Billy Wilder's 1970 film The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes tells two separate stories involving the legendary detective. more ›

The Northwest Chicago Film Society and portoluz will screen the 1941 Preston Sturges Depression-era screwball comedy Sullivan's Travels 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Portage Theater in a newly restored 35 mm print from Universal Pictures. more ›

Pity the careless moviegoer who sees "Santa" on the Portage Theater marquee this Saturday and somehow finds his or herself in the aisles as the the first images of Santa Sangre flash onto the screen. Awakenings probably do not come much ruder. more ›

Tomorrow night's Terror in the Aisles was on our calendar already, but is now a must-see with the addition of An American Werewolf In London and an appearance by its star, David Naughton. more ›

Go see both versions of The Mummy at the Portage tonight, meet Svengoolie and have a chance to see the "Han Shot First" version of Star Wars in January for free. more ›

Unspooling at the Portage Theater, the forthcoming lineup includes treasures from Powell & Pressburger, Ida Lupino, Fritz Lang, Frank Tashlin, and many more. more ›

As we can personally attest after escaping there on a 99 degree day last week, the air conditioning at the Portage Theater works just fine. It's also one of the few places where one can enjoy a cold beer while watching a flick. And if you need a third reason to find sanctuary from the heat within the beautiful old theater, an evening of chills should put you over the top, as the eighth incarnation of Terror in the Aisles returns on August 6, bringing a little something for everyone. more ›

This year's edition of the Silent Film Society of Chicago's annual summer film festival pays tribute to the early leading ladies of film. more ›

We were all psyched to tell you about Doc Film's planned screening of Alfred Hitchcock's Under Capricorn tonight, which features several ten-minute-long takes replete with gymnastic camera moves and delirious Technicolor Ingrid Bergman. And a shrunken head. But we've just learned there's been a snag. more ›

Today in "Pencil This In:" an obscure Louis Jordan film gets a new life at the Portage Theater. more ›

Things are finally picking up in terms of spring weather, so why not get out of there and spread some literary goodness around? more ›

Last month, Rob posted an update of the former Bank of America Cinema's transformation into the Northwest Chicago Film Society. We wanted to remind you that the reconstituted organization's screenings begin tomorrow night with a screening of Douglas Sirk's Written on the Wind at the Portage Theater. The film is about alcoholic playboy and oil tycoon scion Kyle Hadley (Robert Stack) who marries Lucy Moore (Lauren Bacall). But Hadley's poor but hard-working best friend, Mitch Wayne (Rock Hudson) also pines for Lucy. Meanwhile, Kyle's sister Marylee (Dorothy Malone) is a cat on a hot tin roof who wants to scratch Mitch's post. more ›

Last Saturday night we headed out into the wind-driven sleet and caught the westbound Irving Park bus. At Cicero/Milwaukee we disembarked. Having some time to kill, we had dinner at Hong Kong Loo and then did some window shopping around the corner at Sears. And then, at 7:30, we walked over to 4901 West Irving Park Road to catch Mickey One, the second-to-last screening at the Bank of America Cinema, where movies have been shown since 1972. more ›

The programmers at Bank of America Cinema sent out an update on their facebook page last week once again confirming Time Out Chicago's reports that their current run at the Portage Park theater will end after the December 18 screening of Babes in Toyland. more ›

For the third consecutive year, the Portage Theater gives us a treat during the final week of October and the countdown to the 31st with their "Halloween Havoc," showing two scary movies per night starting tonight through Thursday, with a four-movie marathon capping things off on Friday. They've put together a solid assortment of horror films, mixing masterpieces with lesser films that are, if not classics, then adjacent to the classics. more ›

Ninety years after its release, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is regarded as one of the first horror films to reach a wide audience, one of the most well-known silent movies of all time, and a benchmark of early German expressionism. Tomorrow night's screening of the film isn't the first time the Silent Film Society of Chicago has featured it in a program. What makes this screening stand out is the score being performed by Jay Warren (the photoplay nom de guerre of SFSC President Dennis Wolkowicz) and theremin accompaniment from Professor J. Pierce. more ›

There's a whole lot of movie events happening so we do our best to round up the cream of the crop. more ›

Need more evidence that wintertime in these parts is enough to make Chicagoans feel homicidal? Here you go: our city has two festivals of horror movies occurring more or less simultaneously. Horrorfest III runs at Piper's Alley through Wednesday, and next weekend the Horror Society presents B-Movie Madness at the Portage Theater. The lineup boasts four horror flicks that definitely fall on the wacky, schlocky end of the spectrum. more ›

Borders, 830 N Michigan Ave., 10/27, 7:30 p.m., $7 - $10 more ›

Ah, the Coen Brothers. They've given us many memorable tales of kidnapping, murder, and betrayal. But none has grown in cult status quite like The Big Lebowski. Since it's theatrical release (10 years ago yesterday!), and despite its subsequently tepid box office gross, the film has become a huge hit on DVD and has even inspired it's own yearly get-together, known as Lebowski Fest. The Fest gives all the Dude enthusiasts a chance to come together for a screening of the movie, costume contests, White Russians, and, yes, lots and lots of bowling, giving everyone a chance to scream "OVER THE LINE!" more ›

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This week looks to finally mark the beginning of winter around here, and while we're not huge fans of bulky sweaters, digging our out cars from under three feet of snow, and the unshakable common cold, we do love the feeling of coming out of the freeze and into our favorite cozy Chicago music venues. Ushering in wool sock weather this week are three very special rock shows: more ›

Since its restoration in 2005 the Portage Theater has become a popular destination for music, movies (it's the home base for the Silent Film Society of Chicago) and live theater. This time of year, Portage Theater management and the folks at the Six Corners Association use the theater to screen some classic scary movies. This year's line-up casts a wide net across silent film, the classic Universal monster movies, modern horror, and a little bit... more ›

Are you going to see Beirut at the Portage Theater tonight? You should be. The former movie house is hosting one of this beloved indie-folk band's few American tour dates, and the combination of 1920s movie palace splendor and whimsical orchestration may be enough to make your heart explode. (Think of that feeling you have when you look at a photo of a puppy and multiply it by 10.) Beirut's newest album, The Flying... more ›

Who knew that U of C's DOC Films has been showing movies for 75 years? (Rhetorical question, as we're sure that many of you already knew that.) Well, they have. In fact they're the longest continuously running student film society in the U.S. As you can imagine, they've collected a lot of cool mementos in that time. Things like letters from Samuel Fuller and Jean Renoir, movie posters autographed by Hitchcock, and old programing calendars. And, yes, Fritz Lang's martini recipe (we're anxious to compare it Buñuel's). They're putting some of the neater stuff on display with a new exhibition which opens today and runs through August 31 at the school's Joseph Regenstein Library, 1110 E. 57th St. There's an opening reception this afternoon from 3:00 to 4:30 in the gallery. more ›

The death of storytelling has been predicted at least since the dawn of the Industrial Age. And in 1936, philosopher Walter Benjamin declared, "the art of storytelling is reaching its end." It's nonsense, of course; even if storytelling itself has taken on some "new" forms, it's still as prevalent as ever, perhaps even more so with the rise of the blogosphere and the millions of people unfurling their own personal narratives. more ›

Have you dreamed of being Danny Zuko or Sandy Olsson ever since you saw the movie musical as a kid? Here's your chance to make your dreams of becoming a Greaser or a Pink Lady come true. more ›