Moon

CHICAGO – Michael P. Nash is a filmmaker on a mission. As searing heat bakes the country this summer, with extreme weather like severe tornadoes and the recent Galveston floods in its wake, the realities in Nash’s prescient 2010 documentary “Climate Refugees” is coming to our own shores.

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review for “Fly Me the Moon,” an alternative history satire about the Apollo 11 first-msn-on-the-moon mission, featuring Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum and Woody Harrelson. In theaters on July 12th.

CHICAGO – As summer winds down, there are still many beach reading opportunities, and you won’t find a more tense thriller than “No Place to Die,” the debut novel of Roger Kelly Smith. The setting is a near-future colony on the moon, with a geo-political struggle between the U.S. and China that has implications for Mother Earth.

CHICAGO – Today is the 50th Anniversary of astronaut Neil Armstrong’s first step on the moon, and an excellent documentary on the subject – simply titled “Apollo 11” is doing a “one day only” showing on July 20th, 2019. For theater locations and show times around the country (type in your area), click here.

CHICAGO – July 20th, 2019, will mark the 50th Anniversary that a human being – astronaut Neil Armstrong – first stepped on the moon. All month in July/August, PBS station WTTW is featuring its “Summer of Space,” with special programming dedicated to both the Apollo 11 moon landing/walk and other space-themed shows. Participating are Chicago media personalities Bob Sirott and Marianne Murciano, in “Jim Lovell in Booth One with Sirott and Murciano.” For a schedule of showings, click here.

CHICAGO – There were several “firsts” for humankind in our civilization and technology breakthroughs, but until 1969 no person had even stepped on a planetary surface other than on earth. Neil Armstrong was that man, and he is portrayed by Ryan Gosling in a respectful overview of that Apollo 11 mission in “First Man.”

CHICAGO – Space, the final frontier. The USA made one giant leap for mankind during the Apollo moon landing program forty years ago. Why were the missions abruptly terminated? Why haven’t they gone back? “Apollo 18” theorizes on the answers.

CHICAGO – Critics often fall back on cliched phrases about rollercoaster rides or edge-of-your-seat entertainment and then you’re disappointed when you head to the theatre or rent their recommendation and nearly fall asleep. “Source Code” is one of the few honestly-satisfying thrill rides that deserves that title. It’s one of the most entertaining films of the year and it’s going to garner an even-larger following with a strong Blu-ray and DVD release this week from Summit Entertainment.

CHICAGO – Duncan Jones announced his arrival on the sci-fi scene with such authority with the excellent “Moon” that genre fans were naturally concerned about a sophomore slump. Worry no more. “Source Code” may first feel like a more traditional thriller but it’s clearly cut from the same cloth as “Moon” in that it takes the impossible and makes it human, even spiritual.

CHICAGO – Michelle Monaghan is surprising in person. Known for playing pragmatic supporting roles in such films as “Due Date,” “Somewhere.” “The Heartbreak Kid” and “Made of Honor,” her bubbly, attractive enthusiasm is charming and infectious.