago Reader, February 9, 2017.
• “Voice of a Preacher, Heart of a Nomad” (review of Raoul Peck’s I Am Not Your Negro), Chicago Reader, February 2, 2017.
• “Toni Erdmann Proves You Can Make a Long Movie and Still Get Laughs,” Chicago Reader, January 27, 2017.
• “Hallowed Be Thy Cheese” (review of John Lee Hancock’sThe Founder), Chicago Reader, January 26, 2017.
• “Boots on the Asphalt” (review of Peter Berg’s Patriots Day), Chicago Reader, January 19, 2017.
• “Man Out of Time” (review of Ben Affleck’s Live by Night), Chicago Reader, January 12, 2017.

2016

• “The Best Films of 2016,” Chicago Reader, December 22, 2016.
• “Flat Acceptance” (review of Remi Chaye’s Long Way North), Chicago Reader, December 15, 2016.
• “Where the Wild Things Are” (review of Jacques Perrin, Alexandre Poulichot, and Jacques Cluzard’s Seasons), Chicago Reader, December 1, 2016.
• “Sad as Hell” (review of Antonio Campos’ Christine), Chicago Reader, November 24, 2016.
• “Awkward Christian Soldier” (review of Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge), Chicago Reader, November 10, 2016.
• “Bringing It All Back Home” (review of Keith Maitland’s Tower and Craig Atkinson’s Do Not Resist), Chicago Reader, November 3, 2016.
• “Fatherless Son, Sonless Father” (review of Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight), Chicago Reader, October 28. 2016.
• “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” (review of Kelly Reichardt’s Certain Women), Chicago Reader, October 20, 2016.
• “Swing Time” (review of E.A. Dupont’s Varieté), Chicago Reader, September 20, 2016.
• “Two Close for Comfort” (review of Michel Franco’s Chronic), Chicago Reader, October 6, 2016.
• “In the Event of a Water Landing” (review of Clint Eastwood’s Sully), Chicago Reader, September 8, 2016.
• “Ready for His Close-Up” (review of Oliver Stone’s Snowden), Chicago Reader, September 29, 2016.
• “On the Street Where You Live” (review of Rufus Norris’ London Road), September 15, 2016.
• “Renee Baker on the Challenge of Scoring Silent Race Films,” Chicago Reader, September 2, 2016.
• “In the Company of Women” (review of Meera Menon’s Equity), Chicago Reader, August 11, 2016.
• “Chronic Depression” (review of David Mackenzie’s Hell or High Water), Chicago Reader, August 18. 2016.
• “Off the Top of My Head” (review of Mike Birbiglia’s Don’t Think Twice), Chicago Reader, July 28, 2016.
• “Eagles Ripped My Flesh” (review of Thorsten Schutte’s Eat That Question—Frank Zappa in His Own Words), Chicago Reader, July 7, 2016. First Place, Best Film Criticism, circulation 45,000 and over, Association of Alternative Newsmedia, 2017.
• “A Rebel’s Rebel” (review of Gary Ross’ Free State of Jones), Chicago Reader, June 30, 2016.
• “One Question, Many Answers” (review of Gordon Quinn and Jerry Tremana’s Inquiring Nuns), Chicago Reader, July 21, 2016.
• “Shame Faced” (review of Frida and Lasse Barkfors’ Pervert Park and David Farrier and Dylan Reeve’s Tickled), Chicago Reader, June 23, 2016.
• “Best of Chicago: Expressway-Adjacent El Platforms,” Chicago Reader, June 23, 2016.
• “Games People Play” (review of Duncan Jones’ Warcraft), Chicago Reader, June 16, 2016.
• “Trump May Be a Grandiose Narcissist, but He’s No Match for the Lyndon Johnson of All the Way” (review of Jay Roach’s All the Way), Chicago Reader, May 25, 2016.
• “Enemies Foreign and Domestic” (review of Leo Hurwitz’s Strange Victory), Chicago Reader, May 19, 2016.
• “Tower Record” (review of Ben Wheatley’s High-Rise), May 12, 2016.
• “When Beckett Met Buster” (review of Ross Lipman’s Notfilm), Chicago Reader, May 5, 2016. First Place, Best Film Criticism, circulation 45,000 and over, Association of Alternative Newsmedia, 2017.
• “Priests Gone Wild” (review of Pablo Larrain’s The Club), Chicago Reader, April 28, 2016.
• “You, Me, and Allah” (review of Asghar Farhadi’s Fireworks Wednesday), Chicago Reader, April 28, 2016.
• “Good Ol’ Boys” (review of Liza Johnson’s Elvis & Nixon), April 21, 2016. First Place, Best Film Criticism, circulation 45,000 and over, Association of Alternative Newsmedia, 2017.
• “For Joe Houlberg, a Thriller Is a Riddle Wrapped Inside an Enigma,” Chicago Reader, Friday, April 8, 2016.
• “Disoriented” (review of Asian American Showcase), Chicago Reader, TK, 2016.
• “This Is Not a Loved Song” (review of Xavier Giannoli’s Marguerite), Chicago Reader, March 24, 2016.
• “Batman vs. Superman: An Exclusive Interview With Billionaire Bruce Wayne,” Chicago Reader, March 24, 2016.
• “Glass Consciousness” (review of Benjamin Dickinson’s Creative Control), Chicago Reader, March 17, 2016.
• “Hanging on the Telephone” (review of Tobias Lindholm’s A War), Chicago Reader, February 25, 2016.
• “Two Little Hitlers” (review of Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s The President), Chicago Reader, February 4, 2016.
• “For Japanese Director Seijun Suzuki, Low Budgets Yielded High Art,” Chicago Reader, January 14, 2016.

2015

• “2015 at the Movies” Chicago Reader, December 24, 2015.
• “They Lost It in the Movies” (review of Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth), Chicago Reader, December 15, 2015.
• “You’re in 3-D Now, Charlie Brown” (review of Steve Martino’s The Peanuts Movie), November 12, 2015.
• “Comb-over Country” (review of Rick Alverson’s Entertainment), Chicago Reader, November 19, 2015.
• “Black and White and Red All Over” (review of Jay Roach’s Trumbo), Chicago Reader, November 12, 2015.
• “Because I Said So” (review of Michael Almereyda’s Experimenter and Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s The Stanford Prison Experiment), Chicago Reader, October 29, 2015.
• “Nuns Raise Hell at the Chicago International Film Festival,” Chicago Reader, October 15, 2015.
• “Time Isn’t on My Side” (review of Ridley Scott’s The Martian), Chicago Reader, October 8, 2015.
• “It’s Mao or Never” (review of Zhang Yimou’s Coming Home), Chicago Reader, October 1, 2015.
• “Home Is Where the Hate Is” (review of Ramin Bahrani’s 99 Homes), Chicago Reader, October 1, 2015.
• “At Reeling, Adulthood Is Only an Orgasm Away” (review of Pat Mills’ Guidance and Alante Kavaite’s The Summer of Sangaile), Chicago Reader, September 17, 2015.
• “The Odd Father” (review of Stevan Riley’s Listen to Me Marlon), Chicago Reader, August 27, 2015.
• “Mater and Antimater” (review of Xavier Dolan’s Tom at the Farm), Chicago Reader, August 13, 2015.
• “All the Venom That’s Fit to Print” (review of Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville’s Best of Enemies), Chicago Reader, August 6, 2015. First Place, Best Arts Criticism, Association of Alternative Newsmedia, 2016.
• “To Make a Short Story Long …” (review of Don Siegel’s The Killers), Chicago Reader, July 30, 2015.
• “Batkid Begins Gives All for One and None for All,” (review of Dana Nachman’s Batkid Begins), Chicago Reader, July 14, 2015. First Place, Best Arts Criticism, Association of Alternative Newsmedia, 2016.
• “The Penis Mightier” (review of Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike XXL, Patrick Brice’s The Overnight and Josh Lawson’s The Little Death), Chicago Reader, July 2, 2015.
• “Money Changes Everything” (review of Andrew Bujalski’s Results), Chicago Reader, June 18, 2015.
• “Bros Before Brains” (review of Doug Ellin’s Entourage), Chicago Reader, June 4, 2015.
• “Love & Mercy Is Twice the Brian Wilson, but Not the Whole Story,” Chicago Reader, June 10, 2015.
• “Actor Robert Ryan Was The Wild Bunch’s Party Man” (excerpt from The Lives of Robert Ryan), Chicago Reader, May 27, 2015.
• “Who Made the Who?” (feature on James D. Cooper’s Lambert & Stamp), Chicago Reader, May 14, 2015.
• “Unfaithfully Yours” (review of Thomas Vinterberg’s Far From the Madding Crowd), Chicago Reader, May 7, 2015.
• “Thom Anderson Displays Himself” (review of The Thoughts That Once We Had), Chicago Reader, May 21, 2015.
• “The Dogs of War” (review of Kornel Mundruczo’s White God), Chicago Reader, April 2, 2015.
• “The Faces Behind the Hits” (review of Denny Tedesco’s The Wrecking Crew), Chicago Reader, April 23, 2015.
• “Not So Fast” (review of Dominik Graf’s Beloved Sisters), Chicago Reader, April 9, 2015.
• “Big Blight on Campus” (review of Kirby Dick’s The Hunting Ground), Chicago Reader, March 26, 2015
• “Movie Monsters” (review of David Cronenberg’s Maps to the Stars), Chicago Reader, March 12, 2015.
• “Late-Night Comics” (review of Jemaine Clement and Taika Watiti’s What We Do in the Shadows), Chicago Reader, February 26, 2015.
• “That O’s Gotta Go” (review of Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Fifty Shades of Grey), Chicago Reader, February 19, 2015. First Place, Best Arts Criticism, Association of Alternative Newsmedia, 2016.
• “This Film Is Not Yet Censored” (review of Mohammad Rasoulof’s Manuscripts Don’t Burn), Chicago Reader, February 12, 2015.
• “Bad Girls in a Man’s World” (review of Celine Sciamma’s Girlhood), Chicago Reader, February 5, 2015.
• “Winning, Ugly” (review of Daniel Barnz’s Cake), Chicago Reader, January 29, 2015.
• “The Thespian and the Lesbian” (review of Barry Levinson’s The Humbling), Chicago Reader, January 22, 2015.
• “2014 at the Movies,” Chicago Reader, January 7, 2015.
• “Number One With a Bullet” (review of Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper), Chicago Reader, January 15, 2015.

2014

• “The Funny Similarities Between Chaplin and Hope” (review of Richard Zoglin’s Hope and Peter Ackroyd’s Charlie Chaplin: A Brief Life), Chicago Reader, December 18, 2014.
• “Lee Sandlin, Scourge of the Small Screen,” Chicago Reader, December 16, 2014.
• “Rock Around the Clock” (review of Chris Rock’s Top Five), Chicago Reader, December 11, 2014.
• “How She Grew” (review of Isao Takahata’s The Tale of the Princess Kaguya), Chicago Reader, December 4, 2014.
• “No Defense” (review of Amir Bar-Lev’s Happy Valley), Chicago Reader, November 27, 2014.
• “Fake News, Real Trouble” (review of Jon Stewart’s Rosewater), Chicago Reader, November 20, 2014.
• “Right Between the Eyes” (review of Howard Brookner’s Burroughs: The Movie), Chicago Reader, November 13, 2015.
• “None of That Jazz” (review of Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash), Chicago Reader, October 30, 2014.
• “Every Day Is Dog Day” (review of Alison Berg and Frank Keraudren’s The Dog), Chicago Reader, October 2, 2014.
• “An Unpleasant Experience” (review of John Ridley’s Jimi: All Is By My Side), Chicago Reader, September 25, 2014.
• “The Marx Brothers TV Collection Follows the Legendary Comedy Team Into the 1950s, 60s, and 70s,” Chicago Reader, September 22, 2014.
• “Too Big for the Screen” (review of Alex Gibney’s Finding Fela), Chicago Reader, September 11, 2014.
• “The Fault in Our Stars” (review of Ari Folman’s The Congress), Chicago Reader, September 4, 2015.
• “Who Owns the Bones?” (review of Todd Douglas MIller’s Dinosaur 13), Chicago Reader, August 21, 2014.
• “The Cross and the Crosshairs” (review of John Michael McDonagh’s Calvary), Chicago Reader, August 14. 2014.
• “The Master and the Baiter” (review of Jonathan Demme’s A Master Builder), Chicago Reader, August 7, 2014.
• “The Vice Lords and the Nice Lords” (review of DeWitt Beall’s Lord Thing), Chicago Reader, July 31, 2014.
• “Authors of the Planet of the Apes” (review of Matt Reeves’ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Chicago Reader, July 17, 2014.
• “It’s Not What You Know, It’s What You Pay for It” (review of Brian Knappenberger’s The Internet’s Own Boy and Andrew Rossi’s Ivory Tower), Chicago Reader, June 26, 2014.
• “Best Place to Pretend You’re Robert De Niro,” Chicago Reader, June 26, 2014.
• “The Robert Altman Film Altman Never Wanted You to See” (on the restoration of Robert Altman’s Corn’s-A-Poppin’), Chicago Reader, June 17, 2014.
• “Tom Cruise Does the Time Warp Again (and Again and Again)” (review of Doug Liman’s Edge of Tomorrow), Chicago Reader, June 5, 2014.
• “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Ida” (review of Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida), Chicago Reader, May 22, 2014.
• “The Where and Why of the Hairy Who” (review of Leslie Buchbinder’s Hairy Who & The Chicago Imagists), Chicago Reader, May 15, 2014.
• “The Most Reliable Movie Critic in America?,” Chicago Reader, May 8, 2014.
• “The Kid Is All Right” (review of Charles Chaplin’s The Kid), Chicago Reader, April 17, 2014.
• “Armed to the Teeth and Led by Arnold” (review of David Ayer’s Sabotage), Chicago Reader, April 3, 2014.
• “Underground Film Goes Aboveground With What I Love About Concrete,” Chicago Reader, April 3, 2014.
• “A Hunger Games Knockoff Set in 22nd-Century Chicago” (review of Neil Burger’s Divergent), Chicago Reader, March 27, 2014.
• “Wes Anderson Checks in to The Grand Budapest Hotel” (review of Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel and Rithy Panh’s The Missing Picture), Chicago Reader, March 13, 2014.
• “Beyond the Yellow Tape” (review of Tod Lending’s Legacy), Chicago Reader, February 27, 2014.
• “Hidden Passions, Murderous Intent” (review of Charlie Stratton’s In Secret), Chicago Reader, February 20, 2014.
• “Crazy He Calls Me,” (review of Bruno Dumont’s Camille Claudel 1915), Chicago Reader, February 13, 2014.
• “A Bloody Mess” (review of Mark Waters’ Vampire Academy), Chicago Reader, February 13, 2014.
• “This Is Between Me and Her” (review of Spike Jonze’s Her), Chicago Reader, February 6, 2014.
• “Why Can’t Grown-Up Animations Catch a Break at the Academy Awards?” (review of The Oscar Nominated Short Films: Animated), January 30, 2014.
• “The Young and the Jew-less” (review of Philipp Kadelbach’s Generation War), Chicago Reader, January 23, 2014.

2013

• “2013 at the Movies,” Chicago Reader, December 26, 2013.
• “Gondry Doodles Chomsky’s Noodle” (review of Michel Gondry’s  Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy?), Chicago Reader, December 5, 2013.
• “The Kids Are All Over” (review of Ken Scott’s Delivery Man), Chicago Reader, November 28, 2013.
• “Enough Is Enough” (review of Jia Zhang-ke’s A Touch of Sin), Chicago Reader, November 21, 2013.
• “Back to the Barricades” (review of Andrzej Wajda’s Walesa, Man of Hope), Chicago Reader, November 7, 2013.
• “The Letter of the Lawless” (review of Joseph Losey’s M), Chicago Reader, October 31, 2013.
• “What Kind of Idiot Are You?” (review of Doug Hamilton’s Broadway Idiot), Chicago Reader, October 31, 2013.
• “The Tragic Kingdom” (review of Randy Moore’s Escape From Tomorrow), Chicago Reader, October 24, 2013.
• “The Fire This Time” (review of Jason Osder’s Let the Fire Burn), Chicago Reader, October 17, 2013.
• “Birds of a Feather” (review of Rufus Norris’ Broken), Chicago Reader, July 18, 2013.
• “Naughty Naughty, and All for Naught” (review of Michael Winterbottom’s The Look of Love), Chicago Reader, July 11, 2013.
• “Sounds of the Street” (review of Haskell Wexler’s Medium Cool), Chicago Reader, July 11, 2013.
• “Motor City Madmen” (review of Mark Christopher Covino and Jeff Howlett’s A Band Called Death), Chicago Reader, June 27, 2013.
• “The Bitter Get Better in Life Is Sweet” (review of Mike Leigh’s Life Is Sweet), Chicago Reader, June 21, 2013.
• “Superman Returns (Again)” (review of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel), Chicago Reader, June 13, 2013.
• “Uneasy Listening” (review of Peter Strickland’s Berberian Sound Studio), Chicago Reader, June 13, 2013.
• “Something Up His Sleeve” (review of Molly Bernstein’s Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay), Chicago Reader, June 6, 2013.
• “There’s Something Scary About Mary” (review of Jen and Sylvia Soska’s American Mary), Chicago Reader, May 30, 2013.
• “The Bitch Is Back” (review of Shirley Clarke’s Portrait of Jason), Chicago Reader, May 23, 2013.
• “A Family’s Affair” (review of Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell), Chicago Reader, May 16, 2013.
• “The Party Faithful” (review of Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby), Chicago Reader, May 9, 2013.
• “Back to the Drawing Board” (review of Kevin Schreck’s Persistence of Vision), Chicago Reader, May 2, 2013.
• “The Years in Review” (review of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp), Chicago Reader, April 25, 2013.
• “Scotch Take” (review of Ken Loach’s The Angels’ Share), Chicago Reader, April 25, 2013.
• “A Little Night Music” (review of Drew DeNicola and Olivia Mori’s Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me), Chicago Reader, April 18, 2013.
• “The Executioner’s Song and Dance” (review of Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing), Chicago Reader, April 18, 2013.
• “Secrets of The Shining” (review of Rodney Ascher’s Room 237), Chicago Reader, April 4, 2013.
• “The Black and the Green” (review of “L.A. Rebellion” Shorts Program), Chicago Reader, March 28, 2013.
• “Red Lion Pub Offers a Respite for Weary Film Buffs,” Chicago Reader, March 14, 2013.
• “Fritz Lang’s Ministry of Fear, Made With Real Eggs,” Chicago Reader, March 12, 2013.
• “Who Did You Gas in the War, Daddy?” (review of Chanoch Ze’evi’s Hitler’s Children and Cate Shortland’s Lore), Chicago Reader, February 14, 2013.
• “Meet the Skull and Crossbones” (review of Thymaya Payne’s Stolen Seas), Chicago Reader, February 7, 2013.
• “Location, Location, Location” (review of Kleber Mendonca Filho’s Neighboring Sounds), Chicago Reader, January 31, 2013.

2012

• “The Year in Review: Film,” Chicago Reader, December 27, 2012.
• “The Thin Blue Lie” (review of Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon’s The Central Park Five), Chicago Reader, December 6, 2012.
• “The Fanboy and the Fuhrer” (review of Patrick McGrady’s Wagner and Me), Chicago Reader, November 29, 2012.
• “A Decade Under the Influence of Terrible Movies,” Chicago Reader, November 22, 2012.
• “What Happened to Kerouac?,” Chicago Reader, November 20, 2012.
• “The Bi- Who Loved Me” (review of Sam Mendes’ Skyfall), Chicago Reader, November 15, 2012.
• “Dishonest Abe” (review of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln), Chicago Reader, November 8, 2012.
• “The Funniest Filmmaker You’ve Never Heard Of” (review of films by Pierre Etaix), Chicago Reader, November 7, 2012.
• “Keaton and Kovacs” (review of The Ernie Kovacs Collection, Volume 2), October 23, 2012.
• “Have It Your Way” (review of Craig Zobel’s Compliance), Chicago Reader, September 6, 2012.
• “Family Unfair” (review of Patrick Wang’s In the Family), Chicago Reader, August 30, 2012.
• “The Bourdin Identities” (review of Bart Layton’s The Imposter), Chicago Reader, August 23, 2012.
• “French Disconnection” (review of Julie Delpy and Marie Pillet’s 2 Days in New York), Chicago Reader, August 16, 2012.
• “Big With Child” (review of Delphine and Muriel Coulin’s 17 Girls), Chicago Reader, July 26, 2012.
• “Young Lovers and Old Wounds” (review of Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz), Chicago Reader, July 5, 2012.
• “Some Bang, Some Whimper” (review of Lorene Scafaria’s Seeking a Friend for the End of the World), Chicago Reader, June 28, 2012.
• “Jane Fonda Works It Out” (review of Bruce Beresford’s Peace, Love and Misunderstanding), Chicago Reader, June 7, 2012.
• “America’s Got Targets” (review of Bobcat Goldthwait’s God Bless America), Chicago Reader, May 10, 2012.
• “The Facts in the Case of E. Poe” (review of James McTeigue’s The Raven), Chicago Reader, May 3, 2012.
• “Beaten to Death” (review of Alan Govenar’s The Beat Hotel), Chicago Reader, April 5, 2012.
• “The Sound of No Music” (review of Terence Davies’ The Deep Blue Sea), Chicago Reader, March 29, 2012.
• “The Kids Are Hard Right” (review of Lise Birk Pederson’s Putin’s Kiss), Chicago Reader, March 8, 2012.
• “The Cop Who Loved Women” (review of Oren Moverman’s Rampart), Chicago Reader, February 23, 2012.
• “One Drink Over the Line” (review of Lionel Rogosin’s On the Bowery), Chicago Reader, February 16, 2012.
• “An Army of One” (review of Ralph Fiennes’ Coriolanus), Chicago Reader, February 2, 2012.
• “One Marriage, Under Allah” (review of Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation), Chicago Reader, January 26, 2012.
• “Rebel Without a Script” (review of Susan Ray’s Don’t Expect Too Much and Nicholas Ray’s We Can’t Go Home Again), Chicago Reader, January 19, 2012.

2011

• “Favorite Films of 2011,” Chicago Reader, December 29, 2011.
• “Couch Tomato” (review of David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method), Chicago Reader, December 15, 2011.
• “Laurel and Hardy: Another Fine Match” (review of Laurel & Hardy: The Essential Collection), Chicago Reader, December 8, 2011.
• “The Tender Heart of Fritz Lang,” Chicago Reader, December 1, 2011.
• “Tomato Catch-Up,” Chicago Reader, November 23, 2011.
• “You’ve Seen the Movie—Now Write the Book!,” Chicago Reader, November 18, 2011.
• “Death and Texas” (review of Werner Herzog’s Into the Abyss and Peter Gilbert and Steve James’ At the Death House Door), Chicago Reader, November 17, 2011.
• “The Boys in the Bureau” (review of Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar), Chicago Reader, November 10, 2011.
• “Gay Cinema Enters the Post-Taboo Era” (review of Stephen Cone’s The Wise Kids), Chicago Reader, November 3, 2011.
• “Father, Husband, Soldier, Spy” (review of Carl Colby’s The Man Nobody Knew), Chicago Reader, October 20, 2011.
• “Chicago International Film Festival,” Chicago Reader, October 26, 2011.
• “The Young and the Breathless” (review of Jonathan Levine’s 50/50 and Gus Van Sant’s Restless), Chicago Reader, September 29, 2011.
• “Baseball’s Bargain Basement” (review of Bennett Miller’s Moneyball), Chicago Reader, September 22, 2011. First Place, Best Arts Criticism, Association of Alternative Newsmedia, 2012.
• “Deborah Tolchinsky’s Fast Talk Explores the Mile-a-Minute World of College Debaters,” Chicago Reader, September 15, 2011.
• “Reach Out, Touch Somebody, and Die” (review of Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion), Chicago Reader, September 8, 2011.
• “A Mod Makeover for Graham Greene’s Crime Classic Brighton Rock,” Chicago Reader, August 25, 2011.
• “How the South Side’s Popovich Brothers Took the Best of Serbia With Them” (review of The Popovich Brothers of South Chicago), Chicago Reader, July 28, 2011.
• “For the Title Character of Terri, Growing Up Is Hardly Worth the Effort” (review of Azazel Jacobs’ Terri), Chicago Reader, July 21, 2011.
• “How to Kidnap a Cute Mormon, Fail to Win His Heart, but Become a Tabloid Sensation” (review of Errol Morris’ Tabloid), Chicago Reader, July 14, 2011.
• “The Battle of Chile—As Seen and Remembered” (review of Patricio Guzman’s The Battle of Chile and Nostalgia for the Light), Chicago Reader, July 7, 2011.
• “The Dark Shadings of Robert Ryan: A Brief Biography,” Noir City, Vol. 6, No. 2, Summer 2011.
• “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop Bitching” (review of Rodman Flender’s Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop), Chicago Reader, June 23, 2011.
• “Beautiful Boy Goes Beyond a Parent’s Worst Nightmare,” (review of Felix van Groeningen’s Beautiful Boy), Chicago Reader, June 16, 2011.
• “The Bigger They Are, the Harder They Fall” (review of Cathryn Collins’ Vlast (Power)), Chicago Reader, June 9, 2011.
• “Terence Malick Goes to Extremes in The Tree of Life,” Chicago Reader, June 2, 2011.
• “Lucas and Allen: Daydream Believers” (review of Alexandre O. Philippe’s The People vs. George Lucas and Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris), Chicago Reader, May 26, 2011. First Place, Best Arts Criticism, Association of Alternative Newsmedia, 2012.
• “Funny Girls” (review of Paul Feig’s Bridesmaids), Chicago Reader, May 12, 2011.
• “Bringing the Nazis to Justice” (review of Stuart Schulberg’s Nuremberg: Its Lesson for Today), Chicago Reader, May 5, 2011.
• “The Tube’s First Concept Humorist” (review of The Ernie Kovacs Collection), Chicago Reader, April 28, 2011.
• “Meet Dave Kehr” (review of Dave Kehr’s When Movies Mattered), Chicago Reader, April 21, 2011.
• “Unopened Male” (review of Cary Fukunaga’s Jane Eyre), Chicago Reader, March 17, 2011.
• “Philip K. Dick, Adjusted” (review of George Nolfi’s The Adjustment Bureau), Chicago Reader, March 10, 2011.
• “That 70s Movie” (review of Damon Packard’s SpaceDisco One), Chicago Reader, February 24, 2011. First Place, Best Arts Criticism, Association of Alternative Newsmedia, 2012.
• “Death Became Them” (review of Kenneth Bowser’s Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune and Steven Soderbergh’s And Everything Is Going Fine), Chicago Reader, February 17, 2011.
• “After ‘Birth,’” (review of D.W. Griffith’s America), Chicago Reader, January 27, 2011.
• “Jobless in America” (review of John Wells’ The Company Men), Chicago Reader, January 20, 2011.
• “Revisiting the Love Guv” (review of Alex Gibney’s Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Elliot Spitzer), Chicago Reader, January 13, 2011.

2010

• “The Two Jacks” (review of George Hickenlooper’s Casino Jack), Chicago Reader, December 30, 2010.
• “Truer Grit” (review of Joel and Ethan Coen’s True Grit), Chicago Reader, December 23, 2010.
• “Good Prose From the Past,” Chicago Reader, December 20, 2010.
• “The Best Movies of 2010,” Chicago Reader, December 16, 2010.
• “Hey, His Brain’s Up Here” (review of Glen Ficarra and John Requa’s I Love You Philip Morris), Chicago Reader, December 9, 2010.
• “Heart of the Jackal” (review of Olivier Assayas’ Carlos), Chicago Reader, December 2, 2010.
• “Muppets and the Media Landscape” (review of Jim Henson tribute), November 11, 2010.
• “Love, War, and Lies” (review of Doug Limon’s Fair Game), Chicago Reader, November 4, 2010.
• “Yes, Tony Curtis Could Act” (review of Richard Fleischer’s The Boston Strangler), Chicago Reader, October 28, 2010.
• “A Maestro and a Monster” (review of Vikram Jayanti’s The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector), Chicago Reader, October 21, 2010.
• “The Price of Privacy” (review of David Fincher’s The Social Network), Chicago Reader, September 30, 2010.
• “What Never Made It Onscreen” (review of Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go and Serge Bromberg and Ruzandra Medrea’s Henri Georges-Clouzot’s Inferno), Chicago Reader, September 23, 2010.
• “Mystery on Many Levels” (review of Jacques Tourneur’s Experiment Perilous), Chicago Reader, September 9, 2010.
• “Public Enemy Numero Un” (review of Jean-Francois Richet’s Mesrine), Chicago Reader, September 2, 2010.
• “Six Characters in Search of an Actor” (review of Todd Solondz’s Life During Wartime), Chicago Reader, August 5, 2010.
• “So Bad It’s . . . Bad” (review of Claudio Fragasso’s Troll 2 and Michael Paul Stephenson’s Best Worst Movie), Chicago Reader, July 29, 2010.
• “The War From Both Sides” (review of Laura Poitras’ The Oath and Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger’s Restrepo), Chicago Reader, July 15, 2010.
• “The Nature of Nurture” (review of Lisa Cholodenko’s The Kids Are All Right and Yorgos Lanthimos’ Dogtooth), Chicago Reader, July 8, 2010.
• “Family Values in Meth Country” (review of Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone), Chicago Reader, June 17, 2010.
• “Viral Video and Its Victims” (review of Ben Steinbauer’s Winnebago Man), Chicago Reader, June 10, 2010
• “BP: It’s Just the Beginning” (review of Joe Berlinger’s Crude), Chicago Reader, June 3, 2010.
• “When the Author is the Auteur” (review of Rodrigo Garcia’s Mother and Child), Chicago Reader, May 20, 2010.
• “When Giving Hurts” (review of Nicole Holofcener’s Please Give), Chicago Reader, May 6, 2010.
• “What Familiarity Breeds” (review of Daniel Barber’s Harry Brown), Chicago Reader, April 29, 2010.
• “Rock in a Hard Place” (review of Frank Oz’s Death at a Funeral), Chicago Reader, April 22, 2010.
• “Fighting Lies With Fiction” (review of Paul Greengrass’ Green Zone), Chicago Reader, March 18, 2010.
• “Where Every Man Is the Wolf” (review of Julian Jarrold, James Marsh, and Anand Tucker’s Red Riding Trilogy), Chicago Reader, March 11, 2010.
• “The Wolf Man Walks Again” (review of Joe Johnston’s The Wolfman), Chicago Reader, February 18, 2010.
• “Mumblecore and Something More” (review of Andrew Bujalski’s Beeswax), Chicago Reader, February 4, 2010.
• “Art for Rock’s Sake” (review of Eileen Yaghoobian’s Died Young, Stayed Pretty and Merle Becker’s American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art), Chicago Reader, January 28, 2010.
• “J.R. Jones Declares War on the Popcorn Movie” (best films of 2009), Chicago Reader, January 7, 2010.

2009

• “Take-No-Shit Sherlock” (review of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes), Chicago Reader, December 31, 2009.
• “When Princesses Grow Up” (review of Jean-Marc Vallee’s The Young Victoria), Chicago Reader, December 17, 2009.
• “What’s Wrong With Up in the Air” (review of Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air), Chicago Reader, December 15, 2009.
• “Not All in the Family” (review of Sebastian Silba’s The Maid), Chicago Reader, December 3, 2009.
• “The Bad Lieutenant Gone Wild” (review of Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans), Chicago Reader, November 19, 2009.
• “The Actor’s Letter” (on Robert Ryan’s Chicago upbringing), Chicago Reader, October 29, 2009.
• “The Essential Robert Ryan” (on the actor’s best screen performances), Chicago Reader, October 29, 2009.
• “A Terrorist’s Tale” (review of Uli Edel’s The Baader Meinhoff Complex), Chicago Reader, September 10, 2009.
• “Greetings From . . . Uh, Hang On a Sec. Yes: Toronto,” Chicago Reader, September 10, 2009.
• “Truths About Lies” (review of Bobcat Goldthwait’s The World’s Greatest Dad), Chicago Reader, September 3, 2009.
• “Everything’s Funnier with Weltanschauung” (review of Roy Andersson’s You, the Living and Neal Brennan’s The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard), Chicago Reader, August 19, 2009.
• “Cashing In” (review of Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardennes’ Lorna’s Silence), Chicago Reader, August 13, 2009.
• “Recent History” (review of Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker), Chicago Reader, July 9, 2009.
• “History vs. Hollywood” (review of Michael Mann’s Public Enemies), Chicago Reader, July 2, 2009.
• “I Left My Heart in the 400 Theater, and My Gum Under the Seat,” Chicago Reader, June 26, 2009.
• “The Sweetest Illusion” (review of Max Ophuls’ La Ronde and Le Plaisir), Chicago Reader, TK.
• “You Know How I Know You’re Gay?” (review of Kirby Dick’s Outrage), Chicago Reader, TK.
• “The World’s War, One Man’s Battle” (review of Masaki Kobayashi’s The Human Condition), Chicago Reader, TK.
• “Star Trek Babies” (review of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek), Chicago Reader, May 7, 2009.
• “The Ugly 80s” (review of Gregor Jordan’s The Informers), Chicago Reader, April 23, 2009.
• “Not Knuckling Under” (review of Steve McQueen’s Hunger and Tim Disney’s American Violet), Chicago Reader, April 16, 2009.
• “Movies: Best of Chicago,” Chicago Reader, March 26, 2009.
• “The Reluctant Narrator” (review of Carlos Reygadas’ Silent Light), Chicago Reader, March 19, 2009.
• “Comedy, With Chords” (review of Burt Kearns’ The Seventh Python and Gregori Viens’Punching the Clown), Chicago Reader, March 5, 2009.
• “For a Moment, Football Was the World” (review of Kevin Rafferty’s Harvard Beats Yale 29-29), Chicago Reader, February 19, 2009.
• “Getting Schooled” (review of Laurent Cantet’s The Class), Chicago Reader, February 12, 2009.
• “Family for Better or for Worse” (review of Abdellatif Kechiche’s The Secret of the Grain), Chicago Reader, January 22, 2009.
• “Guerrilla in the Mist” (review of Stephen Soderbergh’s Che), Chicago Reader, January 15, 2009.
• “Do You Know Jack?” (review of Koji Masutani’s Virtual JFK and The Robert Drew Kennedy Films Collection), Chicago Reader, January 8, 2009.
• “Anti-Fantasy” (best films of 2008), Chicago Reader, January 1, 2009.

2008

• “Aging Into Infancy” (review of Stephen Daldry’s The Reader and David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Chicago Reader, December 25, 2008.
• “Repent and Be Forgiven” (review of Ron Howard’s Frost/Nixon), December 11, 2008.
• “Gay Power” (review of Gus Van Sant’s Milk), Chicago Reader, November 27, 2008.
• “Sharp Teeth in a Dull Town” (review of Tomas Alfredson’s Let the Right One In), Chicago Reader, November 20, 2008.
• “Reader’s Guide to the 44th Chicago International Film Festival,” Chicago Reader, October 16, 2008.
• “Fishes and Loaves in a Barrel” (review of Larry Charles’ Religulous), Chicago Reader, October 2, 2008.
• “The War Over There” (review of Neil Burger’s The Lucky Ones), Chicago Reader, September 25, 2008.
• “Darker Blue” (review of Neil Labute’s Lakeview Terrace), Chicago Reader, September 18, 2008.
• “Mimi Plauche” (profile of Chicago International Film Festival director), Chicago Reader, September 11, 2008.
• “Bleak Thrills” (review of Courtney Hunt’s Frozen River), August 14, 2008.
• “Meet John D’oh” (review of Joshua Michael Stern’s Swing Vote), Chicago Reader, August 7, 2008.
• “A Batman for the 21st Century” (review of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight), Chicago Reader, July 17, 2008.
• “Hello Wackness My Old Friend” (review of Jonathan Levine’s The Wackness), Chicago Reader, July 10, 2008.
• “The Real Hunter S. Thompson” (review of Alex Gibney’s Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson), Chicago Reader, July 3, 2008.
• “No More Pussy Galore” (review of Peter Segal’s Get Smart and Michel Hazanavicius’ OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies), Chicago Reader, June 26, 2008.
• “Back at Fighting Weight” (review of David Mamet’s Redbelt), Chicago Reader, May 15, 2008.
• “An Actor’s Director” (review of Tom McCarthy’s The Visitor), Chicago Reader, April 17, 2008.
• “The Real Deal” (review of “The New Deal on Film”), Chicago Reader, April 10, 2008.
• “When the Music Makes the Movie” (review of Martin Scorsese’s Shine a Light and Phillip Galloway, Tom Gulotta and David Peck’s Movin’ On Up: The Music and Message of Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions), Chicago Reader, April 3, 2008.
• “A Southerner in the Snow” (review of David Gordon Green’s Snow Angels), Chicago Reader, March 20, 2008.
• “The Same Movie Twice” (review of Michael Haneke’s Funny Games), March 13, 2008.
• “History Now” (review of Brett Morgen’s Chicago 10, interviews with Tom Hayden and John Schultz), Chicago Reader, February 28, 2008.
• “Undead in the Information Age” (review of George A. Romero’s Diary of the Dead), Chicago Reader, February 14, 2008.
• “Trust the Audience” (review of Cristian Mungiu’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days), Chicago Reader, February 7, 2008.
• “Cheap Thrills” (review of Matt Reeves’ Cloverfield), Chicago Reader, January 24, 2008.
• “Exiled to the Art House” (review of Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis), Chicago Reader, January 10, 2008.
• “Big Shoulders” (best films of 2007), Chicago Reader, January 3, 2008.

2007

• “A Novel Treat” (review of Joe Wright’s Atonement), Chicago Reader, December 6, 2008.
• “Fear Itself” (review of Chris Gorak’s Right at Your Door and Lynn Hershman-Leeson’s Strange Culture), Chicago Reader, August 24, 2007.
• “Kings of Comedy” (review of Arthur Lubin’s Buck Privates and Dennis Dugan’s I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry), Chicago Reader, July 27, 2007.
• “Spaceship Earth” (review of Danny Boyle’s Sunshine), Chicago Reader, July 20, 2007.
• “The Media and Modern Warfare” (review of Michael Winterbottom’s A Mighty Heart), Chicago Reader, June 22, 2007.
• “You Know the Type” (review of Gary Hustwit’s Helvetica), Chicago Reader, June 15, 2007.
• “A Grown-Ass Man” (review of Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up), Chicago Reader, June 1, 2007.
• “Teacher’s Pests” (review of Mike Akel’s Chalk), Chicago Reader, May 25, 2007.
• “Memory and Marriage” (review of Sarah Polley’s Away From Her), May 11, 2007.
• “Google Searches: Hot Fuzz,” ABCNews.com, April 20, 2007.
• “Going Wide” (review of Chris Rock’s I Think I Love My Wife), Chicago Reader, March 16, 2007.
• “The Nader Strategy” (review of Henriette Mantel and Steve Skrovan’s An Unreasonable Man), Chicago Reader, March 2, 2007.
• “One Critic: Why Al Gore Should Lose,” ABCNews.com, February 21, 2007.
• “License to Lie” (review of George Hickenlooper’s Factory Girl), Chicago Reader, February 16, 2007.
• “Truth in Doodling” (review of Don Hertzfeldt’s Everything Will Be OK), Chicago Reader, February 9, 2007.

2006

• “The Best Movies of the Year,” ABCNews.com, December 27, 2006.
• “Critics’ Picks 2006” (best films of 2005), Chicago Reader, December 22, 2006.
• “The Difference Between Smart and Wise” (review of Nicholas Hytner’s The History Boys), Chicago Reader, December 8, 2006.
• “A Place in the World” (review of Martin Scorsese’s The Departed and Kevin Macdonald’s The Last King of Scotland), Chicago Reader, October 6, 2006.
• “Young Americans” (review of Hedi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s Jesus Camp and David Leaf and John Scheinfeld’s The U.S. vs. John Lennon), Chicago Reader, September 29, 2006. First place, Best Arts Criticism, Association of Alternative Newsmedia, 2007.
• “The Origins of ‘Jackass: Number Two,” ABCNews.com, September 21, 2006.
• “The Book of Jobs” (review of Bent Hamer’s Factotum), Chicago Reader, August 25, 2006.
• “Beverly Hills Cop-Out” (review of Larry Clark’s Wassup Rockers), Chicago Reader, June 30, 2006.
• “Mourning Edition” (review of Robert Altman’s A Prairie Home Companion), Chicago Reader, June 9, 2006. First place, Best Arts Criticism, Association of Alternative Newsmedia, 2007.
• “Man of the World” (review of Davis Guggenheim’s An Inconvenient Truth), Chicago Reader, June 2, 2006.
• “Teenage Noir” (review of Rian Johnson’s Brick), Chicago Reader, April 7, 2006. First place, Best Arts Criticism, Association of Alternative Newsmedia, 2007.
• “Freedom Fighter” (review of Jason Reitman’s Thank You for Smoking), Chicago Reader, March 24, 2006.
• “Bringing the War Home” (review of Eugene Jarecki’s Why We Fight), Chicago Reader, February 17, 2006.
• “The Best Ten Movies You Probably Didn’t See” (best films of 2005), Chicago Reader, January 6, 2006

2005

• “Laugh In the New Year With the Marx Brothers” (review of Marx Brothers retrospective), Chicago Reader, December 30, 2005.
• “Lasagna” (fiction), Chicago Reader, December 23, 2005.
• “Good Is Good” (review of Andrew Adamson’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), Chicago Reader, December 16, 2005.
• “So Funny You Could Cry” (review of Liam Lynch’s Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic), Chicago Reader, November 11, 2005.
• “A Fine Line” (review of Fruit Chan, Park Chan-wook and Takashi Miike’s Three … Extremes and Darren Lynn Bousman’s Saw II), Chicago Reader, October 28, 2005.
• “Endearing Ambition” (review of the dBs at Hideout and House of Blues, 9/17/05), Chicago Reader, September 23, 2005.
• “The Fat, the Odd, and the Ugly” (review of Alex de la Iglesia’s El Crimen Ferpecto), Chicago Reader, September 2, 2005.
• “Yesterday’s News” (review of Chicago Underground Film Festival), Chicago Reader, August 19, 2005.
• “It’s Still Wonka’s World” (review of Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Chicago Reader, July 15, 2005.
• “Harold Lloyd: The Man on the Clock” (review of Harold Lloyd retrospective), Chicago Reader, July 1, 2005.
• “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad City?” (review of Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins), Chicago Reader, June 17, 2005.
• “Freaks and Geeks” (review of Andrew Horn’s The Nomi Song and Don Argott’s Rock School), Chicago Reader, June 3, 2005.
• “Mr. Lucas Goes to Washington” (review of George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith), Chicago Reader, May 20, 2005.
• “After Dawn” (review of Todd Solondz’s Palindromes), Chicago Reader, April 29, 2005.
• “About Another Boy” (review of Peter and Bobby Farrelly’s Fever Pitch), Chicago Reader, April 8, 2005.
• “Suspension of Disbelief” (review of Michael Tucker’s Gunner Palace), Chicago Reader, March 11, 2005.
• “The Freedom to Exploit” (review of Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato’s Inside Deep Throat and Zana Briski’s Born Into Brothels), Chicago Reader, February 11, 2005.
• “Flagging Bull” (review of John Polson’s Hide and Seek), Chicago Reader, February 4, 2005.
• “Portraits of Artists” (review of Peter Watkins’ Edvard Munch and Jessica Yu’s In the Realms of the Unreal: The Mystery of Henry Darger), Chicago Reader, January 21, 2005.
• “Our Lists, Ourselves” (best films of 2004), Chicago Reader, January 7, 2005.

2004

• “Amelie Goes to Hollywood” (review of Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s A Very Long Engagement), Chicago Reader, December 17, 2004.
• “Flipping the Script” (review of Tony Montana and Mark Brian Smith’s Overnight), Chicago Reader, November 19, 2004.
• “Wrong Fish, Wrong Barrel” (review of Trey Parker’s Team America: World Police), Chicago Reader, October 22, 2004.
• “Fun With the Undead” (review of Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead), Chicago Reader, September 24, 2004.
• “Shallow Gallo” (review of Vincent Gallo’s The Brown Bunny), Chicago Reader, September 3, 2004.
• “Idiots Savants” (review of “Three Stooges Annivoisery Blowout”), Chicago Reader, July 2, 2004.
• “Phileas, Grab Your Nunchucks” (review of Frank Coraci’s Around the World in 80 Days), Chicago Reader, June 18, 2004.
• “Life Behind Bars” (review of Hector Baneco’s Carandiru), Chicago Reader, May 28, 2004.
• “Armed, Dangerous, and Completely Ordinary” (review of Ben Coccio’s Zero Day), Chicago Reader, April 23, 2004.
• “Pater-familiar” (review of Kevin Smith’s Jersey Girl), Chicago Reader, March 26, 2004.
• “American Dream Team” (review of Gavin O’Connor’s Miracle), Chicago Reader, February 13, 2004.
• “Bait and Switch” (review of TK), Chicago Reader, January 30, 2004.
• “The View From Across the Aisle: Another Top Ten” (best films of 2003), Chicago Reader, January 2, 2004.

2003

• “Out of the Wreckage” (feature on novelist Richard Yates), Chicago Reader, November 14, 2003.
• “Time for a Tune-up” (review of Jonathan Mostow’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines), Chicago Reader, July 4, 2003.
• “Hotter Than Potter” (review of Andrew Davis’ Holes), Chicago Reader, April 18, 2003.
• “Liars in Love” (review of Donald Petrie’s How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Gary Hardwick’s Deliver Us From Eva), Chicago Reader, February 14, 2003.
• “Best of the Worst” (review of films by Mario Bava), Chicago Reader, January 17, 2003.

2002

• “The Fog of War” (review of Shekhar Kapur’s The Four Feathers), Chicago Reader, September 27, 2002.
• “Scared of Her Own Voice” (review of Margo Guryan’s Take a Picture and 25 Demos), Chicago Reader, May 3, 2002.

2001

• “Rock Editors in the Booster’s Seat” (music column), Chicago Reader, October 19, 2001.
• “The Straight Stories,” (review of Ray Davies at the Vic, 10/7/2001), Chicago Reader, October 12, 2001.
• “Checking In With Chicago Community Cinema,” Chicago Reader, March 30, 2001.
• “Interaction Figures” (review of the Residents’ Icky Flix and the Beastie Boys’ Video Anthology), Chicago Reader, February 23, 2001.
• “Too Good for His Own Good” (profile of theatrical director Philip Edward VanLear), Chicago Reader, February 9, 2001.
• “Extras! Extras!” (profile of casting director Joan Philo), Chicago Reader, February 2, 2001.
• “LaSalle Theatre’s New Helmsman Finds His Sea Legs” (profile of film programmer Matthew Hoffman), Chicago Reader, January 5, 2001.

2000

• “Master Discs” (column on Home Vision Entertainment), Chicago Reader, December 29, 2000.
• “Comeback Trials” (review of Joan Osborne at Park West, 9/24/00, and Elastica at Park West, 9/27/00), Chicago Reader, October 6, 2000.
• “The Sound of Silents” (feature on silent movie accompanists), Chicago Reader, October 27, 2000.
• “Cinema Par-Tay” (review of Bittersweet Motel), Chicago Reader, September 15, 2000.
  “The Dakota Diaries” (review of Geoffrey Giuliano’s Lennon in America), Chicago Reader, August 18, 2000.
• “One of the Roamin’ Kind” (column on musician Chris Mills), Chicago Reader, July 28, 2000.
• “Too Much of a God Thing” (review of XTC’s Apple Venus Volume 1 and Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2), Chicago Reader, June 16, 2000.
• “National Anthems” (review of the Super Furry Animals’ Mwng and the International Noise Conspiracy’s Survival Sickness), Chicago Reader, June 9, 2000.
• “The Pope Who Found Jesus” (feature on the Smoking Popes), Chicago Reader, May 12, 2000.
• “The Heads That Hold the Crown” (review of Oasis, Chicago Theater, 4/18/00), Chicago Reader, April 28, 2000.

1999

• “Mix Master” (feature on recording engineer Jim Reeves), Chicago Reader, December 10, 1999.
• “No More Mr. Nice Price” (column on Universal Music Group), Chicago Reader, October 29, 1999.
• “Freakwater: Plays Well With Others” (profile of Freakwater), Chicago Reader, September 17, 1999.
• “Don’t Try This at Home” (review of the Music Tapes’ 1st Imaginary Symphony for Nomad), Chicago Reader, August 6, 1999.
• “Voice From the Shadows” (review of Jonathan Demme’s Storefront Hitchcock), Chicago Reader, July 30, 1999.
• “Soul of the City” (review of Elvis Presley’s Suspicious Minds and Dusty Springfield’s Dusty in Memphis), Chicago Reader, July 23, 1999.
• “Everybody’s a Critic” (review of comedy record Rock, Rot & Rule), Chicago Reader, June 18, 1999.
• “Too Late the Hero” (review of Big Star, Cabaret Metro, 5/6/99), Chicago Reader, May 14, 1999.
• “Prove It All Night” (feature on the Lakeview Lounge), Chicago Reader, April 30, 1999. Reprinted in Da Capo Best Music Writing 2000, ed. Peter Guralnick, Douglas Wolk (New York: Da Capo Press, 2000).
• “Stolen Thunder” (review of the Creation’s Making Time and Biff Bang Pow! and the Pretty Things’ S.F. Sorrow, Chicago Reader, February 5, 1999.

1998

• “Why Gang of Four Washed Out,” (review of Gang of Four’s 100 Flowers Bloom), New York Press, December 16, 1998. Reprinted in Chicago Reader, January 8, 1999.
• “Huck Meets Chuck” (review of The New Yorker Out Loud Volume II), Chicago Reader, November 27, 1998.
• “The Love Vote” (review of Of Thee I Sing, Orchestra Hall, 11/7/98), Chicago Reader, November 13, 1998.
• “Troubadour on a Treadmill” (review of Bob Mould, Riviera, 9/17/98), Chicago Reader, September 25, 1998.
• “Political Suicide” (review of Mort Sahl’s America), Chicago Reader, July 31, 1998.
• “Ska’s Lost Cause” (feature on the Ska Against Racism Tour), Chicago Reader, July 24, 1998.
• “Committed to Shock Asylum” (profile of filmmaker Dan Dinello), Chicago Reader, July 10, 1998.
• “Ire Land” (review of X, Guinness Fleadh, 6/20/98), Chicago Reader, June 26, 1998.
• “Reading Is Fundamental” (review of The Best of William Burroughs From Giorno Poetry Systems), Chicago Reader, May 8, 1998.
• “The Original Poetry Slam” (profile of Harriet Monroe, founder of Poetry magazine), Chicago Reader, April 3, 1998.
• “Snob Appeal” (review of the Upper Crust, Double Door, 3/19/98), Chicago Reader, March 27, 1998.
• “Freakwater: In Their Cups” (profile of Freakwater), spring 1998, Illinois Entertainer.
• “True Lies” (review of Laurence Bergreen’s Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life), Chicago Reader, February 20, 1998.
• “Nothing Sacred” (review of Jesus Christ Superstar, Pheasant Run Theater), Chicago Reader, January 23, 1998.

1997

• “Service Revolvers” (review of the V-Disc Recordings), Chicago Reader, December 26, 1997.
• “Adventures in Hi-Fi” (review of the Flaming Lips’ Zaireeka and the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds Sessions), Chicago Reader, December 12, 1997.
• “One Hit, 30 Years, 96 Tears” (review of ? & the Mysterians, Empty Bottle, 11/1/97), Chicago Reader, November 7, 1997.
• “Surface Noise” (review of Jim Jarmusch’s Year of the Horse), Chicago Reader, October 17, 1997.
• “Celluloid Hero” (profile of film programmer Scott Marks), Chicago Reader, October 3, 1997.
• “Punk’s Emotional Rescue” (review of the Smoking Popes’ Destination Failure), Chicago Reader, September 19, 1997.
• “In Mod We Trusted” (retrospective on the Chicago mod subculture), Chicago Reader, September 5, 1997.
• “Give ’Em Enough Rope” (review of Marcus Gray’s Last Gang in Town: The Story and Myth of the Clash), Chicago Reader, August 22, 1997.
• “Friends of Bill” (tribute to William S. Burroughs), Chicago Reader, August 15, 1997.
• “Monsters of Rock” (review of the Misfits’ American Psycho), Chicago Reader, July 11, 1997.
• “Spirit of 78” (profile of jazz record collector Phil Pospychala), Chicago Reader, July 18, 1997.
• “Predators Are People Too” (profile of author/educator William Ayers), Chicago Reader, June 20, 1997.
• “Rolling Stone’s Greatest Misses” (review of “The Rolling Stone 200”), Chicago Reader, June 6, 1997.
• “The Price of Infamy” (review of John Lydon on The Late Late Show With Tom Snyder, May 23), Chicago Reader, May 30, 1997.
• “Salvage Love” (feature on Stuart Grannen, dealer in architectural art), Chicago Reader, May 16, 1997.
• “Festival of Greed” (review of Murray Lerner’s Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival 1970), Chicago Reader, May 16, 1997.
• “Recycled Hero” (review of Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced?, Axis: Bold as Love, Electric Ladyland, and First Rays of the New Rising Sun), Chicago Reader, May 9, 1997.
• “Franco’s American Enemies” (profile of Abraham Lincoln Battalion veteran Chuck Hall), Chicago Reader, May 9, 1997.
• “Collector Takes Record Store for a Spin” (profile of record store owner Mike Felten), Booster, Lerner Newspapers, April 23, 1997.
• “Documenting a Culture in Crisis” (profile of photojournalist Mukul Roy), Chicago Reader, April 4, 1997.
• “Poor Little Rich Boy” (review of the Byrds’ Sweetheart of the Rodeo and Gram Parsons & the Fallen Angels’ Live 1973), Chicago Reader, March 28, 1997.
• “Coming to America” (review of Blur, Riviera Theatre, 3/15/97), Chicago Reader, March 21, 1997.
• “Rosellen Brown’s Horror Movie” (profile of novelist Rosellen Brown), Chicago Reader, March 7, 1997.
• “The Last Angry Man” (review of Bill Hicks’ Dangerous, Relentless, Arizona Bay and Rant in E-Minor), Chicago Reader, February 28, 1997.
• “The Executioner’s Story” (profile of newsman Ed Baumann), Chicago Reader, February 21, 1997.
• “Civil Rights in Black and White” (profile of photographer-activist Preston Ewing, Jr.), Chicago Reader, February 14, 1997.
• “Seizing Control” (review of Peter Holsapple’s Out of My Way), Chicago Reader, January 24, 1997.
• “Cyber-Traditionalist” (review of Roger McGuinn’s website The Folk Den), Chicago Reader, January 10, 1997.

1996

• “The Kids Were All Wrong” (review of The Jam Collection), Chicago Reader, December 13, 1996.
• “Concierges Live by Their Wits,” Skyline, Lerner Newspapers, November 28, 1996.
• “Jigs, Reels & Hornpipes” (profile of Irish dance teacher Michael Mullane), The Times, Lerner Newspapers, November 27, 1996.
• “Out of Sync” (review of the Monkees’ Justus), Chicago Reader, October 25, 1996.
• “Magic: Its Spell Can’t Be Broken” (profile of magician Jay Marshall), News-Star, Lerner Newspapers, October 2, 1996.
• “Vaudeville Died and I Helped Kill It” (profile of ex-vaudevillian George Bruckman), Skokie Life, Lerner Newspapers,  October 2, 1996.
• “Beach, Beach, Beach” (review of the Beach Boys, Skyline Stage, Chicago, 9/8/96), Chicago Reader, September 13, 1996.
• “Artist brings the White House to Chicago” (profile of miniaturist John Zweifel), Skyline, Lerner Newspapers, August 8, 1996.

1995

• “The Greatest Story Ever Totaled” (satire), Mark (University of Toledo), Vol. 11, 1994-’95.

1989

• “The Twin” (fiction), Kenyon Review, Vol. XI, No. 4, Fall 1989. Reprinted in Walking on Water and Other Stories, ed. Allen Wier (Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 1996).

1985

• “Fast Friends” (fiction), Catch (Knox College), Vol. 16, No. 2, Winter/Spring 1985.
• “The Exile” (fiction), Catch (Knox College), Vol. 16, No. 2, Winter/Spring 1985. Reprinted in Rough Cut, Vol. 1, No. 1, Summer 1987.

1984

• “Bringer of Light” (fiction), Catch (Knox College), Vol. 16, No. 1, Fall 1984.
• “Top Cat” (fiction), Catch (Knox College), Vol. 15, No. 2, Winter 1984.

1983

• “Camptown Races” (fiction), Catch (Knox College),Vol. 15, No. 1, Fall 1983. Reprinted in Siwasher/Catch Alumni Sesquicentennial Edition (Galesburg, IL: Knox College, 1988).
• “City That Works” (fiction), Catch (Knox College), Vol. 14, No. 3, Spring 1983. Reprinted in New Virginia Review, TK.
• “Boys Town” (fiction), Catch (Knox College), Vol. 14, No. 2, Winter 1983.

1982

• “Mort Sahl’s America” (essay), Catch (Knox College), Vol. 14, No. 1, Fall 1982.
• “Fred’s Considerable Nose” (fiction), Catch (Knox College), Vol. 13, no. 3, Spring 1982.
• “The Pygmies: A Short Essay,” Catch (Knox College), Vol. 13, No. 2, Winter 1982.