http://cine-file.info/forum discussions of alternative cinema -- chicago and beyond Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:59:26 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The 13th Annual European Union Film Festival opens Friday, March 5 and runs through Thursday, April 1 at the Gene Siskel Film Center (164 N. State St.). Below are reviews of selected films playing during week one (Friday, March 5 through Thursday, March 11). Ian FitzGibbon’s A FILM WITH ME IN ... http://cine-file.info/forum/archives/2010/03/european-union-film-festival-week-one/ In our year-end coverage of 2009, we failed to mention one film that provoked some of the lengthiest conversation among our writers—THE BOX, Richard Kelly’s first studio feature. While several of us at Cine-File championed Kelly’s last film, SOUTHLAND TALES (2007-8), his latest did not elicit so much as a ... http://cine-file.info/forum/archives/2010/01/richard-kellys-the-box/ CINE-FILE’S BEST OF 2009 LISTS Our contributors (active, dormant, and former) were invited to submit any kind of list or lists they chose. Here’s what we got. ***** JULIAN ANTOS Newer: 24 CITY (Jia Zhang-ke, 2008) Gene Siskel Film Center IMPORT/EXPORT (Ulrich Seidl, 2007) Facets JULIA (Erick Zonca, 2008) LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Tomas Alfredson, 2008) Gene ... http://cine-file.info/forum/archives/2009/12/best-of-2009/ [Editor's note: below is a significantly longer review of Frederick Wiseman's new film for the week of 11/20/09 from contributor Ben Sachs] Frederick Wiseman's LA DANSE: THE PARIS OPERA BALLET (Documentary) Music Box – Check Reader Movies for showtimes America's greatest living filmmaker, Frederick Wiseman, is also the most misunderstood. Often perceived, even ... http://cine-file.info/forum/archives/2009/11/wisemans-la-dance-expanded-review-112009/ FACE is a €3.9 million home movie. Tsai Ming-Liang intended to call the film SALOME; maybe somewhere along the way he realized he couldn't make the film he set out for, so what he edited together instead are sketches, scenes seemingly in rehearsal, odd ideas, musical numbers and bits of ... http://cine-file.info/forum/archives/2009/10/tsais-sketchbook-ciff-09/ Police work, taken as a whole, is boredom. Every now and then you make an arrest, but mostly there's a lot of planning, bureaucracy, paperwork, procrastination. So maybe what Corneliu Porumboiu intends with POLICE, ADJECTIVE is to put all other films that'd dare to call themselves "procedurals" to shame; this ... http://cine-file.info/forum/archives/2009/10/procedural-ciff-09/ A theater manager awaits the end of the Q&A for EYE OF THE STORM on Sunday night. Bob Downey, the Chicago International Film Festival's official photographer, snaps into action.  Downey takes about 500 pictures a day during the festival. http://cine-file.info/forum/archives/2009/10/38/ The best film I've seen at the festival so far is THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, and you can read my review at The Auteurs. http://cine-file.info/forum/archives/2009/10/the-new-techine-the-auteurs-ciff-2009/ Portuguese master Manoel de Oliveira is certainly not slowing down with age. His new film, made at 100 years old, is flat-out great. ECCENTRICITIES OF A BLOND HAIR GIRL (2009, 63 min) might call to mind the novels of Henry James or, more appropriately, the short stories of Guy de ... http://cine-file.info/forum/archives/2009/10/great-new-oliveira-ciff-2009/ CINE-FILE's coverage of the 45th Chicago International Film Festival will start Friday, October 9th and run the duration of the festival. We'll be posting it here at the CINE-FILE / Blog, updated daily. You can follow our updates via Twitter through @cinefile. A number of our regular writers will are ... http://cine-file.info/forum/archives/2009/10/chicago-international-film-festival-2009/