Not able to catch The Interrupters when it screened at the Siskel this month? Well, you're in good company--as we posted previously, most shows were sold out in advance, making the documentary the Siskel's new all-time box office champ. more ›

We've selected four recommendations over the weekend to get out and watch a film with the opportunity to talk about it afterwards. more ›

In the conclusion of our interview, Marty Rubin, Associate Director of Programming at the Siskel Film Center, talks about what lies ahead. more ›

Patricio Guzmán's new documentary Nostalgia for the Light, opening at the Siskel Film Center tomorrow, is an unforgettable showcase of the dreams and ghosts he found in the driest place on Earth. more ›

We recently talked with Marty Rubin, Associate Director of Programming at the Siskel Film Center, covering everything from what exactly "programming" consists of to the "death" of 35mm film projection and 3-D. more ›

The Siskel Film Center has announced that they'll be increasing ticket prices for their screenings $1 across the board starting July 1. General admission tickets will be 11, member admissions will be $6. more ›

The Siskel Film Center makes a great case for spending some time indoors the next few months. more ›

Other than the start of Daylight Savings Time, a few college basketball games, and St. Patrick's Day, the most notable thing to occur in March every year is the Siskel's European Union Film Festival. The 14th edition, which opens March 4, is enough to make us crack open our thesaurus; words like "awesome," "amazing," and "stupendous" are too banal to express our giddy anticipation. more ›

Fact is we watched plenty of great movies this year, and as we've said before, we could care less if they actually "came out" this year. Movie viewing for the average person does not neatly match up with an arbitrary calendar. And so it is for us too. When seen for the first time, a great movie is delightfully fresh whether it was made yesterday or 50 years ago. more ›

While there were many dull-as-dishwasher classics forced upon on us during high school English (we're looking at you, An American Tragedy) Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio was decidedly not one of them. We loved it the first time we read it, and we've returned to it again and again. Though perhaps not as revered today as William Faulkner or Ernest Hemingway, both of who were briefly mentored by him, Anderson uses a straightforward, naturalistic prose style that's still quite engaging. more ›

Sobering fact for persons of a certain vintage: it has now been 17 years since Dazed and Confused came out, which is precisely the amount of time between its 1976 setting and its 1993 release. We may have to wait for a loving generational appraisal via coming-of-age story for that epoch, but that doesn't mean we can't ask "What were the kids into in 1993?" If you were going to make Dazed and Confused II: The Grunge, what would the characters be watching and listening to? more ›

Austere, wintry, ethereal, nerve-wracking: all good adjectives to describe Michael Haneke's Oscar-nominated film The White Ribbon, which returns for a week-long encore presentation starting tomorrow at the Siskel Film Center. more ›

A sheriff, a musician, and a professor walk into a bar--wait, that's a different post. more ›

• We'd be amiss if we didn't urge you to catch an encore presentation of The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans at the Siskel this weekend. It screens once on Sunday and again Monday night. Seeing it last year was hands down one of the funnest times we've ever had at the movies, a guilty pleasure consciously overstuffed with so many cop movie clichés it's hilarious. The paring of filmmaker Werner Herzog's dry-as-dust humor and Nicholas Cage's unhinged performance is stuff that cult films are made of. Along with the iguana. When you go, keep your eyes peeled for a cameo by Michael Shannon.
• The 2010 Chaz and Roger Ebert Truer than Fiction Award-winner, 45365, screens this Saturday and Sunday at Facets. Named after the zip code for Sidney, Ohio, this documentary by brothers Bill and Turner Ross examines 21st-century small town America in ways that are both heartwarming and surprising. TimeOut London calls it "a dizzingly detailed, thoughtful, sympathetic but highly pragmatic celebration of the modern Midwest in all its beauty, complexity, stupidity and brilliance," and gives the movie its highest rating.
• Speaking of Mr. Ebert, in a recent blog post he confirms plans for a new TV show. He's a bit coy, writing, "I can't reveal details about the talks we're deeply involved in," but promises that "the Thumbs will return." Yes, Thumbs with a capital T.

It's a festival of acronyms on this week's entry to the Chicagoist Podcast Series! First up, we spoke with Shawn Campbell, president and founder of the Chicago Independent Radio Project, aka CHIRP. Why did she want to start it? Where does it stand now? What's in the future - and does it include a low-power FM station? And what does Congress have to do to make that allowable by law? All of these questions and more are answered. more ›

This is part of Chicagoist's coverage of The European Union Festival, which runs March 5 to April 1 at the Siskel Film Center. more ›

This is part of Chicagoist's coverage of The European Union Festival, which runs March 5 to April 1 at the Siskel Film Center. more ›

The thirteenth edition of one of Chicago's best-kept secrets unspools at the Siskel Film Center from March 5 to April 1. The European Union Film Festival presents an eye-popping total of 59 movies this year, spanning just about every possible type of narrative film you can imagine. And because of the distribution logjam now plaguing the film business (unlikely to ease up any time soon, if ever), this could be your only chance to see many of these films in Chicago on the big screen. more ›

Sometimes a smorgasbord is the best way to consume information, so ... more ›

One of our city's most vital but perennially overlooked movie events, the Chicago Underground Film Festival deserves more attention. Including from us. Yes, we're guilty of neglect too. It's all too easy for us to focus on the European Union Film Festival and, of course, CIFF. more ›

Used to be that January was largely the dumping ground for crap that was deemed unsuitable for release during the rest of the year. That's probably still true to a degree. Example: Tim Allen's feature directorial debut is quietly making its way into theaters this month. But there's an awful lot about to go into wide release that looks enticing. And when you add in local-only screenings, you've got a slate of movies that's sure to keep you busy all month long. Here are some highlights. more ›

The precise year a movie was "made" is in many ways becoming less and less relevant. First off, theatrical distribution can be glacial. Just look at Francois Ozon's Angel. It was completed in 2007 but wasn't shown in Chicago until this year (when it had a grand total of two screenings at the Siskel.) It won't get a proper US release until 2010. A New York Times article points out that many of next year's "new" films were actually completed last year. more ›

No question about it: we love It's a Wonderful Life as much as the next person, but every December there are times when we desperately need to take a break from the omnipresent holiday cheer. And this year, with multiple Jim Carreys thrust into people's faces, it's more important than ever to have cinematic options that are devoid of yuletude. Here are some suggestions. more ›

I'm very concerned about the depiction of women on the screen. It's related to their being either high- or low-class concubines, and the only question is when or where they will go to bed, and with whom or how many. There's nothing to do with the dreams of women, or of woman as the dream, nothing to do with the quirky part of her, the wonder of her. I'm sure we could have made a much more successful film if A Woman Under the Influence had depicted Mabel's life as being rougher, more brutal; if it made statements so that people could definitely take sides. But along the way, I'd have to look at myself and say, "Yes, we were successful in creating another horror in the world." I don't know anyone who has had such a terrible time that she doesn't smile ever, that she doesn't have time to love, open her eyes, think about the details of life. Something [wonderful] happens all the time, even at the height of tragedy. I wanted to show that too.

Every man, woman and child in the Chicago-area will probably either go see Public Enemies (and watch for our review tomorrow) or Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen at the movies this weekend, but there are a ton of cinematic alternatives available. Because, you know, there's more to America than murderous gangsters and robots. Such as: more ›

A young man's oafish buddies convince him to take a bus to the countryside and meet them at a college chum's guest house, where "there's lots of booze and delicious barbecue." Of course when he arrives his friends are nowhere to be found; and getting back to Seoul proves to be an unexpectedly tall order. Among the problems he has to contend with are crappy cell phone reception, con artists, and the constant necessity of being polite by accepting drinks from strangers. more ›

Almost sounds like the name of a law firm representing Blago, but no. The Chicago Film Archives is drawing from its impressive collection for a pair of upcoming screenings. The films involved are all rare and extremely worthwhile. more ›

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

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

Considering the fact that we have pretty much no rules and virtually no limitations on us, we decided to alter the scope of the 'cast this week. In this podcast - one conversation. Just the two of us. One Mr. Rob Christopher and myself, talkin' film festivals. The European Union Film Festival at the Siskel Film Center, that is. Do you find yourself asking, "What the sweet hell is the European Union Film Festival?" Yeah, me too. So we'll all find out together. Step one is Rob's original post, step two is right here. more ›