1 The Volcanic Anna Magnani (Siskel, July) From Italy with gusto: twelve roles by one of the fiercest females in film history; often heartbreaking and heart-punching in a single breath or flash of the eyes.
2 Noir City Film Festival (Music Box, August 19-25) The return of nights dark and sinister in an annual compilation of newly found films and classics from the backstreets of the twentieth century
3 Chicago Underground Film Festival (Logan Theatre, June 1-5) The world’s oldest underground film festival turns twenty-three, earnestly expanding the creative boundaries of contemporary narrative and experimental storytelling.
4 Indignation (July)
Ang Lee’s screenwriter-producer/Dreyer scholar/studio executive extraordinaire James Schamus turns first-time director at the fine age of fifty-six in an adaptation of Philip Roth’s 2008 novel, starring Logan Lerman, Sarah Gadon, and in a show-stopping extended confrontation, Chicago’s own Tracy Letts
5
De Palma
(Music Box, June)
Filmmakers Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow take a cue from the decades-long French “Cinéma, de notre temps” series of director profile-interviews in a 111-minute survey of the talented filmmaker’s long career. Also being shown: “The Phantom of Paradise,” “The Untouchables,” “Dressed To Kill,” “Body Double,” more.
Film Top 5: March 2019 A month of European work at Siskel, plus old and new from Harmony Korine; and the latest from Jordan Peele, Christian Petzold and Neil Jordan.
Film Top 5: January 2021 Old folks, young love, aspiration in India, Denzel Washington still hunting serial killers, and Tom Hanks way out west.
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