The Days Are Just Packed
By Scott Smith in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 3, 2005 4:19PM
The Chicagoist Arts and Entertainment department has been suffering from a month long movie news drought that officially ends this week.
After a cinematic summer of love, we’ve been hurting for something to get really excited over. While a few notable events have come and gone, the big highlights of the last couple of weeks were the University of Chicago’s performance in Proof and former pride of Mother McCauley, Jenny McCarthy in Dirty Love, a film so poorly received that its DVD release date (December 6) was announced on its opening weekend and Chicagoist has been unable to find any record of the film actually making any money.
Not exactly the kinds of films that make us wet ourselves with excitement. But this week? It’s time to bust out the Depends and hit the theaters.
First up is the Chicago International Film Fest. We’ll be doing a proper preview this week but you’d be wise to start buying passes now to any screening that bookends the fest or anything featuring an Actual Famous Person or Famous in Chicago Person. Those tend to sell out the fastest. In addition, we’ll be previewing the Museum of Contemporary Art’s RESFEST video and film offerings tomorrow.
Next up is the 16th Annual Festival of Films From Iran at the Gene Siskel Film Center that runs through October. The Gene has an excellent slate of films again this year and our only regret is not being able to make another Flock of Seagulls joke again.
Finally, the Midwest Independent Film Festival returns to The Landmark for its monthly screening tomorrow, October 4th. October’s offerings feature two local premieres: Jeff Farnsworth and The Divine. Initially, when the MWFF’s press release landed in our mailbox, we thought “Jeff Farnsworth and The Divine” was some sort of gay cabaret rock act. Instead, we discovered Jeff Farnsworth is an award-winning film produced here in Chicago and The Divine is a film about a young man who wants to be a butterfly. The film, A Series of Small Things, is also on the program. The evening begins at 7:30 PM followed by Q&A and a reception at Sausalito (543 West Diversey).