The acclaimed documentary from Kartemquin is nowhere to be found on the Best Documentary Feature shortlist. more ›

Today's listings include a documentary screening at the Cultural Center tonight and an Oktoberfest celebration at Small Bar Division Saturday. more ›

Not able to catch The Interrupters when it screened at the Siskel this month? Well, you're in good company--as we posted previously, most shows were sold out in advance, making the documentary the Siskel's new all-time box office champ. more ›

For the past few years, there has been plenty of talk about Colony Collapse Disorder, a drastic and sudden depletion in the number of honeybee colonies in North America. In 2010, for example, the USDA estimated total honey bee losses to be about 34%, an astounding number. What is currently a huge headache for beekeepers could have an out-sized impact on the food chain if left unchecked. Honeybee populations affect crop yields because the insects are responsible for the pollination of hundreds of the items you expect to see at the supermarket, from apples to zucchinis. The economic impact has been frequently estimated to be as high as $15 billion annually. more ›

There's something wryly ironic about Davy Rothbart, the co-creator of FOUND Magazine, being featured as Exhibit A in a documentary about the difficulties of finding true love. But there you have it. more ›

Mere hyperbole? No. Shoah does not include any black & white newsreels. It does not feature dramatizations, vintage photographs, or even documents from the period. It does something much more brilliant to convey the enormity of the Holocaust: using only interviews with survivors and contemporary footage of the locations in question, it creates a portrait of these unfathomable events entirely in the audience's mind, a place where it can remain permanently. It's a colossal achievement entirely without equal in the world of documentary filmmaking. more ›

Fact is we watched plenty of great movies this year, and as we've said before, we could care less if they actually "came out" this year. Movie viewing for the average person does not neatly match up with an arbitrary calendar. And so it is for us too. When seen for the first time, a great movie is delightfully fresh whether it was made yesterday or 50 years ago. more ›

The Cabrini-Green housing projects are now part of history, but the lives and memories of hundreds of its former residents continue to bear witness. A few of them are captured most eloquently in a new interactive documentary, Out My Window. more ›

Some of us here at Chicagoist (ahem, this Chicagoista), are old enough to remember the days before Lincoln Hall had concerts and music events back to when that space was host to those moving picture thingies called movies. We welcome the return of the original use of the space this Monday night when Lincoln Hall and CHIRP radio present, The Three Penny Was Here, featuring two music documentaries, "Look What the Light Did Now" and "Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talking About Him)?" more ›

Througout October, the Chicago History Museum is running a free film series devoted to food and food activism. The date for the first movie, Food Inc., has already passed (though if you have Netflix Instant View, you can watch it there), but there are two more upcoming films. On October 10th at 1:30, CHM will be showing The Future of Food, Deborah Koons Garcia's documentary on the growing pervasiveness of unlabeled, genetically modified foods and their place in grocery stores. On October 17th at 1:30, FRESH will be screened; FRESH features author Michael Pollan and "celebrates the American farmers and business people who are re-inventing our food system. We've seen the Future of Food, and it's definitely worth watching - and we'll probably be checking out FRESH when it screens. more ›

Charting the story of a black Houston high school’s award-winning soul band, this electrifying documentary will please both crate-diggers and aficionados of 70’s nostalgia. The Kashmere Stage Band was not the byproduct of a typical band class meant to fill up an hour of the schoolday for reluctant teenagers. It was, for about six or eight years during the 1970’s, an elite funk unit, complete with syncopated dance moves and a backbone so tight you could set your watch by it. So successful during its heyday that it toured Europe and Japan, the Kashmere Stage Band’s recordings were later sampled by the likes of DJ Shadow and re-issued by Stone’s Throw Records on two very successful compilations. more ›

Allow us to pose a silly rhetorical question. Just what exactly is America? And how does one make a film about it? You can take the Disney approach (i.e. America's Heart & Soul) and fashion a melange of "inspiring" vignettes, but the result is as syrupy as canned fruit cocktail. The Michael Moore route adds some shading and texture yet can still be just as guilty of taking a sledgehammer approach. And a movie like Koyaanisqatsi, although stuffed with eye-popping imagery, doesn't quite get at the soul of America. more ›

A sheriff, a musician, and a professor walk into a bar--wait, that's a different post. more ›

Ah, adolescence. Once upon a time there was more to being a teenager than just texting with your thumbs, hanging out at the mall, and sleeping late on Saturdays. Like being courteous, maintaining personal hygiene, sitting up straight, and laying the foundations for a successful career as corporate drone or model housewife. The Chicago Film Archives has put together a fascinating program of retro shorts from their holdings which highlights an American era when being a teen was both charmingly frightening and scarily dull. more ›

Before rock poster creators became sought-after illustrators, fielding Q&A sessions, exhibiting in gallery shows and producing what have become highly collectible pieces of visual music history, they were an underground community of talented pioneers working for little recognition and less pay. From it's origins amidst the classic rock shows of the '60s, to the photocopied punk flyers of the '80s, to the multi-color screenprints adorning the walls of indie rock venues across the nation today, forged on sweat, empty pockets and paint, rock poster art has evolved into a significant movement in American contemporary art. more ›

No question about it: we love It's a Wonderful Life as much as the next person, but every December there are times when we desperately need to take a break from the omnipresent holiday cheer. And this year, with multiple Jim Carreys thrust into people's faces, it's more important than ever to have cinematic options that are devoid of yuletude. Here are some suggestions. more ›

Tomorrow you have one last chance to see some of the festival's most popular movies, including Mississippi Damned, Fish Tank, Gigante and (one of our favorites) Videocracy. The full schedule is here. CIFF officially ends Thursday with the Closing Night feature The Young Victoria. more ›

This is part of Chicagoist's continuing coverage of the 45th Chicago International Film Festival. more ›

This is part of Chicagoist's continuing coverage of the 45th Chicago International Film Festival. more ›

Ah, the shopping mall: food courts, chain stores, erstwhile home to zombie uprisings and Tiffany concerts (specifically "The Beautiful You: Celebrating The Good Life Shopping Mall Tour '87"). The first enclosed shopping center, Southdale Mall in Edina, Minnesota (shown above), opened in 1956. Since then they've spread to practically every corner of the globe. In fact the world's largest malls are now in Asia, dwarfing their North American ancestors. Aside from McDonald's perhaps no other American innovation has been so equally reviled and embraced. more ›

Parkside Pub,11721 E. Main St., Huntley, IL, 11/26, 11 a.m. – early Thanksgiving morning, $10, call (847) 669-8496 for more info. more ›

Movies! Aside from preparing for and then recovering from your T-Day food coma, what else ya gonna do? more ›

This ain't the Dells. A pair of aquatic-themed films currently playing at the Landmark Century use water not only as a symbol but also as a character in their stories. more ›

This year Gay Pride Month in Chicago, a.k.a. June, kicks off with a brand new documentary premiering tonight on WTTW. Out & Proud in Chicago highlights almost 150 years of the city’s LGBT history – from the Civil War era through present day. The documentary serves to illuminate the path to liberation for Chicago’s LBGT community, coupling historical milestones with personal vignettes and individual reflection. From the WTTW pressroom: more ›

Try to make it over to the Landmark if you have some free time today; today is your last chance to catch the Hennegan brothers’ new documentary about the Kentucky Derby. The First Saturday in May follows five horses on the path to the 2006 Kentucky Derby, the year _______ won.* Much like Spellbound did in 2002, the documentary serves to show the training and utter devotion that goes into preparing for the culminating moment of the film. more ›

With the proliferation each year of "best of" lists, you'd think that the human mind divided up its cinematic experiences and memories in tidy, discreet yearly blocks of time. It ain't so. Great movies do not have "sell by" dates; instead, they're as fresh as whatever day you end up seeing them for the first time. It applies equally to brand-new films you've been anticipating for months and unearthed treasures you never expected to see at all. more ›