Happy Valentine's Day, Barack! Obama hasn't yet snagged the Democratic nomination. But already, like John Kerry before him, he's about to become the target of an "exposé film." As reported in the New York Times, the conservative group Citizens United has budgeted about $1 million to produce the film, which they plan to distribute this summer. The group and its president have previously released such creatively-titled valentines as Hillary, the Movie (a love song......

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......

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. Unless you’re a film geek, the name may not sound familiar. But he’s one of a handful of documentary filmmakers over the last ten years that have changed the way the public views and consumes these films thanks to a little movie called Hoop Dreams. Hoop Dreams began as a short documentary on sidewalk basketball and evolved into a commentary on the outside forces that can shape your life’s goals. Roger Ebert called......

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. Seriously though, this week is just ridiculous. First up is the Chicago Horror Film Festival, which takes over the Three Penny Cinema starting tomorrow night through April 3rd. In its fifth year, the fest will feature 35......

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. This is the third year for the Select Media Festival which seeks to “showcase how technology, politics and media intersect.” With a......

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......

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......