Results tagged “genesiskelfilmcenter”

If we say Lost In The Fog is a film about horse racing, surely Seabiscuit comes to mind. But Tobey Maguire isn't nearly as adorable as the horse's cantankerous octogenarian owner Harry Aleo. And unlike most documentaries made after a story ends, filmmaker John Corey just happened to fall into the development of the story of a three-year-old horse named, Lost in the Fog. He followed him from the small-time races in San Francisco, through a 10-race winning streak, until the horse's capture of the coveted Eclipse Award, as the nation's top sprinter.

Even if you think you don't know who Nicholas Ray is, you know who Nicholas Ray is. Does Rebel Without a Cause ring a bell? James Dean wearing a fire engine red jacket and a look as smoldering as the cigarette he's holding is one of the true iconic images of movie history. Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo are alienated teens struggling to make sense of life, and a very young Dennis Hopper plays a jack-booted thug. If you've never seen this movie on the big screen in all of it CinemaScope glory, you owe it to yourself to head over to the Siskel.

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

The above study in irresponsible parenting, "CARMICHAEL & shane" by Alex Weinress and Rob Carlton, is just one of the finalists to make it into the Chicago Short Film Brigade's Best of 2007 lineup that will be screening tonight at the Gene Siskel Film Center. Thirteen films have been selected from the 52 shorts that were screened in the Short Film Brigade's four 2007 episodes, and one lucky winner will walk away at the end of the night with the $350 Audience Award.

Thanks in part to huge voter turnout partially driven by bonafide grassroots excitement, Barack Obama cruised to victory in Iowa, and is expected to do well again today in New Hampshire. Yet the Siskel Film Center has quietly cancelled screenings of the new documentary Senator Obama Goes To Africa, which were scheduled for later this month. Why? We just told you why.

We’re big fans of the Helvetica Typeface here at Chicagoist. It’s everywhere here on our site. But we’re not sure about an 80-minute documentary, Helvetica, celebrating the typeface and it’s proliferation in society. The film is currently being screened at the Gene Siskel Film Center, now through the 20th.

Well, we've been hearing about Looptopia for awhile. A big overnight festival held in the Loop, blah blah. We didn't think too much about it. We pretty much dismiss the Loop after 5 p.m. and give it up for lost on the weekends. Looptopia is obviously working hard to change all that. It's going on this Friday through early Saturday morning and since we're going to be down there, we decided to check out the...

What a change? We woke up this morning and remembered that occasionally the sky is clear enough that you can see the sun. We have put together some events that are going on around town today so that you can't get out before the wind kicks your ass. As always, feel free to add events in the comments.

It’s been a sad state of affairs at movie theaters over the past couple of weekends. When the top 5 is filled with Scary Movie 4, Benchwarmers and Take The Lead, you know something is horribly wrong. But this weekend, things are looking up. Chicagoist is excited about American Dreamz and The Sentinel (co-starring our man-crush Kiefer Sutherland) as well as this weekend’s 22nd Annual Chicago Latino Film Festival.

Beth Kiely, Om on the Range

Chicagoist knows there are some adventurous types who expect they’ll get their $10 worth of entertainment by just showing up at the local multiplex, placing their faith in the Hollywood studio system and picking a movie at random. Not us. We like to research our picks ahead of time, often by looking at plot synopses online. Yet it’s still a case of caveat emptor with similarly titled films.

The Gene Siskel Film Center picked a helluva time roll out some excellent retrospectives. With the temps so low, all we want to do is roll ourselves up in blankets and watch our Tivo’ed episodes of Law and Order. But The Gene is tempting us to bundle up and head downtown for some great revivals and overlooked films of 2005. First up is "Merry Marilyn," a look at the films of Marilyn Monroe. Now: you...

As has been pointed out elsewhere, Thanksgiving is often a time for families to get together and share some quality time. You just threw up in your mouth a little, didn’t you? Somewhere around Hour Four of your Familial Celebration of Overeating and Passive-Agressive Conversation, you’ll be looking for an out. If two hours of sitting in the dark while no one sharing your DNA says a thing sounds like heaven, then it’s off to...

After an unfortunate incident a couple years ago involving “pumpkin spice” punch and a too-easily-removed Superman costume, Chicagoist tends to avoid big Halloween parties. Instead, we hole up with a list of video horrorflicks the night before (All Hallow’s Eve Eve?). But there are a few cinematic options this week for those looking for a communal, fright night experience. Doc Films at the University of Chicago is eschewing scary for sci-fi this week. Invaders from...

The Chicagoist Arts and Entertainment department has been suffering from a month long movie news drought that officially ends this week.

Been enjoying the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit at the Art Institute? Wishing you could see those can-can girls come to life in vivid Technicolor but have an intense dislike of musicals based on pop songs? Then head over to The Gene Siskel Film Center for a screening of John Huston’s 1952 version of Moulin Rouge starring Jose Ferrer as Toulouse-Lautrec. Unlike the version by Baz Luhrmann that focused on the love story between Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, Huston’s version has Lautrec as its lead.

The 8th Annual European Union Film Festival began this weekend at the Gene Siskel Film Center so expect to see more death, inappropriate sexual relationships, and circus clowns there than usual. Running through March 24th, the fest now reflects the diversity of all EU nations with entries from all 25 countries.

Chicagoist plans to spend Oscar night at a house party where our friend has promised "tons of movie-themed food". He better deliver on that shit because we're dying to know what this movie-themed food could be. House parties are where it's at, in our opinion, but if you're more of a socialite and would like to go to some Oscar parties around town, we've picked 3 that we think sound cool for Sunday night -...

Since the major studios use this month to roll out all their Oscar-worthy films, there are plenty of excellent flicks to keep you occupied during your holiday break. Not to be outdone, the Gene Siskel Film Center is putting the wraps on their cinematic year as two of their recent film series come to an end.

After a rainy, rotten week, Chicagoist is counting down the minutes to the weekend. All that junk about "cellar door" being the most beautiful phrase in the English language? Buh-buh-buh-bullshit. Try "it's Friday." Or "my treat." Or "open bar." Really anything that involves a) not working and b) recreation. To the Batcave! Um, check that, to…the newspaper listings!

Lately it seems like you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting some kind of film fest in the city. And that’s the way it should be. The embarrassment of riches continues this week with the Select Media Festival which runs through the end of this week at the Gene Siskel Film Center.

Love is often cited as the international language and that’s certainly a nice, romantic sentiment. Despite this universal emotion, it’s often difficult to bridge the gaps between disparate cultures (the summer you spent in Barcelona with Mauricio notwithstanding). This is especially true when one of those cultures accuses the other of being a portion of an “axis of evil.” *ahem* More often it is the arts, especially a visual medium like film, that helps to bring understanding to groups separated by ocean, religion or worldview. So Chicagoist says As-salaam-Alaikum to the Gene Siskel Film Center for presenting the Festival of Films From Iran running throughout October.

Remember the ol' TGIF theme song on ABC? (Or when people actually watched ABC?) "It's Friday night and the moon is bright/ Gonna have some fun, so you how it's done... TGIF!" And while the days of pre-"I Love the '90s" Urkel and the chubby/non-coke-using Olsen twins are gone, Chicagoist still takes those silly lyrics to heart, constantly humming them come week's end. Yes, good friends, the weekend is almost here. And here are a few random tips of how to fill the next two lazy days...

Since it's the dog days of August ("dog days" now officially connotes 50-degree temperatures) and none of us have anything better to do with our time, get ready to go festival crazy. Not only does the Chicago Underground Film Festival begin this week, but Wednesday also marks the start of the Interchange Festival 2004. Their website describes it thusly: A collective of Chicago musicians, promoters and the city's top clubs and record stores have...

Shut yo mouth! For those of you caught up in the current Blaxploitation revival � from the making-of drama Baadasssss! to the IFC documentary Baadasssss Cinema to several other films with the word "Baadasssss" in the title � you need to head down to the Gene Siskel Film Center tomorrow night. On the bill is a 90-minute collection of trailers for Blaxploitation films. The Film Center's website says,

Continue reading "...You'll Never Go Back"

. Well, guys, here's your chance to see all those slapstick shenanigans on the big screen. This week, the Gene Siskel Film Center is playing The Three Stooges 70th Annivoisary Blowout, a collection of seven of their two-reelers. (That's almost two-and-a-half hours of Stoogey goodness!)

Directed with plenty of style by a pre-exiled Roman Polanski, Chinatown is one of best examples of contemporary film noir, and Hollywood moviemaking, done right. It has everything Chicagoist could want: a hard-boiled Jack Nicholson performance, a screenplay (by a pre-Mission: Impossible Deux Robert Towne) that writing guru Syd Field maintains is a model of perfect construction, kid-who-stayed-in-the-picture Robert Evans as producer, and a cameo by Polanski himself. It plays tonight as part of the Gene Siskel Film Center�s series on the masterful (if downright creepy) director, which has upcoming screenings of Repulsion, Rosemary�s Baby, Frantic, and most excitingly, the director�s cut of The Fearless Vampire Killers. The theatre�s website description of that last one notes, �With a dazzling blend of movieland kitsch and Eastern European lore, Polanski creates a fairy tale full of slapstick humor and poignancy, enhanced by his own picaresque performance as the innocent in love.� Movieland kitsch, Eastern European lore, slapstick humor, AND poignancy? Chicagoist knows what we�re doing this Saturday at 6.