It’s one thing to understand the sound of rock ‘n roll, but it’s another thing to understand the look of rock ‘n roll. Martin Scorsese’s The Last Waltz manages to capture both. more ›

Though fresh from a painstaking digital face-lift, Martin Scorsese's breakthrough 1970s Masterpiece Taxi Driver is not your typical summer escapist fare. The dark antipode of feel-good Spielbergian kinderfantasie like 8mm, the film is a gorgeous yet repellent head-on confrontation with the violent and sexual energies that crash through films like Transformers stripped of the CGI sheen and sublimation of mechanized bodies to absorb the supposedly cathartic violence. Its anti-hero Travis Bickle is a very different sort of Captain America, as if Steve Rogers had been injected with the bloody muck of My Lai instead of "super soldier serum." more ›

Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ, based on Nikos Kazantzakis's novel of the same name, looked at the life of Christ from the main character's perspective and posited that, although Christ was without sin, he wasn't immune to temptation. The film was met with a flurry of protests when it was released in 1988 because it depicted Christ imagining himself engaged in sexual activity, which naturally outraged more than a few Christians. The film's release in 1988 sparked a rash of protests across the country. Chicago was no exception. more ›

Movies from the silent era may not have had synchronized soundtracks but they were never silent either. House musicians at each theater would always play alongside the movie, performing either a specially composed score or improvising one. That tradition continues with the Sound of Silent Film Festival. Unspooling at the Chopin Theatre April 1-3, it features a number of silent shorts all featuring newly composed scores by Chicago composers performed live. more ›

The European Union Film Festival continues at the Siskel through April 2. Here are reports on two more titles. more ›

Never one to make a fuss about anything, impeached Governor Rod Blagojevich will today make his first appearance at the State Capitol since his arrest on December 9. Blago is on hand to preside over the swearing in of newly elected state senators, something he is required to do by law. Still, we're expecting him to receive a chilly reception at the high noon ceremony. Also occurring at noon will be the swearing in of new House members by Secretary of State Jesse White; the House will then re-vote on the impeachment of Blago, a technicality because of the newly sworn-in members. After the new senators are sworn in, Blago will then preside over the roll call vote for the Senate President, who we already know will be Chicago's John Cullerton. Cullerton will then address the senate and it's expected Blago will exit stage left, though without the traditional escort of senators. more ›

Fellini once famously said that there are two things that always look great on film: trains and snow. Just in case you're a bit tired of looking at all the snow outside, which by now is more like evil slush, here are some suggestions for your Netflix or greencine queue so you can get a good look at some snow on screen: more ›

When other people go out for a walk in a wooded area, they do it for excercise and the calming peace of a cloudless sky. When we go out for in a wooded area, we know our subconscious is kind of hoping to happen upon human bones. The construction crew that discovered skeletal remains in the DuPage County Forest Preserve may have been digging a sewer, but they really hit the jackpot for creep-outs everywhere:... more ›

We admit, we deal in stereotypes. It's like our own version of Occam's Razor — the simplest humor is usually the funniest. But when you get a bunch of middle schoolers in a room together to act out these stereotypes, we think it probably stops being funny. And there are a lot of Italian-Americans in Batavia who feel the same way. Incredibly, there is a drama teacher in the suburb who thought it would be... more ›

Hollywood incinerated the post-summertime trash last weekend in preparation for some tried-and-true formula pictures releasing today. more ›