Bill Taylor
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Articles by Bill Taylor
Marshmello & Farruko Fly Onto Hot Dance/Electronic Songs Chart With ‘Esta Vida’ Original
Marshmello and Farruko score a top 10 debut on Billboard’s multimetric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart (dated April 29) with “Esta Vida” at No. 10. The collab drew 2.2 million official streams and 450,000 radio airplay audience impressions and sold 600 downloads in the April 14-20 tracking week, according to Luminate.
A Gut Check with the Cardinal Virtues
As a lifelong Catholic, I have observed the Church undeniably soften its stances, apparently in an effort to adapt the Church to the world. Most recently, the members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) met in November, and once again, they showed their true magenta, this time via their inaction with respect to pro-abortion politicians.
Ag illiteracy: What happened, and where do we go from here?
Agriculture plays a vital role in virtually every aspect of our lives. Yet agriculture literacy and trust in the American food system continues to dwindle. Everyone has an idea that comes to mind when they hear the word “agriculture.” For some, they may think of a farmer tending to cows in a pasture, whereas others may imagine a factory polluting the environment. The sentiments people have tend to vary widely.
Movie Review: “Marriage Story”
Movie Review: "Marriage Story" 90 2019-12-07 Relationships are never long for this world in Noah Baumbach movies. As a child of divorce, he has depicted the pain of separation in several films, most excruciatingly in “The Squid and the Whale.” But following his own divorce, he’s softened up a little, to the point that he’s now able to make a film drawing from his own relationship rather than his parents’.
Movie Review: “Western Stars”
Movie Review: "Western Stars" 80 2019-11-12 Bruce Springsteen has maintained a reputation over forty-plus years of being the best live performer in the business. And the best of his albums have a cinematic sweep, down to “Nebraska” basically being Terrence Malick’s “Badlands” in musical form. And yet, it’s taken until this year for Springsteen to have a theatrically-released concert film, one he co-directed.
Movie Review: “Parasite”
Movie Review: "Parasite" 90 2019-11-11 Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” has been met with the kind of rapturous reception generally afforded to royal weddings or new popes. It won the Cannes Film Festival’s highest honor after a rare unanimous decision by the jury, sold out its entire first week of showings in New York and is on track to be the first South Korean film to be nominated for an Oscar.
Best Dessert: Hopscotch Bakery
After relinquishing its title for the last two years, Hopscotch Bakery has once again come back on top as the consensus pick for the best dessert in Champaign-Urbana. Compared to many of the other C-U favorites, Hopscotch is a relatively fresh face, having been established in 2015. But it has become as integral a part of the C-U community as any businesses with more seniority. It provides C-U denizens with delicious desserts and so much more.
Movie Review: “The Lighthouse”
Movie Review: "The Lighthouse" 80 2019-10-26 Willem Dafoe is one of our most off-kilter actors, bringing oddball energy even to the audience-friendly likes of “Spider-Man.” Robert Pattinson has used his “Twilight” money to appear in only the most aggressively uncommercial movies. Director Robert Eggers’ debut, “The Witch,” was a coming-of-age horror film whose breakout star was a goat.
Movie Review: “The Laundromat”
Movie Review: "The Laundromat" 2019-10-21 Steven Soderbergh is a master of making movies about heavy issues go down easy. “Erin Brockovich” is about environmental poisoning and corporate malfeasance, but it’s also a vehicle for Julia Roberts at her most entertainingly venomous. “The Informant!” is a hilarious comedy about the dead-serious topics of price manipulation and mental illness.
Movie Review: “Gemini Man”
Movie Review: "Gemini Man" 2019-10-14 Ang Lee is the rare modern filmmaker who can truly claim that he’s done it all. He’s won Oscars for a gay romance and a shipwreck tale with a tiger, a Civil War movie, a martial-arts epic, a Jane Austen adaptation, and an ill-advised comedy about Woodstock. But all of those films share a quiet contemplation, Lee focusing on his camera on characters quiet in thought and on the beauty of the landscapes around them.
Album review: “Ghosteen”
Album review: "Ghosteen" 100 2019-10-08 Nick Cave has made a career out of shock and irreverence, spinning tales of murder and blasphemy for the better part of 40 years. But that all changed with the death of his teenage son in 2015. The album that followed that tragedy, 2016’s “Skeleton Tree,” saw Cave’s normal bravado stripped away, his usually authoritative voice cracking under the weight of his grief.
Movie Review: “Ad Astra”
Movie Review: "Ad Astra" 90 2019-09-23 In 2002, Twentieth Century Fox released Steven Soderbergh’s “Solaris.” Marketed as an exciting sci-fi romance, it was instead a slow, mournful meditation on the faultiness of human memory, complete with George Clooney at his most pathetic and needy. It bombed and was hated by audiences, and you’d think Fox would’ve easily learned their lesson from it.
Movie Review: “Hustlers”
Movie Review: "Hustlers" 80 2019-09-16 There’s been a question on the minds of many cinephiles for the last two decades; when is Jennifer Lopez going to make another good movie? She’s a charming actress even in the worst of the dreck she’s put her name on, but the one-two punch of “Selena” and “Out of Sight” in the late ’90s gave people the taste of her having a more serious-minded career than she ended up having.
Movie Review: “Teen Spirit”
Movie Review: "Teen Spirit" 2019-05-01 Elle Fanning had a banner 2016, delivering the best work of her career in “20th Century Women,” serving as the anchor of the wonderful “The Neon Demon” and being a bright spot in the otherwise misbegotten “Live by Night.” This seemed to herald a new, exciting phase of her career, but instead, almost every project she’s taken since then has been a strikeout, cluttering up her resume with instantly-forgotten indie mediocrities.
Rock artists defy genre with electronic releases
Graphic by Cassidy Brandt Bands and artists have often experienced the visceral negativity that results from “selling out” and changing their sound, especially when they dare to go “pop”, trading in guitars for synths. But far from empty pop albums, these are frequently the most depressing albums the artists have ever released, outfitting sad songs in glowsticks.
Movies about musicians make artists human
Making a movie about an artist is a daunting process. Music has such an impact on so many people and the artists themselves stand tall as giants when they’re onstage producing music. Filmmakers have the difficult task of bringing artists down to an audience’s eye level. They also have to incorporate the artist’s music into the film, that audience members often associate with so many emotions and memories. These films present artists in new lights and tell their stories in unique ways.
Movie Review: High Life
Robert Pattinson in "High Life" Movie Review: High Life 90 2019-04-22 In 2001, hot off the French arthouse success “Beau Travail,” writer and director Claire Denis made “Trouble Every Day,” the most loathed film of her career. Ostensibly a horror movie, it’s a take on the vampire mythos where people are so overcome with lust they literally devour their sexual partners.
Ebertfest 2019: “Bound”
This March saw the 20th anniversary of “The Matrix,” the film that launched the careers of its writer-directors, the Wachowskis. But while “Matrix” was and remains a phenomenon, the Wachowskis’ first film, “Bound,” is often overlooked. So it’s only fitting that “Bound” would play in the 21st edition of what was formerly “Roger Ebert’s Overlooked Film Festival,” giving audiences a chance to see the beginning of two of modern cinema’s most audacious filmmakers.
Movie Review: Harmony Korine’s ‘The Beach Bum’
Movie Review: Harmony Korine's 'The Beach Bum' 2019-04-03 Harmony Korine ruled the 90s and 2000s as indie cinema’s master provocateur, getting a rise out of audiences with images of spaghetti dinners in dirty bathtubs and people in old-age masks humping trash bags. But Korine has mellowed with age, to the point that he even made something approachable enough to be a hit.
Movie Review: Tim Burton’s ‘Dumbo’
Movie Review: Tim Burton's 'Dumbo' 2019-03-31 The last decade of Tim Burton’s career has been a dispiriting slide into irrelevance. Starting with the successful but godawful “Alice in Wonderland,” Burton has become a Tim Burton cover band, reprising his old successes with technically impressive but emotionally hollow imitations. Few would expect a remake of “Dumbo,” a movie that could hardly be further from the aesthetic Burton has trapped himself in, to be the film that shakes him out of his rut.
Review: ‘Captain Marvel’
Review: 'Captain Marvel' buzz Factor 2019-03-11 It’s been a source of disappointment that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has taken ten years to make a film centered around a female superhero. Even DC’s shambolic attempt at a cinematic universe beat them to the punch and with a good movie to boot. Now, with “Captain Marvel,” we finally get a Marvel movie with a woman at its center, and the results are fine.
Review: ‘Greta’ - buzz
Review: 'Greta' buzz Factor 2019-03-04 Neil Jordan was shaping up to be a big-deal director in the 80s and 90s, winning an Oscar for “The Crying Game,” scoring a massive hit with “Interview With the Vampire,” and directing several well-received adult dramas. But he hasn’t made a particularly well-received movie in twenty years, and his new film, “Greta,” is unlikely to win many critics back to his side.
Review: ‘Alita: Battle Angel’
Review: 'Alita: Battle Angel' buzz Factor 2019-02-22 Rating: 7/10 Before he decided to double down on “Avatar” for the rest of his natural existence, James Cameron wanted to direct an adaptation of the “Battle Angel Alita” manga.
Do you feel imprisoned?
Imprisoned? Ever feel like you are a prisoner and there is no way out? We often feel like that when we are down or there are circumstances and things going on that have us down. But, what about when you feel like a prisoner and most things are going good? I’ve been feeling that way for a couple of days and don’t have any reason to be down today. So what is the deal? Why do I feel like a prisoner today? Could it be that I am focusing on how far I have to go rather than how far I’ve come?
Movies for any and all relationship statuses
“Romantic” films are often seen as a one-size-fits-all category, but they come in as many different forms as relationships do, and may be best watched in certain relationship statuses. Ranging from the cynical to the open-hearted, here are some potential films to watch this Valentine’s Day, matched to their appropriate status.
TV review: ‘True Detective’
TV review: 'True Detective' buzz Factor 2019-02-11 Rating: 8/10 When it aired its first season in 2014, “True Detective” was a phenomenon, with its philosophical musings and bravura Matthew McConaughey performance winning over critics and viewers alike. Following its second season the following year, it became a laughingstock, a cautionary tale of hubris gone horribly wrong. Having been newly humbled, writer/creator Nic Pizzolatto has returned with season three.
Review: ‘High Flying Bird’
Review: 'High Flying Bird' buzz Factor 2019-02-10 Last year, Steven Soderbergh, always up for a bit of experimentation, shot an entire movie on his iPhone. That film, “Unsane,” sank like a stone, but the experiment seems to have inspired Soderbergh’s creativity, and he’s back with a new iPhone-shot film, “High Flying Bird,” which has premiered on Netflix this week. “Bird” is, as expected for the genre-hopping Soderbergh, a massive change of pace from “Unsane,” but it’s just about as good.
Catholic Clergy: Making Themselves Irrelevant
Let’s start at the top. Pope Francis continues to astound the Catholic faithful with his ridiculous, fact-denying comments, from global warming as the world’s most pressing problem, to his undying support of soul-deadening socialism/communism, to his purge of pro-life advocates within the Vatican, to his intentionally nebulous writings on serious matters of faith, to his most recent act of squelching the U.S. bishops in their efforts to address the child abuse problem within their ranks.
Review: ‘El Angel’
Review: 'El Angel' buzz Factor 2019-01-12 Carlos Eduardo Robledo Puch is one of the most infamous criminals in Argentina’s history. From 1971 to 1972, he committed at least 11 murders and 17 robberies, almost all before he turned 20. He is currently the longest-serving prisoner in Argentinian history, having served upwards of 45 years in prison. Carlos’ story is sensational enough to merit a film adaptation, but writer/director Luis Ortega has stripped it down into a dry, dark comedy.
Review: ‘Roma’ - buzz
Review: 'Roma' buzz Factor 2018-12-27 “Roma,” the latest from “Gravity” and “Children of Men” director Alfonso Cuaron, is a smaller, more personal project than the epics Cuaron has become known for, seemingly suited to its Netflix release. And yet, critics have been demanding that people see it in theaters and Netflix has even obliged, releasing the film in theaters the same day as the online debut. “Roma,” despite its small stature, does indeed cry out for theater viewing.
Review: ‘Suspiria’
Review: 'Suspiria' buzz Factor 2018-12-26 Earlier this year, the Art Theater played Dario Argento’s “Suspiria,” a defining classic of Italian horror. Then, they screened the remake of the same name, directed by another Italian auteur, Luca Guadagnino. But Guadagnino has made a film that takes only the surface elements of the original and junks the rest. It might be sacrilege if Guadagnino hadn’t made a movie every bit as good as the original, in completely different ways.
Review: ‘Green Book’
Review: 'Green Book' buzz Factor 2018-11-25 2.5buzz Factor At their peak, the Farrelly brothers were able to make gross-out comedies better than anyone, creating outrageous scenarios and following them to their natural conclusions. They were not, however, able to make Oscar contenders, which makes Peter Farrelly’s turn into prestige filmmaking all the more surprising. “Green Book” very much feels like a prestige movie made by a lowbrow comedy director.
Review: ‘The Sisters Brothers’
John C. Reilly has become so famous playing comedic goofballs that it’s difficult to remember that he is also an incredible dramatic actor. Years of playing Will Ferrell’s partner and Dr. Steve Brule have overshadowed his performances in “Magnolia” and three of the five 2002 Best Picture nominees. Thankfully, we have gotten another great, dramatic Reilly movie.
'First Man' - buzz
Damien Chazelle seems increasingly intent on zigging when people expect him to zag. One might expect more tense, psychologically rich dramas from the maker of “Whiplash,” and more splashy, heart-on-the-sleeve rom-coms from the maker of “La La Land.” But all those expectations are wiped away by his latest, “First Man,” which announces that Chazelle just really wants to be Steven Soderbergh. The Art Theater had a free promo screening of “First Man” this Monday, ahead of its wide release Friday.
Review: 'A Star is Born'
Bradley Cooper’s “A Star is Born” has built up such rabid hype, to the point of many film critics already calling it the slam-dunk Best Picture winner, that it almost seems destined to disappoint. If one is dead-set on this being the Great Modern American Musical, then it may very well come up short. But it is still a very good modern American musical, and that is worth something.
What takeout to get based on what film you are watching
Seeing new movies in the theater may entail a very specific set of snacks, but there are no such rules when you watch them at home. In fact, there are so many options for movie food that deciding what to eat after you decide what to watch can be a struggle. So here is a small guide to some potential pairings of recent movies and takeout places in the Champaign-Urbana area.
'Life Itself' - buzz
Near the end of Dan Fogelman’s “Life Itself,” an unnamed narrator monologues about the Bob Dylan album “Time Out of Mind,” and the song “Make You Feel My Love” in particular. She argues that this “populist love song” in the middle of an otherwise bleak album is a metaphor for how life will always offer us moments of love and joy, even in the middle of great tragedy. Fogelman thinks “Life Itself” is his “Make You Feel My Love,” a triumph of love over death and trauma.
'Madeline's Madeline' - buzz
All art exists at the crossroads between pleasure and pain. People consume and make art because it serves as an escape from the torments of daily life, but so much art is based on the pain of others. How can someone’s pain be put on screen without it being exploitative? And how much can performers really enjoy themselves while making art about pain? Josephine Decker’s “Madeline’s Madeline” tackles these moral issues within art in an unusually brash, but graceful, fashion.
The Art Theater to conclude their series on Ingmar Bergman
Few directors are as towering a figure in the history of cinema as Ingmar Bergman. He directed almost 50 films in his lifetime, and many of them remain some of the greatest films ever made. He has been ripped off, homaged and parodied by everyone, from Woody Allen to Bill & Ted, but he and his work have never been equaled. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Bergman’s birth.
The 5 O'Clock Band
In this companion to the Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Award–winning Trombone Shorty, join a scrappy young musician named Shorty on a tour of his beloved New Orleans. After letting his band down by missing rehearsal, Shorty has some serious questions about what it means to be a leader. He hits the streets of New Orleans to find some answers and soak up inspiration. Along the way he’ll meet street musicians, a favorite restaurant owner, and the famous Mardi Gras Indians.
Replacing old comics was a mistake
After several weeks of consideration we have come to the conclusion that any way you look at it your recent replacement of the comics, which were a vast improvement over the past section, is still a mistake.Not only is the artwork bad in most instances, but the subject matter in some is dribble.
Art Theater to show forgotten Italian horror film 'Suspiria'
There was an excess of great Italian horror films made during the 1970s, and Dario Argento directed many of the best ones. At the very top of that fine batch of films is his 1977 masterpiece “Suspiria.” But despite praise from the likes of Edgar Wright and Guillermo del Toro, the film’s history since its release has been spotty. Thankfully, the Art Theater is coming to the rescue and giving it the presentation it deserves.
"Interstellar" brings spectacle, science and human connection to Ebertfest
The biggest film screened at this year’s Ebertfest, in more ways than one, is Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar.” It is a massive-scale blockbuster on a schedule otherwise dominated by indies, and it was screened at the festival in wide-format 70mm.
Review: 'The Death of Stalin' turns history into a slapstick farce
Armando Iannucci is one of the finest political satirists currently working, because he understands that most politicians are at the level of squabbling children, except with the power to end the world.
Steven Spielberg Then and Now: A Review of “Ready Player One”
Last weekend, “Ready Player One” had Steven Spielberg’s largest box-office opening since “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” ten years ago. This new sci-fi flick, although it is his most recent work, is being received as a return to a more classic style of Spielberg: his glory days where he made ‘popcorn movies.’ A style that Spielberg has mostly avoided after the 90’s. “RPO” may be a return to form; however, it is a creative step back for Spielberg – mediocrity following years of excellence.
'Unsane's' horror comes from its real world parallels
It was only last August when Steven Soderbergh came out of “retirement” to direct the delightful heist comedy “Logan Lucky.” But since then, he has been working at a furious clip, first completing the ambitious app/miniseries “Mosaic” and then shooting a horror-thriller in two weeks. That film, “Unsane,” is out now, but its quick production does not mean it was not fully thought-through.
Bening’s ’Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool’ falls flat in the face of expectations
One of the most egregious Oscar snubs in recent memory was the Academy’s failure to recognize Annette Bening’s performance in “20th Century Women” last year. It is the finest performance in Bening’s thirty-year acting career, getting more comedy and pathos out of tiny changes in expression than most actors can get out of monologues. Bening has lost Oscars four times before, but this instance is the one that really stings.
Fact-checking ‘Robot and Frank’: University professors debunk myths in Art Theater series
Films have not often concerned themselves with scientific accuracy. Even within the generous framework of science fiction, films have relied on junk science or on just making stuff up. But this month, the Art Theater has been shining a spotlight on some of the rare films that have tried to get the science right. The Art’s “Science on Screen” series has been running each Monday since Feb. 12 and will continue this Monday.
Bill's Oscar Predictions - buzz
The Oscars are today, and there’s a lot more uncertainty going into them than in shows past. But I will still try my best to pick the winners in the top seven categories, plus some potential upsets and my favorites in each category. This is the most wide-open Best Picture race in recent memory, with at least four serious contenders to win.
Art Theater aids Courage Connection in upcoming fundraiser event
Reproductive rights remain one of the most hot-button issues in society today. Maisie Crow’s documentary, “Jackson,” was shot in 2012 and released in 2016, but it has only become more relevant in the intervening years. Now, The Art Theater is bringing it to Champaign this Tuesday at 7 p.m., with all proceeds going to Courage Connection, an organization whose mission is to help victims of domestic abuse.
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