Best

CHICAGO – 2022 was a year of change and transformation. The former leader of the free world morphed into a horribly photoshopped digital trading card spokesmodel and pitch man. That and a full on spy challenging the DOJ to find the stolen classified documents in a shell game of 3 card monte exactly like a subway car hustler.

CHICAGO – The story of an unusual turn in a 1920s Irish friendship captured the hearts of the Chicago Film Critics Association, as they named “The Banshees of Inisherin” – written and directed by Martin McDonagh – as Best Picture at their annual awards announcement banquet on December 14th, 2022.

CHICAGO – The “Best of the Midwest,” the Awards Ceremony of Chicago’s Midwest Film Festival, were presented on November 3rd, 2022, at CineCity Studios in Chicago. The Grand Prize film was the short “Period Drama,” a clever twist on a woman’s coming of age. Emma Thatcher was a two-trophy BMA recipient, garnering Best Actress and Best Director for her debut feature “Provo.”

CHICAGO – Let’s kick off the film year by getting together! Using the safest protocols for gatherings, the Midwest Film Festival presents the Best of Midwest Awards on February 1st, 2022, and it will be an in-person event for the first time in three years. To get tickets, click BEST OF THE MIDWEST.

CHICAGO – In a Covid-free world no doubt this list would be a TOP 20 or 25 … in non-pandemic times, I photographed approximately 150 celebrities per year. In 2020, there were only two, before the global pandemic basically put my career – like that of so many others – into a medically induced coma.

CHICAGO – The sweeping and majestically searing “The Power of the Dog,” directed by Jane Campion, was named Best Picture in 2021 by the Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) on Wednesday, December 15th. The film also received recognition as Best Director, Actor (Benedict Cumberbatch), Supporting Actor (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography and Original Score.

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Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elegy”) in Chicago, 1998.

CHICAGO – Roll out the red carpet on Oscar Day 2021! Throughout the years, Photographer Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago has had close encounters with many of this year’s nominees and had captured them with his intrepid camera eye. Presenting a slideshow of the 93rd Academy Awards Best Acting nominations.

CHICAGO – Predicting the Oscars is like going on a blind date. You really don’t know what’s going to happen, and often you’re humiliated to boot. But here goes Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, along with one million other online prognosticators. The 93rd Academy Awards are Sunday, April 25th, 2021, in Hollywood.

CHICAGO – Getting through Year 2020 intact would prove to be a major accomplishment for any monthly film festival, but the Midwest Film Festival (MFF) did it with both style and their trademark sense of a film community during a year where that was missing for so many. The Fest is going virtual and online for their BEST OF THE MIDWEST AWARDS on January 14th, 2021. 7-9pm. You’ll need a ticket for this spectacular event, click here for all the particulars, including General Admission and VIP levels.

CHICAGO – The year 2019 was when everyone, including myself, seemed to struggle to focus. Politics suddenly appeared to be all consuming when we have an administration as George Orwell predicted, trying to convince so many not to believe their own eyes.