CHICAGO – Excelsior! Comic book legend Stan Lee’s famous exclamation puts a fine point on the third and final play of Mark Pracht’s FOUR COLOR TRILOGY, “The House of Ideas,” presented by and staged at City Lit Theater in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. For tickets/details, click HOUSE OF IDEAS.
IFC Films
Abbas Kiarostami’s ‘Certified Copy’ Tantalizes, Delights
Submitted by mattmovieman on March 18, 2011 - 9:33amRating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Nothing transfixes me quite like transcendent acting and writing when viewed under a cinematic lens. My favorite films of early 2011 have been Tommy Lee Jones’s stunning adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s play, “The Sunset Limited,” and Abbas Kiarostami’s beguiling new masterwork, “Certified Copy.” Both films derive their dramatic power from the differing philosophies of two articulate characters who may or may not be what they seem.
Gregg Araki's ‘Kaboom’ Merrily Enters the Ontological Void
Submitted by mattmovieman on February 18, 2011 - 8:39amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Rarely has the apocalypse appeared as trivial as it does in “Kaboom,” a disarmingly lovable mess of a picture that manages to work in spite of itself. It’s the tenth feature film directed by Queer New Wave icon Gregg Araki, who seems to be in an infinitely better mood than he was fifteen years ago, back when the Reagan era’s ignorance of the AIDS crisis was still festering like an open wound.
‘Cold Weather’ Delivers Genuine Chills, Exudes Warmth
Submitted by mattmovieman on February 4, 2011 - 12:56pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Nothing inspires moviegoers to huddle around the warm glow of their television sets quite like a record-breaking snowstorm. And few films were more tailor-made for a slow-moving snow day than “Cold Weather,” the entrancing new picture from indie filmmaker Aaron Katz, best known for his breakout projects “Dance Party, USA” and “Quiet City.”
Korean Erotic Thriller ‘The Housemaid’ Offers Twisted Ride
Submitted by BrianTT on February 3, 2011 - 2:53pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Movies don’t get much weirder than “The Housemaid.” And I mean that in a good way. Mostly. The extreme Gothic elements of this twisted thriller work even if the ludicrous finale somewhat falls apart on recollection. “The Housemaid” opens this week at the Music Box Theater in Chicago after playing the International Film Festival in October 2010.
Nothing Plastic About Lena Dunham’s Post-Graduate ‘Tiny Furniture’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 10, 2010 - 8:12pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The 24 year-old Lena Dunham is a new and notable voice for her generation of filmmakers, breaking in with her first feature, the memorable “Tiny Furniture.” Dunham wrote, directed and portrays the main character Aura, a newly minted film theory graduate who is going through the time honored process of what to do with her post collegiate life.
Isabelle Huppert Gives Daring Performance in Excellent ‘White Material’
Submitted by BrianTT on November 19, 2010 - 2:58pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Can dedication overcome all odds? Film has taught us for years that it is the truly justified, righteous, and committed that will prevail. Of course, life is not that simple. And the films of the masterful French director Claire Denis often brilliantly portray the true complexity of life. Her newest film, “White Material,” completes an amazing 2010 one-two punch with the excellent “35 Shots of Rum” released earlier this year. She’s one of our best international filmmakers.
Unsettling ‘Red White & Blue’ Creeps Under the Skin
Submitted by mattmovieman on October 12, 2010 - 7:45amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Red White & Blue” is a deviously effective horror film precisely because it doesn’t appear to be one. There are subtle stylistic hints here and there, but nothing that truly signals the horrors to come. They emerge not from left field, but out of the characters’ own pent up rage, and their increasing desire to inflict pain upon the world that has failed them.
‘Enter the Void’ Takes Viewers on the Next Ultimate Trip
Submitted by mattmovieman on September 24, 2010 - 8:26amRating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Dying would be the ultimate trip.” This line is uttered early on in “Enter the Void,” the extraordinary new film from Gaspar Noé, a director who enjoys referencing his previous work almost as much as his hero, Stanley Kubrick. This line pays subtle homage to the “2001: A Space Odyssey” poster prominently framed toward the end of Noé’s previous film, “Irreversible.”
‘Life During Wartime’ Provides Haunting Coda to ‘Happiness’
Submitted by BrianTT on August 6, 2010 - 2:16pmRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Todd Solondz’s 1998 masterpiece, “Happiness,” is the darkest American comedy ever made. It’s so brutal and uncompromising that it calls into question the very definition of comedy. When one character explains to her sister that she isn’t laughing at her, but with her, the sister responds, “But I’m not laughing.” Solondz isn’t laughing either.
Julianne Moore Pushes Freudian Implications to Limit in True Story of ‘Savage Grace’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 15, 2008 - 10:56amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The national acting treasure Julianne Moore never shies away from a performance challenge.
From her memorable exposure in Robert Altman’s “Short Cuts” to her willingness to go all the way in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Boogie Nights,” Moore has proven that true vulnerability in a role requires the ability to bare – and bear with – all.