1 Veronika Voss (Chicago Film Society at Music Box, April 3) The last feature released in Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s lifetime, the black-and-white “Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss” (The Intense Longing of Veronika Voss), capturing the 1950s downfall of the last days of a retired film actress, is one of his most lustrous and beautiful. (Tragic, too.) 35mm.
2 Ugetsu (Siskel, April) Digital restoration of Kenji Mizoguchi’s stunningly beautiful and heartfelt 1953 masterpiece of a ghost story and love story.
3 Free Fire (Opens Friday, April 21) Ben Wheatley’s follow-up to “High-Rise” is a comedic thriller about a weapons deal gone wrong in 1970s Boston, reportedly a profane and relentless melee; with Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Armie Hammer, Sam Riley, Sharlto Copley.
4 Lois Weber Tribute (Siskel, April) Five features and three shorts from a not-to-be-overlooked pioneer of cinema.
5 The Fate of the Furious (Opens Friday, April 14) In their eighth time around the track, America’s ambassadors of the family of integration and cooperation rev again against h8ters at home and abroad.
Ray Pride is Newcity’s Senior Editor and Film Critic. He is a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine.
Ray’s history of Chicago Ghost Signs is planned for publication next year. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram. More photography on Instagram.
