The Great Dictator

Podtalk: A Toast to Jean de St. Aubin, Executive Director of the Gene Siskel Film Center

CHICAGO – In November 2022, the Executive Director of Chicago’s Gene Siskel Film Center … Jean de St. Aubin … announced she will leave the position in February of 2023. Ms. de St. Aubin joined the Film Center in 2003, snd has overseen many transition points during her tenure, including of course the closure due to the pandemic.

Blu-ray Review: Another Spectacular Criterion Edition of Chaplin Classic in ‘The Gold Rush’

The Gold Rush

CHICAGO – There are certain filmmakers who just seem to make perfect fits for The Criterion Collection. Wes Anderson’s films have been given stellar editions. David Fincher. Akira Kurosawa. And, of course, Charlie Chaplin. The Criterion editions of “Modern Times” and “The Great Dictator” are two of my personal faves and a third Chaplin classic entered the collection this month when the company inducted “The Gold Rush,” one of the most popular silent films of all time.

Blu-Ray Review: Amazing Edition For Charlie Chaplin Classic ‘The Great Dictator’

The Great Dictator

CHICAGO – Every time I’ve seen “The Great Dictator,” I’m amazed that it even exists. It is not only one of the great Charlie Chaplin’s most consistently funny films but it is a satirical masterpiece that is SO daring that it’s amazing it even got made. It is a piece of slapstick comedy about World War II and Adolf Hitler. Think about that for one minute. Now, it was made in 1940 (a year before our entry into the war), but it was still a risky move to make a piece this politically and socially conscious and try and sell it to an audience who had grown accustomed to watching Charlie Chaplin fall down.

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  • Manhunt

    CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.

  • Topdog/Underdog, Invictus Theatre

    CHICAGO – When two brothers confront the sins of each other and it expands into a psychology of an entire race, it’s at a stage play found in Chicago’s Invictus Theatre Company production of “Topdog/Underdog,” now at their new home at the Windy City Playhouse through March 31st, 2024. Click TD/UD for tickets/info.

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