HollywoodChicago.com

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Three Months Early, First Review For ?The Dark Knight? Surfaces Online
2008-04-10 07:05:00
CHICAGO ? With today being April 9, 2008 and with ?The Dark Knight ? scheduled to open on July 18, 2008, the difference between the two dates, of course, is more than three months. Even so, the first review for the monolithically anticipated film has just hit the Web in Portuguese. Contributor Alexandre Winck for the respected Batman site Batman-on-Film.com reports that the review comes from a ?well-known blog in Brazil? that?s part of the ?largest media corporation? there, which is known as Globo. Winck says the author is a ?respected journalist?. While the translation into English is a bit rough, you?ll get the gist. The following information may contain spoilers. Director Chris Nolan on the set of ?The Dark Knight?.Photo credit: Released by the New York Times on March 9, 2008 RELATED READINGBatman-on-Film.com article on first ?The Dark Knight? review(April 8, 2008)IESB.net article on first ?The Dark Knight? review (April 8, 2008)Our full ?The Dark Knight? content archive M...
More About: Review , Online

Ode to Ultimate Irish Director, Storyteller Jim Sheridan
2008-04-06 08:58:00
HOLLYWOOD ? What better way to wrap up a series of film columns on the Irish (earlier reading: part one; part two) than with an ode to the ultimate Irish storyteller? Dublin-born Jim Sheridan has brought some of the most influential Irish films to the big screen. His writer-director ways paid off in spades when he was nominated for an Oscar at the age of 40 on his first film attempt, ?My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown,? in 1989. The mission of Rachel Faith ? the Hollywood -based Silver Screen Indie Queen for HollywoodChicago .com ? is to help avoid the ?beige? film experience by providing easily accessible information on indie film, film festival favorites and must-see Hollywood classics. At the end of the day, it?s all about turning people onto new and different films using the Indie Queen?s film geekdom for good and not evil. RELATED READINGTop Five Irish Actors: The Old School, New School and Hollywood Dropouts (March 19, 2008)Top Five Irish Films: ?Into the West,? ?On...
More About: Content , Connor

Ignoring Old Show-Business Rules, Rolling Stones Brightly ?Shine a Light?
2008-04-04 11:18:00
CHICAGO ? In The Beatles versus The Rolling Stones debate (which no one under 40 would have), I?m decidedly in the corner of the Fab Four. I do acknowledge, however, the sheer stamina and staying power of The Rolling Stones. Read Patrick McDonald?s full review of ?Shine a Light? in our reviews section.View our full ?Shine a Light? image gallery. They are charismatic and charming at the same time and their history of powerful classic songs gives them a magic credibility few bands have attained. In their latest concert film ? the Martin Scorsese-directed ?Shine a Light? ? they bring their best as they are right now despite qualifying for social security. Filmed with a phalanx of cameras at the famed Beacon Theatre in New York City, ?Shine a Light? gets right up Mick Jagger ?s well-known nostrils. Left to right: Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, director Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood backstage during filming of the Rolling Stones concert film ?Shine a Light?.Photo cred...
More About: Hollywood , Business , Business Rules , Christina Aguilera

Despite Stylistic Inconsistency, George Clooney?s ?Leatherheads? Feels Good
2008-04-04 08:53:00
CHICAGO ? George Clooney ?s latest film, ?Leatherheads ,? brings light-hearted, screwball antics and slapstick blunders to the screen with a romantic tale that tells how professional football came to be. Read Allison Pitaccio?s full review of ?Leatherheads? in our reviews section.View our full ?Leatherheads? image gallery. Set in 1925, fading football star Dodge Connelly (George Clooney) attempts to save the professional game by recruiting a college football hero to save the sport. The film begins with a game of ragtag football in a stadium shared by cattle where oddball plays and dirty tricks are welcomed. Few fans come to the games and barely follow the sport ? due to their often illegal consumption of booze ? but when Dodge is told the team is bankrupt and the sponsors are selling, he?s determined to find a solution for his beloved team (the Duluth Bulldogs). George Clooney (left) in ?Leatherheads?.Photo credit: IMDb Renée Zellweger and George Clooney in ?Leatherheads?.P...
More About: Good

Neil LaBute?s ?In a Dark Dark House? Unearths Long-Buried Skeletons in Thre
2008-04-03 06:25:00
CHICAGO ? It?s not in calm seas but within torrential rains when we lay bare our true colors. Lauded playwright Neil LaBute was fixated on testing these human limits and exploring our different styles of conflict resolution when he minted the three-person play ?In a Dark Dark House ?. The skeletons buried deep in the past of two brothers are unearthed in an early mid-life crisis that forces Terry (played by Profiles Theatre associate artistic director Darrell W. Cox) and Drew (played by Hans Fleischmann) to experience court-ordered rehab as a brotherly duo. Profiles Theatre associate artistic director Darrell W. Cox (left) plays Terry and Hans Fleischmann plays his brother, Drew, in the Chicago production of Neil LaBute?s ?In a Dark Dark House?.Photo credit: Thad Hallstein While Terry is reluctantly agreeable to help with the corroboration of Drew?s vexing story, he?s also skeptical and harbors long-brewing animosities against him. For LaBute, the narrative holds weighty implicat...
More About: Hollywood , Samuel L

Neil LaBute???s ???In a Dark Dark House??? Unearths Long-Buried Skeletons i
2008-04-03 06:25:00
CHICAGO ??? It???s not in calm seas but within torrential rains when we lay bare our true colors. Lauded playwright Neil LaBute was fixated on testing these human limits and exploring our different styles of conflict resolution when he minted the three-person play ???In a Dark Dark House ???. The skeletons buried deep in the past of two brothers are unearthed in an early mid-life crisis that forces Terry (played by Profiles Theatre associate artistic director Darrell W. Cox) and Drew (played by Hans Fleischmann) to experience court-ordered rehab as a brotherly duo. Profiles Theatre associate artistic director Darrell W. Cox (left) plays Terry and Hans Fleischmann plays his brother, Drew, in the Chicago production of Neil LaBute???s ???In a Dark Dark House???.Photo credit: Thad Hallstein While Terry is reluctantly agreeable to help with the corroboration of Drew???s vexing story, he???s also skeptical and harbors long-brewing animosities against him. For LaBute, the narrative hold...
More About: Hollywood , Samuel L

Final Poster Art Released For Morgan Spurlock???s ???Where in the World is
2008-04-02 21:08:00
CHICAGO ??? Following up on our Feb. 25, 2008 report with poster art for The Weinstein Company???s new film ???Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden???? by Morgan Spurlock from ???Super Size Me??? fame, we have just been sent the final poster art for the new documentary, which opens on April 18, 2008. Spurlock also produced ???What Would Jesus Buy????. In ???Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?,??? he tours the Middle East to discuss the war on terror with Arabic people. The art for the film???s second poster can be found below. Click on the image for a full-size version. For purposes of comparison, we also have the first poster following the new art. By ADAM FENDELMANEditor-in-ChiefHollywoodChicago. comadam@hollywoodchicago.com
More About: Poster , Released , Final

Final Poster Art Released For Morgan Spurlock?s ?Where in the World is Osam
2008-04-02 21:08:00
CHICAGO ? Following up on our Feb. 25, 2008 report with poster art for The Weinstein Company?s new film ?Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?? by Morgan Spurlock from ?Super Size Me? fame, we have just been sent the final poster art for the new documentary, which opens on April 18, 2008. Spurlock also produced ?What Would Jesus Buy??. In ?Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?,? he tours the Middle East to discuss the war on terror with Arabic people. The art for the film?s second poster can be found below. Click on the image for a full-size version. For purposes of comparison, we also have the first poster following the new art. By ADAM FENDELMANEditor-in-ChiefHollywoodChicago. comadam@hollywoodchicago.com
More About: Poster , Released , Final

In the Forums: ?The Dark Knight,? ?Public Enemies? in Chicago, ?Iron Man,?
2008-04-02 19:19:00
CHICAGO ? In this edition of In the Forums, we bring you news from our discussion boards about ?The Dark Knight? continuing to heat up with its comprehensive viral marketing campaign, Michael Mann?s ?Public Enemies? with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale turning heads in Chicago from local filming, new production stills for the hotly anticipated ?Iron Man? film with Robert Downey Jr. and news about the unveiling of new James Bond secrets. ?The Dark Knight? celebrates April Fool?s Day with enthusiasts in style.Read our full coverage here!(Photo credit: IMDb) ?Public Enemies? is live and loud on the Chicago scene.Read our full coverage here!(Chicago Tribune photo by John Smierciak) ?The Dark Knight? viral marketing phones have been ringing off the hook.Read our full coverage here!(Photo credit: IMDb) New ?Iron Man? photos with a Paramount watermark have mysteriously surfaced online.See them all here!(Photo credit: Superhero Hype!) A second Joker phone for ?The Dark...
More About: Hollywood , Travel

Hookup: Pristine DVD Sets of Classic Films Up For Grabs For United Artists
2008-04-02 08:13:00
CHICAGO ? As our giveaways continue to grow in popularity, what we give away continues to sweeten, too. In this Hollywood Chicago .com Hookup: Film , three lucky winners will be hooked up with our sweetest giveaway yet: a complete DVD set of 20 of the greatest classic films in recent memory. These DVDs encapsulate some of the most uncontested and cherished films of the last several decades. Titles include ?West Side Story,? ?Raging Bull,? ?Rain Man,? ?Rocky,? ?Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,? ?Carrie,? ?Some Like it Hot,? ?Fiddler on the Roof,? ?Die Another Day,? ?In the Heat of the Night? and many more. So why these now? On March 11, 2008, we announced a classic film celebration coming to Chicago called the United Artists 90th Anniversary Film Festival, which will take place at the historic Music Box Theatre at 3733 N. Southport Ave. from April 4 to 10, 2008 and then again from May 9 to 15, 2008. Several of the films above and others of similar caliber are being brought back into the th...
More About: Films , Sets

Veteran Michael Caine Makes ?Flawless? Sparkle, Reveals Great Crime Behind
2008-04-01 06:28:00
CHICAGO ? As this year of heist films set in London continues (?The Bank Job? was last month), ?Flawless? does adhere to the rules of successful application of this genre. Set in 1960, there is the fabulous treasure: the icy gems within the vault of the London Diamond Corporation. There are the greedy corporation men to stick it to once the loot is plundered. There?s also the mastermind with the platinum plan: veteran film star Michael Caine. Combine these ingredients with an engaging caper and this heist movie will steal your heart. Caine portrays Mr. Hobbs ? the night janitor at the London Diamond Corp. ? who?s an invisible wage slave. Click here to read Patrick McDonald?s full reviewof ?Flawless? in our reviews section! Click here for our full ?Flawless? image gallery! Demi Moore in ?Flawless?.Photo credit: IMDb Michael Caine in ?Flawless?.Photo credit: IMDb
More About: Hollywood , Crime , Chicago , Movie Review

Chicago Filmmaker Darryl Roberts to Screen ?America the Beautiful? at Midwe
2008-03-31 00:43:00
CHICAGO ? Welcome to a new Hollywood Chicago .com column called CineOnSceneChicago. ?Cine? is a French word derived from ?cinematograph,? is pronounced like its connector word ?scene? and roughly means ?moving picture?. Our goal is to present a moving picture of the Chicago film scene and have fun with it, too. The debut focuses on Chicago filmmaker Darryl Roberts. The CineOnSceneChicago mission is to celebrate and communicate the Chicago ?scene? in ?cine? (moving pictures). This involves the people, places and film traditions of Chicago in all its glory and infamy through the use of interviews, overviews and historical perspective. The column also serves the Chicago film buff by highlighting where the action is whether through showcasing special screenings, TV screenings of film gems or events having to do with high-level or even low-brow film interest. Born and raised on the south side of Chicago, his first documentary, ?America the Beautiful,? is screening at the Midwest Indepe...
More About: Screen , Owen Wilson

Chicago?s ?Brontë? Masterfully Resurrects Three of Planet?s Most Examined S
2008-03-28 10:13:00
CHICAGO ? Three of the planet?s most examined scribes of all time ? a trio of Victorian spinsters, in fact, who are credited with some of the most passionate literature ever written ? are resurrected in the meticulous Chicago production of ?Brontë? from illustrious playwright Polly Teale. Susan Shunk (as Charlotte Bront? on left), RachelSondag (as Anne Bront? in the middle) and Carrie A.Coon (as Emily Bront? on right) in ?Brontë?.Photo credit: Johnny Knight Teale explores the simply celibate life in which storied sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne mostly only have themselves, their pens and their unbridled imaginations. Was it their chastity that unleashed so much repressed titillation or was such eroticism merely a fiery choice for absorbing prose? Moreover, why well over a century later do their words still haunt our minds? In her decision to return to the beginning with ?Brontë,? Teale says we are fascinated by these maidens because they ?broke the mold against all odds? and y...
More About: Hollywood , Planet , Content

Interview: Debut Film ?Empathy? From Israeli Filmmaker Adi Refaeli to Scree
2008-03-28 07:13:00
CHICAGO ? Adi Refaeli, who?s currently touring the U.S. with her short film debut ?Empathy,? has taken a circuitous route to the finished project. Born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel, she spent three years in Toyko to start a family. All the while, she never let go of her interest to pursue filmmaking. When she returned to Tel Aviv, she completed ?Empathy? as a student project. Its power and purpose, though, has caught the attention of film festivals all around the world and has won at the Jerusalem International Film Festival and the Syracuse International Film Festival. ?Empathy? by writer and director Adi Refaeli.Photo credit: Other Israel Film Festival ?Empathy? has often been described as an Israeli version of the 2006 best-picture Oscar winner ?Crash?. Refaeli, though, points out that principal filming for the 37-minute short film ended before ?Crash? was released. It begins with a woman driving down a highway in Israel while speaking of a new love on her mobile phone. Aft...
More About: Hollywood , Chicago , Interview , Content

Top Five Irish Films: ?Into the West,? ?Once,? ?The Commitments,? ?Bloody S
2008-03-28 06:06:00
HOLLYWOOD ? Someone once said there are two kinds of people: ?Those who are Irish and those who wish they were Irish.? While mom claimed I was the first, being an American for a few generations tossed me into the ?mutt? category. If there truly is Irish in me, it?s in my big toe or my ring finger, which hardly makes me the Irish lass I had hoped. The mission of Rachel Faith ? the Hollywood -based Silver Screen Indie Queen for HollywoodChicago .com ? is to help avoid the ?beige? film experience by providing easily accessible information on indie film, film festival favorites and must-see Hollywood classics. At the end of the day, it?s all about turning people onto new and different films using the Indie Queen?s film geekdom for good and not evil. At the end of the day, who wouldn?t want to be at least a toenail?s bit of Irish? Following last week?s column on my top five Irish actors, here are my top five Irish films. ?Into the West ? (1993), directed by Mike Newell ?Into the West...
More About: Films , Content

Top Chicago Theater Picks For March 27, 2008: ?Driving Miss Daisy,? ?Dead M
2008-03-27 05:56:00
CHICAGO ? Free or half-price Chicago theater and comedy tickets. No catch. Just click the link, take just a moment to make a free Goldstar account (or log into your existing Goldstar account) and you?re on your way. This week, we feature the Pulitzer Prize-winning play ?Driving Miss Daisy,? the quirky comic adventure ?Dead Man?s Cell Phone ? at the Steppenwolf, the Victorian literary drama ?Bronte? at the Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater , Neil LaBute?s acclaimed ?In a Dark Dark House? at the Profiles Theatre and the first full-length Tennessee Williams play ?Candles to the Sun? also at Victory Gardens. For each of the Chicago productions we feature below, Goldstar requires you to create a free account, which takes but a minute. You?ll then have access to all the free and half-price tickets to top-quality productions that your heart desires. Here are this week?s selections and deals! Title: ?Driving Miss Daisy?Venue: Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oakbrook, Ill.Dates: April 2, 3 and ...
More About: Hollywood , Comedy

Sundance Winner ?Teeth? Bites Right to Point of Men?s Greatest Sexual Fear
2008-03-26 08:41:00
CHICAGO ? In one of the great light bulb ideas that could only happen in association with making movies, along comes ?Teeth ? to bite us in the ? well, to bite us hard. Writer and director Mitchell Lichtenstein has fashioned a one-of-a-kind horror epic (based, of course, on a Japanese film) that at the same time tangles with significant social and cultural issues. Jess Weixler is Dawn: a bright and exceptional high school senior whose main charitable pursuit is called ?Promise?. It?s an organization that promotes sexual abstinence for teens until marriage (complete with a ruby-red ring that?s to be replaced by wedding gold). Her own virginity is in trouble, however, when hunky fellow Promise member Tobey (Hale Appleman) starts putting the moves on her. Dawn harbors a secret ? a secret that even she knows nothing about. Her body possesses ?vaginal dentata? (or a ?toothed vagina?), which translates to having controllable biting teeth in her secret garden. Click here to read Patrick McD...
More About: Hollywood , Chicago , Movie Review , Content

Academy Award-Nominated ?Beaufort? Ponders Question of Why We Fight
2008-03-26 05:41:00
CHICAGO ? History eludes us. It?s what happens when we?re busy making other plans. In his new film ?Beaufort,? director Joseph Cedar turns his lens toward the history and misery of a Mideastern soldier?s outpost eight years ago that was both defended and attacked while highlighting the human element that has to endure when protecting the territory of warfare. Beaufort is an ancient castle area at the southern border of Lebanon. It has been an energy center for conflict and has been occupied by various armies for more than 1,000 years. The film is set in the year 2000 when Beaufort is occupied by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), which has held the position since the 1982 war in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah ? the Islamic, anti-Israeli paramilitary organization ? is bearing down on the outpost heavily with mortar shelling and guerilla tactics in anticipation of a planned IDF withdrawal. Click here to read Patrick McDonald?s full reviewof ?Beaufort? in our reviews section! Click here for...
More About: Hollywood , Question , Chicago , Academy , Movie Review

Giveaway: Advance-Screening Passes to New Uwe Boll Comedy ?Postal? on April
2008-03-25 09:35:00
CHICAGO ? Following our sold-out ticket giveaway to the upcoming Ellen Page comedy ?Smart People,? HollywoodChicago.com now announces another ticket giveaway to the advance screening of the new Uwe Boll comedy ?Postal ?. The film, which opens on May 23, 2008, will show to downtown Chicagoans at a screening on April 3, 2008 at 4 p.m. ?Postal?.Photo credit: MovieSet Before we share your simple task to score free tickets, let?s explore its plotline. ?Postal? is insulting, irreverent, politically incorrect and funny as hell. It follows two days in the life of the Postal Dude in the regrettably named town of Paradise. Just when he thinks he has hit rock bottom, things get worse. After a humiliating job interview and a nearly lethal trip to the welfare office, Dude finds himself on the doorstep of his Uncle Dave. Despite being the successful leader of the town cult, Dave is also finding himself in financial difficulties. Together, Dude and Dave hatch a plan to steal some valuable merch...
More About: Comedy , Screening

?Ceres? a High-Octane Probe Into Chicago?s Slippery Investment Banker Slope
2008-03-25 08:35:00
CHICAGO ? Tucked surreptitiously at the way-way-way-off-Loop location of the Prop Thtr ? Chicago ?s oldest-surviving non-equity theater in the area ? the signature that is ?Ceres ? is its high-octane energy. The cast act in harmony much in the same way as the ?X-Men? character Juggernaut: once their momentum is synthesized, it can?t be stopped. The theme is carried consistently from the instant ?Ceres? lights up all the way through its curtain call. All throughout the middle, The Factory Theater troupe allows theatergoers to feel like privileged voyeurs in the lions? den of high-volatility investment brokers who crook all their rules, loyalties and ethics in order to make the coveted sale. Gretchen Carter as Ivy in the Chicago production of ?Ceres?.Photo credit: The Factory Theater The 1992 film ?Glengarry Glen Ross? ? perhaps the quintessential exploration of sales in cinema ? is shrewdly referenced in ?Ceres? to imply partial inspiration. Beyond the Al Pacino machination examina...
More About: Hollywood , Investment , Content

Brazillian Indie ?The Year My Parents Went on Vacation? a Tender Window to
2008-03-24 05:44:00
CHICAGO ? Film is often at its best when it offers a ?window to the world? about other cultures dealing with issues that life in the U.S. never imagines. ?The Year My Parents Went on Vacation ? is a meticulous, fascinating and tender story of Brazil in 1970 when revolution was in the air and the World Cup was the hope of bringing a country back together. Michel Joelsas is Mauro ? the 13-year-old son of Daniel and Bia Stein ? who are communist revolutionaries plotting against the military government of Brazil. On the run and forced from their home, they tell their son he?s going to stay with his grandfather in São Paulo because they are ?going on vacation?. What they don?t know as they drop the boy at his grandfather?s apartment is that the old man has just died. They drive away and leave Mauro to fend for himself. As a secular boy left in a primarily Jewish neighborhood, Mauro is reluctantly adopted by his grandfather?s elderly neighbor (Schlomo). Click here to read Patrick McDonald?...
More About: Hollywood , Chicago , Movie Review , Content

?Snow Angels? an Essential Examination of Yin, Yang in Our Vulnerable Lives
2008-03-23 00:56:00
CHICAGO ? Staying sane is truly an edge-of-the-knife proposition. We are all the sum of our past environments, our present circumstances and our future worries. The sludge that is generated by such a mixture becomes the psyche that?s ready to interact with other psyches we deem important or are forced to be around through family or commerce. Director David Gordon Green inspects the tipping point of this interaction in the unsparing new film ?Snow Angels?. Arthur (Michael Angarano) is the teenager who walks through all the lives of this multi-storied road. His old babysitter, Annie (Kate Beckinsale ), is amid a separation from her husband, Glenn (Sam Rockwell), who has attempted suicide because of the relationship?s fallout. Click here to read Patrick McDonald?s full reviewof ?Snow Angels? in our reviews section! Click here for our full ?Snow Angels? image gallery! Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale in ?Snow Angels?.Photo credit: IMDb Michael Angarano in ?Snow Angels?.Photo credi...
More About: Hollywood , Anne Hathaway , Chicago , Movie Review

Wizard of Oz is America in Immigration Film ?Under the Same Moon?
2008-03-20 21:25:00
CHICAGO ? The immigrant ?crisis? in the United States is discussed mostly in political generalities as if those seeking a better life are subhuman. ?Under the Same Moon ? focuses on the real faces of these people through a 10-year-old Mexican boy who risks everything in a journey to reunite with his mother in Los Angeles. Kate del Castillo is Rosario: a Mexican immigrant who has entered the U.S. illegally to gather more income to send to her mother and son in Mexico. She has been gone for several years and suffers severe heartache when she realizes her small boy is about to turn 10 years old. Though cared for and nurtured by his grandmother, the boy ? Carlitos (played by the excellent Adrian Alonso) ? yearns to see his mother again. Click here to read Patrick McDonald?s full reviewof ?Under the Same Moon? in our reviews section! Click here for our full ?Under the Same Moon? image gallery! America Ferrera (left), Jesse Garcia (middle) and Adrian Alonsoin ?Under the Same Moon?.Photo ...
More About: Hollywood , Film , Ugly Betty

Top Five Irish American Actors: The Old School, New School and Hollywood Dr
2008-03-19 23:25:00
HOLLYWOOD ? Silver Screen Indie Queen here with some post-St. Patty?s Day film buzz. What better way to start a column than with the Irish ? There?s an industry list as long as my arm of actors with Irish American blood including James Cagney, John Cusack and Joan Cusack, Spencer Tracy and even Lindsay Lohan. As for the list of those Irish born and bred, though, now that?s a different story. The mission of Rachel Faith ? the Hollywood -based Silver Screen Indie Queen for HollywoodChicago.com ? is to help avoid the ?beige? film experience by providing easily accessible information on indie film, film festival favorites and must-see Hollywood classics. At the end of the day, it?s all about turning people onto new and different films using the Indie Queen?s film geekdom for good and not evil. After doing a little legwork, I was able to come up with quite an impressive list. Represented we have the old school, the new school and the dropouts who are conquering Hollywood as we speak. S...
More About: School , Actors

Israeli Directorial Debut ?The Band?s Visit? Built on Series of Bittersweet
2008-03-19 05:11:00
CHICAGO ? When we speak of conflicts between people or ideologies, there?s a tendency for broad categorization. Who are the liberals or the conservatives? What type of people make up the Israelis or Palestinians? Who are the people of color and who are white? These lines are becoming blurred, and underneath it all, it boils down to familiar humanity. Who?s going to reach out to demonstrate that? Perhaps writer and director Eran Kolirin in his brilliant Israeli film debut ?The Band ?s Visit?. The story centers around a band of Egyptian police musicians in absurd matching blue uniforms anchored by longtime conductor Tawfiq (Sasson Gabai). When they are invited to the opening of an Arab center in Israel, an errant bus ride from the airport gets them lost in a small desert town. Click here to read Patrick McDonald?s full reviewof ?The Band?s Visit? in our reviews section! Click here for our full ?The Band?s Visit? image gallery! ?The Band?s Visit?Photo credit: IMDb ?The Band?s Vis...
More About: Hollywood , Chicago , Movie Review , Series

Poster Art Hits Web For ?My Blueberry Nights? With Natalie Portman, Jude La
2008-03-19 04:05:00
CHICAGO ? The publicist for ?My Blueberry Nights? with Natalie Portman , Jude Law , Rachel Weisz , Norah Jones and David Strathairn just sent us the poster art for the new film, which will open in limited U.S. theaters on April 4, 2008. Our Chicago publicists have informed us that the film will open in the Windy City on April 18, 2008. The new poster is below. You can click it to view the image in insanely high resolution. The synopsis for the film follows the poster. In Wong Kar Wai?s debut English-language feature, the internationally acclaimed director takes his audience on a dramatic journey across the distance between heartbreak and a new beginning. After a rough break-up, Elizabeth (played by songstress Norah Jones in her screen debut) sets out on a journey across America and leaves behind a life of memories, a dream and a soulful new friend - a café owner (Jude Law) - all while in search of something to mend her broken heart. Waitressing her way through the country, Elizabeth b...
More About: Hollywood

?Wild Ocean 3-D? in IMAX Offers Breathtaking Cinematography, Profound Messa
2008-03-18 05:15:00
CHICAGO ? ?Wild Ocean 3-D? ? an unforgettable nature documentary playing now in IMAX at Chicago ?s Navy Pier ? dives to the depths of the ocean and through the vastness of the sea with breathtaking 3-D cinematography and a profound message for all mankind. From plankton to sardines, dolphins, seals, whales, sharks, gannets and man, Mother Nature?s greatest example of the food chain has been captured off the Wild Coast of South Africa and preserved on film in this educational documentary. The film takes place along the spectacular South African coast where the Zulu and the Western worlds meet at Kwazulu Natal, which is where tropical meets the sea on the Wild Coast. Click here to read Allison Pitaccio?s full reviewof ?Wild Ocean 3-D? in our reviews section! Click here for our full ?Wild Ocean 3-D? image gallery! An African penguin stands tall atop a rock on Bird Island, Eastern Cape in the IMAX film ?Wild Ocean 3-D?.Photo credit: Steve McNicholas Breaking surf sprays behind a f...
More About: Hollywood , Movie Review , Content

Crime Drama ?Helix? to Begin Non-Stop Chicago Filming in Late March 2008 Wi
2008-03-17 19:01:00
CHICAGO ? Hollywood Chicago .com on Monday learned about yet another Chicago film that can be added to the local list with a wide array of first-time talent: ?Helix?. While the Windy City has seen local filming from major films including ?The Dark Knight? (Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman), ?Wanted? (Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman) and now ?Public Enemies? (Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard), so has the city had its recent fair share of independent films including ?Chicago Overcoat,? ?The Root of All Evil? and now ?Helix?. Actor, writer and director Aram Rappaport.Photo credit: Annie Moses on Feb. 3, 2008 ?Helix? comes from the mind of 20-year-old actor, writer and first-time director Aram Rappaport. Rappaport previously wrote multiple television episodes, a dramatic short and several independent films that include ?Prism? and TV pilot ?Dakota Blue? (in which he also starre...
More About: Drama , Crime , Content

Skater Boy Culture Takes Center Stage in Cult Director Van Sant?s ?Paranoid
2008-03-16 01:50:00
CHICAGO ? For ?Paranoid Park,? cult director Gus Van Sant returns to high school, which is the setting of his previous chilling look into the Columbine incident in 2003?s ?Elephant?. Though not as successful as ?Elephant,? ?Paranoid Park? evokes a dream-like meditation on the trials and extreme tribulations of a skateboarding teenage boy trying to find his way. Newcomer Gabe Nevins is Alex: a disaffected adolescent coping with the dissolution of his parent?s marriage. Though essentially a good kid, Alex starts to act out in reaction to his life and separates himself from his family, girlfriend and even his skater buds. He becomes obsessed with writing down his story, which centers on rebellious Paranoid Park. It?s an erstwhile gathering site for the skateboard culture carved under a bridge abutment in Portland, Ore. Click here to read Patrick McDonald?s full reviewof ?Paranoid Park? in our reviews section! Click here for our full ?Paranoid Park? image gallery! ?Paranoid Park?Photo...
More About: Culture , Cult , Center , Skater

With Surreal Madness, Strange Boys Play ?Funny Games?
2008-03-16 00:57:00
CHICAGO ? Imagine a film with no redeeming or uplifting emotional qualities with evil that tortures the soul, squirm-inducing narrative elements and a relentless anxiety that practically has us ? like the characters in the film ? screaming for mercy. Imagine also that this film is excellent. ?Funny Games ? is a shot-by-shot remake of writer and director Michael Haneke?s 1997 Austrian film of the same name, which now features American actors and their presumed sensibilities. Naomi Watts from ?The Ring? is Ann: the 30-something matriarch of an upper-middle class American family who?s heading for their vacation home. Her husband, George (Tim Roth), and son, Georgie (Devon Gearhart), are accompanying her. As the family approaches the heavily gated development, a murky apprehension is in the air as familiar friends offer tentative greetings. Click here to read Patrick McDonald?s full reviewof ?Funny Games? in our reviews section! Click here for our full ?Funny Games? image gallery! Naom...
More About: Hollywood , Chicago