In Search Of Lost Time: A Review Of Return To Seoul
A whimsical choice changes the life of Freddie, a twenty-five-year-old Frenchwoman who returns to South Korea years after she was adopted there.
Talking Screens, March 3-9, 2023: Guy Ritchie’s “Mission: Implausible” | Revisiting The Virgin Suicides, Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Last Role and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
THIS WEEK: “EO” at FACETS; “One Image, Two Acts” at Block; “Short Threads” and “Tokyo Drifter” at Chicago Film Society; “Destiny,” “Who Killed Captain Alex?” and “A Most Wanted Man” at DOC Films; the Chicago European Union Film Festival at Siskel; and “Irreversible,” “Virgin Suicides” and “Return To Seoul” at Music Box. Plus the Irish Film Festival and Joe Swanberg’s “Secret Saturday.”
Film Top 5: March 2023
EU Film Festival or “John Wick : Chapter 4” — choices, choices
Talking Screens, February 24-March 2, 2023: John Mossman on “Good Guy With A Gun” | “Pacifiction” is Cahiers du Cinema’s Number-One Film for 2022
THIS WEEK: “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” continues at River East and AMC Evanston; “The 25th Hour” at DOC Films; “Out of Time: The Material Issue Story” and Possession” at Alamo Drafthouse; “Pacifiction,” and the Chicago European Union Film Festival at Siskel; and “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes” and “Charlie’s Angels” at Music Box.
Time Bandit: Gaspar Noé on “Irreversible: Straight Cut”
Noé’s brutal, crushing punishing-of-the-innocent “Irreversible” came out in 2002. Twenty-plus years later, we have the American release, which twists the story into a form that was never planned: linear, chronological order.
Talking Screens, February 17-23, 2023: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Charms | Gaspar Noé’s Latest Provocation | Revisiting The Master and First Man
THIS WEEK: “The Master” at DOC Films; “First Man” at The Block; and The 2023 Academy Award Nominated Shorts at both Music Box and Siskel.
Talking Screens, February 10-16, 2023: Titanic Sails Again | A Goofy Last Glimpse at Godard | The Case for Zabriskie Point
THIS WEEK: a list of “Galentine’s” at FACETS February 10-12; “Zabriskie Point” at Chicago Film Society; “28 Days Later,” “Dead Man” and “The Savages” at DOC Films; “The Host”, the Annual Festival of Films From Iran and “See You Friday, Robinson” at Siskel; and “Some Like It Hot” and “Paris Is Burning” at Music Box.
Echo Chamber Drama: A Review Of Shyamalan’s “Knock At The Cabin”
At the end of the world in a rental cabin in a night full of strangers.
Talking Screens, February 3-9, 2023: M. Night Shyamalan’s “Knock At The Cabin” is Sincere | Mia Hansen-Løve’s “One Fine Morning” is Tender | Lukas Dhont’s “Close” is Gentle
THIS WEEK: heaping helpings of film history in a partial list of offerings around town: “Forbidden Paradise” at Chicago Film Society; “Dancer in the Dark” and “Scent Of A Woman” at DOC Films; “One Fine Morning,” “Argento 1970s” and “War and Peace” at Siskel; and “Close,” “Ace in the Hole” and “Escape from New York” at Music Box.
Reading Pictures: Movies In Black-And-White
Almost nothing has been written about Walter Hill or his great work. A new book, which the director cooperated with, is “A Walter Hill Film” by critic Walter Chaw. There’s much I learned even as a lifelong student of Hill’s work: “The Warriors.” “Streets of Fire.” “48 HRS.”
