Zachary Lee

3 weeks ago | rogerebert.com | Zachary Lee

Writing about this assortment of films reminded me of two tried and true realities of film festing: no amount of pre-festival hype can compensate for the film itself (case in point: as high as I am on Julia Ducournau's " Alpha," it pains me to see it receive a muted response) and there will always be at least one or two films I'll go into knowing nothing about and will walk away with it being one of favorite films of the year.

3 weeks ago | rogerebert.com | Zachary Lee

This is my first year at Cannes, and while thematic synergy is expected at any given film festival, I'm surprised at how easy it's been to find similarities between any given assortment of projects. Take the three films in this assigned dispatch, which, when grouped, can make their mini-film series, which speaks to the ways creatives are in an unknown conversation with each other.

1 month ago | ourcommunitynow.com | Zachary Lee

Share Celebrating its twelfth year, the Chicago Critics Film Festival returned with a robust lineup of over two dozen films and hosted the largest number of in-person guests in its history. On the red carpet, RogerEbert.com spoke with the talent in attendance for the opening-night title “The Baltimorons,” director Jay Duplass, stars Michael Strassner and Liz Lars, and a variety of guests for various festival selections.

1 month ago | rogerebert.com | Zachary Lee

Celebrating its twelfth year, the Chicago Critics Film Festival returned with a robust lineup of over two dozen films and hosted the largest number of in-person guests in its history. On the red carpet, RogerEbert.com spoke with the talent in attendance for the opening-night title "The Baltimorons," director Jay Duplass, stars Michael Strassner and Liz Lars, and a variety of guests for various festival selections.

1 month ago | chicagocriticsfilmfestival.com | Zachary Lee

Two directorial debuts at this year’s Chicago Critics Film Festival share an existential synergy in offering terrifying variations on the road trip movie. Alexander Ullom’s It Ends follows four recent college grads, James (Phinehas Yoon), Tyler (Mitchell Cole), Fisher (Noah Toth), and Day (Akira Jackson) who embark on a late-night drive together before they go their separate ways.