Two Local Filmmakers Get Encores

By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on May 30, 2014 6:00PM

Many filmmakers nowadays will tell you that the only thing harder than making a film is getting it shown. Many's the masterpiece we've missed because of a lone screening that was inconveniently timed, or a streaming link that was rudely pulled down from a website. So consider this a post a nudge to catch some great work while you can.

Gabe Klinger's documentary Double Play: James Benning and Richard Linklater made it on our list of the greatest movies we watched last year. We wrote, "I can honestly say that in its own humble way it's one of the best documentaries about filmmaking and friendship I've ever seen. Even if you know next to nothing about Benning or Linklater, by the end of the movie you'll find yourself admiring their work and their tenacity in creating it." Courtesy of FilmBuff, it's gotten a digital release, and is viewable via iTunes and other outlets. Incidentally, if you're keen to catch it on the big screen book your tickets for Toronto, where it'll screen on Aug. 23.

Stephen Cone's Black Box, which showed at last year's Reeling LGBT International Film Festival, is quintessential viewing for anyone who's ever been a theater major (raise your hands) and also features a genuinely touching performance from Steppenwolf member Austin Pendleton. Beyond that we'd rather not spoil it, except to call out Reel Chicago's misleading characterization of it as a horror film. It settles in for a week-long run at the Siskel on Friday, with Cone and selected cast and crew members on hand at every screening.