Film News

CHICAGO – One of the Windy City’s greatest annual cultural events will open its 2018 edition at the Gene Siskel Film Center. The 24th Black Harvest Film Festival runs from August 4th through 30th, 2018, and features a cornucopia of African American themed features and shorts celebrating stories, dreams, history and legacy. Many of the screenings will include filmmaker appearances, including the Opening Night short film overview, “A Black Harvest Feast,” featuring “Training Wheels” (directed by Sanicole), “Shotgun Wedding” (Derek Dow), “Stuck” (Praheme) and “Riverment” (Shaya Racquel).

CHICAGO – The holiday hangover is fading with the heat and humility, so what better time to remind ourselves of the Best and Worst films of 2018 SO FAR! HollywoodChicago.com contributors – Patrick McDonald, Jon Espino and Spike Walters – offer the following reactions to those so-far cinema treats and threats.

CHICAGO – The end is near for the 2nd Annual Cinepocalypse Film Fest at the historic Music Box Theatre in Chicago, as they present “Killer Klowns from Outer Space” for their Closing Night Film on Thursday, June 28th (8:30p), with cult writer/directors (and brothers) Stephen and Charles Chiodo making an appearance on behalf of the film. For ticket information, click here.

CHICAGO – The roots of the Chicago-born Wachowski Siblings (“The Matrix,” “Cloud Atlas”) is in the 1990s, with their unforgettable directorial debut “Bound” (1996). To celebrate that landmark, the Cinepocalypse Film Fest invited Lana Wachowski to present the film at the historic Music Box Theatre on Wednesday, June 27th, 2018 (7pm). To purchase tickets, click here.

CHICAGO – One of the greatest representatives of Chicago cinema history, Michael Kutza, the Founder and CEO of the Chicago International Film Festival, announced his retirement after 55 years on North America’s oldest film festival. He will be honored at the Festival Summer Gala in Chicago on July 14th, 2018.

CHICAGO – It’s the 2nd Annual “Cinepocalypse,” unspooling at Chicago’s historic Music Box Theatre on Thursday, June 21st, 2018, for a week of weirdness, horror and cinema carnage. Throughout the week, there will be special appearances, freaky revivals and Lifetime Achievements. The following is a guide to all the special guests and events for this special film festival.

CHICAGO – It was 50 years ago today – June 6th, 1968 – that Robert F. Kennedy died, struck down by an assassin’s bullet while in California on the presidential campaign trail. His press secretary, Frank Mankiewicz, delivered the news to the media, emphasizing that RFK was only “42 years old.” Frank Mankiewicz was the father of Ben Mankiewicz, the current host of Turner Classic Movies (TCM).

CHICAGO – Even though the definition of “underground” changes at lightning speed in the digital age, the perennial Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF) is presenting it’s 25th edition, and it grows in influence every year.

CHICAGO – Another new voice has emerged on the film scene, and she is ready for her close-up. The director and co-writer (with Tyson Stock) of “Saints Rest” is Noga Ashkenazi, a filmmaker who grew up in Tel Aviv (Israel), but studied at Grinnell College in Iowa. Her new film is set in Grinnell, and will make its Midwest Premiere at the Midwest Independent Film Festival in Chicago on Tuesday, June 5th, 2018. For more information, including ticket purchasing, click here.

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Al Roker of ‘The Today Show’ for his new book, ‘Ruthless Tide.’

CHICAGO – He has been presenting the weather segments on NBC-TV’s “The Today Show” since 1996, and now serves as co-host on the program. The inimitable Al Roker is also an author of seven books, and American History is the subject in his latest “Ruthless Tide: Heroes and Villains of the Johnstown Flood.” Roker was recently in Downers Grove (Ill.) at Anderson’s Bookshop, to greet fans and sign his new book.