October 2007

CHICAGO – WhySoSerious.com just revealed its face-lift for the new “The Dark Knight” viral marketing campaign. It’s asking enthusiasts to roam the U.S. in the pursuit of clues. The current main page is below.

CHICAGO – Groucho Marx once said: “Marriage is a wonderful institution … but who wants to live in an institution?” For the romantic and humorously charged “Ira & Abby,” holy matrimony seems a stressful but hilarious adventure.

Michael Mann has inked a deal with Paramount Pictures to develop “Frankie Machine” as a star vehicle for Robert de Niro.

AUSTIN, Texas – German writer Franz Kafka meets the war on terror in “Rendition,” which is a message movie with what one would consider a self-evident message: torture is bad. We live in a political climate, though, where that isn’t self-evident.

CHICAGO – Deborah Kerr, who is remembered for one of Hollywood’s most famous kisses opposite Burt Lancaster in “From Here to Eternity” and made her mark with roles such as the proper widow in “The King and I,” has died. She was 86.

AUSTIN, Texas – No one says anything plainly in “Juno”. Hyper clever, hyper literate and hyper pop savvy, it tells a light story of teenage pregnancy in a package of verbose middle classiness.

CHICAGO – Jodie Foster reinvents herself and plays a vigilante flung galaxies out of character in “The Brave One,” which opened on Friday.

CHICAGO – Once a year, it seems a studio releases a film that tries to nudge its way into the almost-holy canon of American sports cinema. Most years, studios succeed. Recently, we have been lucky with the caliber of sports films offered up to us.

CHICAGO – If you missed Wednesday night’s red-carpet affair with Ben and Casey Affleck for “Gone Baby Gone,” you can still hit up the Music Box Theatre at 3733 N. Southport Ave. in Chicago on Friday night for John Cusack’s turn in the limelight.

CHICAGO – On a frigid Chicago night, the Chicago International Film Festival on Wednesday rolled out the red carpet for Ben Affleck and brother Casey Affleck to pump Ben’s directorial debut film “Gone Baby Gone”.

CHICAGO – With his aloof character panache and colorful imagery, Wes Anderson is one of those directors you either love dearly or loathe dreadfully.

CHICAGO – Producers, writers and actors all took a backseat on Thursday night as the Chicago International Film Festival kicked off its 43rd year with a moving tribute to legendary film critic Roger Ebert.