Gorging on Movies

By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 14, 2009 5:40PM

It's really no wonder that movie receipts are up 17.5% over last year. Movies are a relatively inexpensive form of entertainment, and going to the movies is a social activity, as well as a welcome distraction and escape from all the down news as of late. Aside from the usual multiplex options there's a whole boatload of film festivals on the horizon:

• The Chicago Latino Film Festival launches its 25th edition this Friday, featuring over 100 films. And lest you be hesitant to attend, keep in mind that the vast majority are subtitled. Among the selections is hands down the best-titled movie of the year, The Pope's Toilet, which "cloaks religious critique in the scrappy tempo of irremediable poverty and irrepressible enterprise" (New York Times). The festival runs through April 29 at Facets and the Landmark Century.
• With today's soggy weather it's pretty easy to start daydreaming ahead to summer. You can fuel those daydreams by contemplating the lineup for this year's Outdoor Film Festival, which runs Tuesday evenings from July 14 (Sunset Blvd.) through August 25 (Tootsie) at dusk in Grant Park. The other films are Duck Soup, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Born Yesterday, Psycho, and Young Mr. Lincoln. It's free. Alcohol is forbidden, although ...
• Fight the power and check out the 9th Annual Chicago Anarchist Film Festival, April 24-26 at Jane Addams Hull House on the UIC Campus. The selection of films and videos for "anarchists, anti-authoritarians, the anarcho-friendly and the anarcho-curious" includes the documentary Infiltrating the Underground, which examines how anti-corporate culture has been hijacked, and the radical queer agit-comedy Homotopia. Admission is a requested donation of $5-10 per festival day but, in true egalitarian fashion, no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
• Evanston gets its first proper film festival this spring. Talking Pictures Festival runs May 1-3, showcasing over a dozen new independent films from around the world. Among the highlights are Treeless Mountain, a delicate naturalistic film from South Korea that's gotten rave reviews elsewhere, and the documentary 1000 Journals, about San Francisco artist Someguy and his blank journals project. Check out the full schedule here. The main venues will be Northwestern University’s Block Cinema and Evanston’s Boocoo Cultural Center and Café.