Podcast

CHICAGO – Arguably Hollywood’s greatest current “power couple” are cover stars for the October 2018 issue of Michigan Avenue Magazine. Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman “graced” that cover and appeared at Prime & Provisions Chicago on October 2nd, 2018.

CHICAGO – He’s a legendary character actor that began his career in 1967. She’s a first time director interpreting her own script, which that legend called “the best he’s ever been in.” Robert Forster portrays Burt in writer/director Elizabeth Chomko’s “What They Had,” also featuring Hilary Swank, Michael Shannon, Blythe Danner and Taissa Farmiga. Forster and Chomko walked the Red Carpet representing the film at the 54th Chicago International Film Festival on Monday, October 15th, 2018.

CHICAGO – In a film certain to get Oscar buzz, “Beautiful Boy” opened on October 19th in Chicago, and opened the recent Chicago International Film Festival. The delicate and sensitive portrayal of addiction features fine performances from Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet, guided by director Felix Van Groeningen.

CHICAGO – The Founder and CEO of the Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) is Michael Kutza. In 1964, when he had the idea for the festival, legendary Chicago Sun-Times columnist Irv Kupcinet suggested a person who could help start the festivities. That person was silent film-era movie star Colleen Moore.

CHICAGO – The life we have in these “interesting times” is rife with the peril of outside influences… which makes for difficult confrontations with both the known and the unknown. Comic actor Ike Barinholtz (“Blockers”) writes and directs his first film, “The Oath,” dealing with a family Thanksgiving within a Trump-like world.

CHICAGO – As each generation transitions to adulthood, the overwhelming changes that occur in employment, relationships and loss become their drama. Director Gregory Dixon and writer McKenzie Chinn teamed up to create a film that addresses that drama, in the made-in-Chicago “Olympia.” The film is screening at the 54th Chicago International Film Festival on Monday, October 15th, 2018 (5:30pm). For details and tickets, click here.

CHICAGO – There was a time in America when the medium of the magazine produced superstars. Famous writers, reporters, photographers and illustrators ruled the day, from the magazine’s invention in the 1920s to their ebbing in the 1960s (when TV became a rival) to their last gasp before the internet. One superstar that emerged worked for Playboy Magazine, and was as influential as founder Hugh Hefner in creating the ethos of that particular empire. A legendary art director is profiled in the documentary, “Art Paul of Playboy: The Man Behind the Bunny.” The film is screening at the 54th Chicago International Film Festival on Sunday, October 14th, 2018 (7pm). For details and tickets, click here.

CHICAGO – In a film that worked like destiny for veteran documentary filmmaker Robert Greene, “Bisbee ’17” will open at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago on Friday, October 5th, 2018, and run through October 11th. As part of the run, director Greene will make an appearance on behalf of the film on October 5th, in a post-screening discussion moderated by fellow documentary maker Steve James (“America To Me”). For details and tickets, click here.

CHICAGO – At Chicago’s Michigan Avenue Magazine 10th Anniversary Issue event on September 11th, 2018, a surprise visitor joined cover celebrity Darren Criss, and his low-key appearance brought a stir of excitement to the room. Actor Kyle MacLachlan, best known for the extraordinary work in “Twin Peaks,” was in the house.

CHICAGO – The movie love story is a staple, but rarely has it been explored in the way co-writer/director Laura Madalinski takes it on. The polyamorous adventures of three people is the basis for “Two in the Bush: A Love Story,” the next feature film at the Midwest Independent Film Festival on Tuesday, October 2nd, 2018, at Chicago’s Landmark Century Centre Cinema. For more details and ticket info, including the topic of the before-the-film “Producers Panel,” click here.