Lives Less Ordinary

By Scott Smith in Arts & Entertainment on May 24, 2005 3:20PM

Chicagoist has often wondered who would play ourselves in the movie version of our life (we're hoping our life looks more like fleshbot.com than i-am-bored.com). Sure, there's temporary fame to be found on TV by eating bat dung or inviting Mary Poppins to live with you, but we're shooting for historical permanence here and that requires the big screen treatment. Several films in the city this week provide looks at the famous, the anonymous and...the fictional.

Mark Wexler's documentary Tell Them Who You Are about his life as the son of one of cinema's great firebrands, Haskell Wexler, is playing at the Music Box through Thursday night. We're drawn to it by the juxtaposition of father-son rivalry and the pressures of fame. Yet we'll probably wait for that one to hit Netflix and settle in for another rivalry that was literally set against the backdrop of Chicago in Tall: The American Skyscraper and Louis B. Sullivan that's playing at 6:15 and 8:00 PM through Thursday at The Gene.

Tall's run ends just in time for a film that proves that if you're looking for someone to talk dirty to you then you should spend more time at the library than the club. Writer of O explores the most enduring and endearing pieces of erotic literature since the limerick about the lady from Nantucket. The Story of O was an pseudonymous tome intended to recapture the heart of a lost love; the film explores the time period when it was written, its impact and the thoughts of its now-known author, Dominique Aury. Check the Gene website for dates and times.

Finally, we've got information about a free screening of the mockumentary It's All Gone Pete Tong, the story of "legendary" Ibiza club DJ Frankie Wilde who keeps the beat until he loses his hearing, his gig and his mind in roughly that order. Featuring real-life cameos and fueled by the comic intensity of lead actor Paul Kaye, the film walks a line between 24 Hour Party People and This Is Spinal Tap. Click here to sign up for a free screeningat the Landmark this Thursday at 7:30 PM.