Spanish director Fernando León de Aranoa’s grit-bomb comedy, “A Perfect Day” subjects aid workers in the post-war Balkans of 1995 to drip-drip-drip absurdism. An NGO team for “Aid Across Borders,” led by Benicio Del Toro and Tim Robbins (with Olga Kurylenko and Mélanie Thierry along for the bumpy ride) alternate grue, boo-hoo and bountiful bad, loud music choices. Robert Altman’s “M*A*S*H,” Richard Shepard’s “The Hunting Party” and the grandiosely mad Emir Kusturica can be glimpsed in the rearview mirror of floundering influence. 106m. (Ray Pride)
“A Perfect Day” opens Friday, January 22 at Siskel.
Ray Pride is Newcity’s film critic and a contributing editor to Filmmaker magazine.
His multimedia history of Chicago “Ghost Signs” will be published soon. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram as Ghost Signs Chicago. More photography on Instagram.
Process The Day: Kelly Reichardt On Sculpting Showing Up "Showing Up" is the inspired title of Kelly Reichardt's sneaky, funny little masterpiece, beautifully measured, tender-yet-irritable telling of the daily life and low-level strife of a mid-career working artist, played by a formidably distracted Michelle Williams. The result is exquisite.
Talking Screens, September 2-8, 2022: $3 Movies, For A Day | 10 Remarkable Films | Ozon Makes Fassbinder Lite National Cinema Day. In Chicago: "The Creepshow: A Stephen King Film Festival"; ten remarkable films in "The Story of Film: A New Generation—A Film Series"; Chicago Film Society presents "Foolish Wives"; and a five-picture run for Pier Paolo Pasolini begins with "Mamma Roma." Plus, a pair of female-led Mexican wrestling movies. New films this week: "Peter Von Kant," "The Good…
