CRUCIAL VIEWING
Thom Andersen's LOS ANGELES PLAYS ITSELF (Documentary/Essay Film Revival)
Music Box Theatre - Wednesday, 7pm
With his sweeping cine-essay LOS ANGELES PLAYS ITSELF, film teacher cum director Thom Andersen showed us how Hollywood slandered its local geography, including its economic and racial hills and valleys. He employed countless clips of major motion pictures filmed in "the most photographed city in the world" like a reader would use underlines, highlights, and scribbles. Essentially, we are given the teacher's notes. We learn that Hollywood teaches us that those who live in L.A. live on the beach or on top of hills; that you always drive, even if you're going to your neighbor's house; that non-whites are threatening and live on the fringes of civilized society. Then, we learn that this is all a lie. That the "real" people of L.A. walk. They are not white. They don't live in luxury. Their numbers are greater than their on-screen counterparts. They even have movies to show for it: BLESS THEIR LITTLE HEARTS, KILLER OF SHEEP, THE EXILES. Today the story continues, except now whites are second to Latinos in population numbers, there is a black president, and economic status has replaced skin color as being the major point of contention. The film not only encourages you to continue this history in your head, but to broaden that history. (2003, 169 min, Digital Projection; New Digital Remaster). KH
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More info at www.musicboxtheatre.com.
Intercat '69 (Experimental Revival)
Chicago Filmmakers (5243 N. Clark St.) - Friday and Saturday, 8pm & Columbia College Chicago-Hokin Hall (623 S. Wabash Ave., Room 109) - Wednesday, 6:30pm
This weekend's program is an abbreviated version of filmmaker Pola Chapelle's First International Cat Film Festival, which took place at New York City's Elgin Theater in 1969. The original Intercat '69 was over four hours long; Chicago Filmmakers hoped to replicate the original event, but sadly discovered that the whole program is not as easy to come by as previously thought. This is quite a disappointment: "My original idea was that this would separate the real cat lovers from the fair-weathered friends. After four hours, I figured, there wouldn't be anybody left but the hard core," Chapelle told New Yorker writer Hendrik Hertzberg for a piece that's now anthologized in The Big New Yorker Book of Cats. But perhaps there's an upside to this abridged program's approximately 98 minute running time? Chapelle continued: "[T]he other day a friend of mine called and said, 'Pola, how can you do this? You know I can't leave my cats alone for four hours.'" So it's the perfect length for hard-core cat lovers with justifiable separation anxiety and their less-enthused counterparts alike, and the line-up will further unite both in their appreciation of cats and film. The program includes the shorts OMA (Peter Knuppel), CATS (Robert Breer, 1956), ENVY (Roberto Rossellini, 1951), THE PRIVATE LIFE OF A CAT (Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid, 1944), FISHES IN SCREAMING WATER by Chapelle herself (1969), Saul Bass' title sequence from WALK ON THE WILD SIDE (Edward Dmytryk, 1962) and a delightful instructional film called FLUFFY THE KITTEN (1941), with a few others thrown into the mix. In CATS, Breer employs a variety of animation techniques that he'd previously used in his very first films, including bricolage, colored-paper cut-outs and line drawings. Widely considered to be a founding member of the American avant-garde, Breer's innovative style is all the more interesting when its focus is that of the feline persuasion. Rossellini made the 20-minute long ENVY for a French-Italian omnibus film, SEVEN DEADLY SINS. Adapted from Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette's short novel The Cat, it's about an artist and his new wife, and the disdain she feels for his beloved pet. The film is surprisingly important in the context of Rossellini's career; critic Patrice G. Hovald considered ENVY "the demonstration itself of Rossellinian art," while critic and historian Gianni Rondolino saw ENVY "anticipating Eric Rohmer's films." Furthermore, according to Tad Gallagher's The Adventures of Roberto Rossellini, it was the first European film to use the small photoflood lamps then commonly used in Hollywood to "achieve softer light with softened shadows and more finely focused eyes." The cinematographer, Enzo Serafin, would later use this same technique for Rossellini's JOURNEY TO ITALY and a couple of Antonioni's films. Deren and Hammid's THE PRIVATE LIFE OF A CAT is to experimental and avant-garde cinema what Grumpy Cat and Lil' Bub videos are to the Internet. The 22-minute film depicts the relationship between two cats and their five kittens. It's not at all sentimental, but it's also not overtly abstract; in fact, it's rather straightforward, but still aglow with Deren and Hammid's infectious artistry. (Appropriately, it's this cat film magnum opus that closes out the program). The "lighter" fare includes the Saul Bass title sequence and FLUFFY THE KITTEN, an unusual educational film that doubles as ingenious found footage art. Bass was so talented and prolific that his work on Dmytryk's film doesn't rank among his most well-known sequences, but it's exceptional nonetheless. The segment is graceful and controlled, something anyone with a cat will know was probably almost impossible to accomplish. If that part sums up a cat's elegance, then FLUFFY THE KITTEN could be said to sum up its cuteness. It's by far the "fluffiest" of the bunch, but that doesn't detract from its unintended brilliance. How better to represent a cat than to let it speak for itself? Title cards put words to the kitten's actions, and at the very end Fluffy says, "Now I will look pretty to say goodbye. I hope you liked me." We did, Fluffy. We sure did. (Various Years, approx. 98 min total, 16mm) KS
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More info at www.chicagofilmmakers.org.
Howard Hawks' GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (American Revival)
Gene Siskel Film Center - Friday and Tuesday, 6pm
Howard Hawks' glitzy sing-along of consumerism on tour, GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES, is headlined by the hottest of commodities, Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe. It is, of course, far most interested in what these ladies prefer--which may be love or may be diamonds, depending on whom you ask--as opposed to the gents, here occupying a grand range of caricatures from buffoonish millionaires to meddling private investigators to rigidly-disciplined muscle men. Russell and Monroe are Dorothy Shaw and Lorelei Lee, two showgirls fresh out of Little Rock and adrift on an Olympian-infested ocean liner bound for Paris. Both women give career defining performances here, with Monroe playing up American extravagances to hyperbolic heights, and Russell as the lovelorn straight woman, a term infused with entirely new meaning during the great "Ain't There Anyone Here For Love" number. Here's a film that is an equal-opportunity objectifier, a carefree capitalist musical as essential for piecing together American identity in the 1950s as any film by Nicholas Ray or Douglas Sirk, making this old favorite prime for a revisit. Critic Jonathan Rosenbaum lectures at the Tuesday screening. (1953, 91 min, 35mm) TJ
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More info at www.siskelfilmcenter.org.
ALSO RECOMMENDED
Harry Beaumont's OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS (Silent American Revival)
Music Box Theatre - Saturday, Noon
OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS starts with the feet of a young lady who's getting dressed, or maybe undressed--it's hard to tell. She dances around a bit and quips to her folks and heads out expecting a wild night. It's an electrifying introduction to an otherwise predictable and rather silly film following the dramas of three young ladies in the late 1920s. The title implies that the film is from a parental perspective, or perhaps that you, the audience, are supposed to serve in loco parentis, but instead it feels oddly like Sex in the City filtered through the Hayes Code (and no, the code wasn't in place yet, but this film has enough sexual moralizing in it to have passed with ease). This was one of the films that made Joan Crawford a star and she's certainly got charisma to spare, and with live organ accompaniment by Dennis Scott this should be an enjoyable, if somewhat mindless, time at the movies. (1928, approx 80 min, 35mm) CAM
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More info at www.musicboxtheatre.com.
MORE SCREENINGS AND EVENTS
Reeling: The Chicago LGBT International Film Festival opens on Thursday at 7:30 (5:30 reception) with Eric Schaeffer's 2014 film BOY MEETS GIRL (95 min, Digital Projection - Unconfirmed Format) at the Music Box Theatre. Director Schaeffer and actress Michelle Hendley in person. The festival continues through September 25 at the Landmark's Century Centre Cinema and Chicago Filmmakers. www.reelingfilmfestival.org.
The Nightingale (1084 N. Milwaukee Ave.) presents Andean-Garde: Experimental Documentation in the Andes (1963-2014) on Sunday at 7:30pm, with curator Juan Daniel F. Moleno in person. The program includes REVOLUTION (Jorge Sanjinés, 1963), VIA SATELLITE: LIVE (Armando Robles Godoy, 1973), RADIO BELEN (Gianfranco Annichini, 1983), ENTERPRISSE (Kiro Russo, 2010), Molero's THE ABDUCTED (2011), FORWARD (Miguel Hilari, 2014), and I CAN ONLY SHOW YOU THE COLOR (Fernando Vilchez, 2014). (1963-2014, approx. 82 min total, Digital Projection)
The Conversations at the Edge series at the Gene Siskel Film Center presents Jonathan Monaghan: Alien Fanfare (2008-14, approx. 70 min, Unconfirmed Format) on Thursday at 6pm. The program includes MOTHERSHIP (2013) and ALIEN FANFARE (2014), with artist Monaghan in person.
The Eye & Ear Clinic series at SAIC presents media artist Kyle Evans with a live performance on Wednesday at 7pm at the Performance Space (112 S. Michigan Ave., 3rd Floor). Free Admission.
LAWN Gallery* presents Snow Yuxune Fu's Architectural Video Projection Night, LOsT in PRojectiOn, at the Mixed Use Lot (corner of Wolfram and Milwaukee) on Saturday, from 7-9:30pm. The even will include two earlier works, PASS and TRAMPLE, and the premier of a new work, RECITE, at 8pm.
|\| () |\| ? ? | () |\| (1542 N. Milwaukee Ave., 2nd Floor) and § ? |\| $ 3 |\| ø ? Present local filmmaker Tommy Heffron's 2010 film CAVEAT (70 min, Unconfirmed Format) on Saturday, along with analog sound art by Anthony Janas, Mono Prints and Ink drawings by Maryam Ghoreishi, and a performance piece by Antibody Corporation. Doors at 7:30pm; event starts at 8:30pm.
The Chicago South Asian Film Festival takes opens on Thursday at 7pm with Geethu Mohandas' 2013 Indian film LIAR'S DICE (104 min, Digital Projection - Unconfirmed Format) at the Showplace ICON Theater. Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui in person. The festival runs through September 21.
Comfort Station in Logan Square (2579 N. Milwaukee Ave.) hosts the event "I'll make you a movie after I eat," a series of screenings, performances, and talks celebrating Chicana/o moving image works on Sunday at 7pm. Included is a screening of Jesse Lerner and Rubén Ortiz Torres' 1995 documentary FRONTIERLAND (77 min, Video Projection - Unconfirmed Format).
The Logan Square International Film Series at Comfort Station in Logan Square (2579 N. Milwaukee Ave.) and AFTERGLOWINGS present Chris Marker's 1983 film SAN SOLEIL (100 min, VHS Projection) on Wednesday at 8pm. Free admission.
Kate Logan's 2014 documentary KIDNAPPED FOR CHRIST (85 min, Video Projection - Unconfirmed Format) screens at the Fourth Presbyterian Church (126 E. Chestnut) on Saturday at 2pm as part of the Level Ground Chicago Road Show.
Also at the Gene Siskel Film Center this week: Jerrold Tarog's 2013 Filipino film IF ONLY (100 min, DCP Digital) is on Friday at 6:15pm and Sunday at 5:30pm; Jeffrey Jeturian's 2013 Filipino film THE BIT PLAYER (111 min, DCP Digital) is on Saturday at 5:30pm and Wednesday at 6:15pm; Catherine Breillat's 2013 film ABUSE OF WEAKNESS (105 min DCP Digital) has six showings (no Sunday or Tuesday screenings); Anne De Mare and Kirsten Kelly's 2014 documentary THE HOMESTRETCH (90 min, DCP Digital) plays for a week (check the Siskel website for in-person appearances and for notes on which screenings are already sold out); and Koji Masunari and Masaaki Yuasa's 2010 animated Japanese film WELCOME TO THE SPACE SHOW (136 min) screens on Sunday at 3pm (English dubbed, HDCam Video) and on Monday at 8pm and Wednesday at 6pm (Subtitled, DCP Digital).
Also at the Music Box Theatre this week: Alex Gibney's 2014 documentary FINDING FELA (119 min) and Ryan McGarry's 2013 documentary CODE BLACK (78 min) both open; Charlie McDowell's 2014 film THE ONE I LOVE (91 min) continues; Maria Sole Tognazzi's 2013 film A FIVE STAR LIFE (85 min) is on Saturday and Sunday at 11:30am; Akira Kurosawa's 1957 film THRONE OF BLOOD (110 min, 35mm) is on Sunday at 11:30am, presented by the Chicago Opera Theater; Peter Chelsom's 2014 film HECTOR AND THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS (114 min) is on Tuesday at 7:30pm (RSVP at the Music Box website for this advance screening); and Tobe Hooper's 1974 film THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (83 min) and Terry Gilliam's 1995 film TWELVE MONKEYS (129 min, 35mm) are on Friday and Saturday at Midnight. Unconfirmed Formats except where noted.
At Facets Cinémathèque this week: Pegi Vail's 2013 documentary GRINGO TRAILS (79 min, Video Projection - Unconfirmed Format) plays for a week's run.
The Logan Theatre screens John Sturges' 1963 film THE GREAT ESCAPE (172 min, Video Projection - Unconfirmed Format) on Thursday at 10:30pm.
Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art (756 N. Milwaukee Ave.) screens Kristy Higby's 2013 documentary THE OTHER BROTHER (72 min, Video Projection - Unconfirmed Format) on Thursday at 6:30pm, with Higby in person.
The Park Ridge Classic Film Series (at the Pickwick Theatre, 5 S. Prospect Ave., Park Ridge) presents Guy Hamilton's 1964 James Bond film GOLDFINGER (110 min, Video Projection - Unconfirmed Format) on Thursday at 7:30pm. http://parkridgeclassicfilm.com
The Chicago Cultural Center presents Chicago Filmmakers on the Chicago River on Friday at 6pm.
ONGOING FILM/VIDEO INSTALLATIONS
Expo Chicago's video programs, curated by Astria Suparak, open on Thursday and run through September 21. For the complete lineup and other details visit http://expochicago.com/expo-video.
The exhibition Edit Road Movie, curated by Kate Bowen, open on Sunday and runs through September 29 at ACRE Projects (1913 W 17th St.). The show includes video installation work by Daniel Luedtke, and Nick Lally and additional work by Katie Hargrave.
Washington Park Arts Incubator (301 E. Garfield) continues the exhibition How To Make A Hood through October 10. Included is "The Hood We Live In," a sculpted 3 channel video installation by Amir George. More info at www.htmah.com.
SAIC's Sullivan Galleries (33 S. State St., 7th Floor) continues the show Surface Tension through October 4. Included is Kevin B. Lee's 3-D version of his video TRANSFORMERS: THE PREMAKE.
glitChicago: An Exhibition of Chicago Glitch Art continues at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (2320 W. Chicago Ave.) through September 28. Work from 24 artists explores glitch across a variety of media.
Bruce Nauman's 1987 four channel video installation Clown Torture (60 min loop) is on view at the Art Institute of Chicago through September 28.
UPDATES/CLOSURES
The Northbrook Public Library film series is on hiatus during renovations at the library. Expected completion is Spring 2015.
The Portage Theatre has resumed occasional screenings (from Blu-Ray/DVD only we believe).
As of July 2014 the Patio Theater is up for sale.
The Northwest Chicago Film Society is again on hiatus for their weekly series, with the closing of the Patio Theater. They plan to do occasional screenings as opportunities arise.
