Results tagged “michaelmoore”

Happy Valentine's Day, Barack!

A.O Scott’s review of the new Michael Moore movie begins with a very astute observation; namely, that whenever Moore’s name is brought up it is inevitably attached to adjectives such as “polarizing,” “controversial,” “provocative,” and “muck-raking.” And that it is the media itself which perpetuates the use of these adjectives. Would one describe Steven Spielberg as “polarizing?” Spielberg has two films in the top ten highest-grossing films of all time and no one describes him that way. Yet (among documentaries) Moore has two films in the top five. How “controversial” can a filmmaker be and yet sell so many tickets? We just think he’s a filmmaker possessing a keen instinct for issues that get people riled up, which is a good thing.

We can be scatterbrained sometimes. There's just so much cool stuff going on all the time that it's easy to forget a few things now and then. And that's exactly what happened yesterday when we neglected to give a shout out to Mr. Roger Ebert, who celebrated his birthday. There's a soft spot in our collective heart for Mr. Ebert. Long ago we forgave him for his once-scathing reviews of David Lynch films; for one,...

Even though we are way way past school age, we still get a little melancholy at the close of summer. Fortunately, our friends across the -ist network know that the shenanigans don't need to end just because the big yellow buses are back on the roads. So, grab your sunscreen and your favorite hangover cure, as we take a tour of end of summer fun from -ist cities all over the damn place. SFist Tourist...

As we quietly nurse away the after-effects of last night’s Happy Hour, it seems appropriate that we discuss a film about the dangers of alcoholism. Duane Hopwoood stars Northwestern grad and Lookingglass Theatre gadfly David Schwimmer as a man who fights to keep his life and family together as he struggles with his addiction to booze. The Trib’s Michael Wilmington draws the inevitable comparison to The Weather Man in a 2 ½ star review while...

Steve James.

Last night Chicagoist was on the phone with a producer of an upcoming short film festival and she was lamenting how difficult it is to mount a new festival since there’s already so many. Gee, we hadn’t noticed.

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.

Not like Fahrenheit 9/11 needs any more press, but Chicagoist just wanted to make sure everyone knows to go see Michael Moore's new film this weekend. No matter what your political stance � or your opinion of Moore himself, which probably align � this will be an important work to see, if for no other reason than to participate in the debates about it. (And anything that wins the Palme D'Or is usually at least worth viewing.) This is clearly not a documentary, but a personal essay film. Moore openly acknowledges this fact by giving himself "written by" credit. Unquestionably, he's a polemicist, a spin-doctor, a publicity hound, a sloppy filmmaker, and someone who distorts the facts for his own gain. But, in the end, his message � about our country's destructive policies and attitudes � is critical.

Ok. That was too easy/hokey/local-newslike of a headline. Of course we're not talking about controversial filmmaker Michael Moore who's films include Bowling for Columbine and, more recently, Fahrenheit 9/11. We're talking about Michael Moore of the 2000 block of South 16th Avenue in Broadview, who on Saturday robbed three people at gunpoint in less than 20 minutes. From the first man Moore got a ten spot, 11 minutes later from a stolen wallet of the second guy he got $30, and 3 minutes after that he took $20 from a guy. If Chicagoist does our 3rd grade math correctly, we can see that if Moore could have maintained this pace, he could have been raking in $180/hour. Not bad.. not bad at all! Unfortunately for Moore, the first man he robbed flagged down police and he was caught and charged with 3 counts of armed robbery and aggravated discharge of a weapon.