Let's All Go To The Lobby

By Scott Smith in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 13, 2005 2:15PM

We’re at the halfway mark of the Chicago International Film Festival. If you’re not attending because you don’t know how to separate the good flicks from the crap flicks, then you’re just not trying. No matter how you like your movies—arty farty or just plain entertaining—there are plenty of ways to find movies to suit your tastes.

For arty farty, Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune posts his daily picks here while Metromix intern Matt Pais gives his list of “regular guy” picks here.

Since he’s so involved in the fest itself, Roger Ebert isn’t writing daily about his personal favorites. (Hey, somebody has to give Susan Sarandon her lifetime achievement award). But he will be presenting Errol Morris’ Gates of Heaven tonight. Part of the Critic’s Choice category of festival films, Gates of Heaven is a 1980 documentary about the paraplegic owner of a pet cemetery. We know that doesn’t exactly scream “must see!” but would Ebert steer you wrong? Well, maybe.

Since Ebert’s not writing about the fest, Jim DeRogatis picks up some of the slack with an impressive piece on Cameron Crowe and his film Elizabethtown. “But Chicagoist,” you say, “DeRo is a music writer!” Yes, dear reader, but Crowe writes movies the way musical artists compose albums. So DeRogatis’s sharp eye for themes serves him well as he explores some of the musical highlights of Crowe’s films and how the relative disappointment of Vanilla Sky helped pave the way for Elizabethtown, which opened this year’s fest.

Still on Chicagoist’s list of films to see this year: Unknown White Male, Night of the Living Dorks, The Trouble With Dee Dee (from Second City alum Mike Meiners) and Too Much Romance…It’s Time For Stuffed Peppers. We’ll admit our last pick made the list because it’s a candidate for Best Title Ever. But it’s directed by Lina Wertmüller and stars Sophia Loren and F. Murray Abraham so it’s practically begging to be seen all on its own.