1 The Complete Jean Vigo (Siskel, November 30-December 5) Digital restorations of one of the smallest but most essential bodies of work in all of cinema: “À propos de Nice,” “Taris, roi de l’eau,” “Zéro de conduite” and “L’Atalante.”
2 Bodied (Opens November 2) Rap-battle comedy of fierce and foul energy from Joseph Kahn, whose savage third feature demonstrates once more that he belongs on the big screen as well as the high-end music video plateau. Plus: it arrives at an ungodly timely moment in America.
3 Burning (Music Box, opens November 30) Lee Chang-dong’s South Korean mystery is lavishly layered with mysteries of life and moviemaking, too.
4 The Great Buster (Siskel, opens November 23) The craft of pantheon filmmaker Buster Keaton, as seen by seventy-nine-year-old director Peter Bogdanovich; flanked by digital restorations of Keaton’s essential “Sherlock, Jr.,” “The General” and “Steamboat Bill, Jr.”
5 Hal (Siskel, opens November 9) Hal Ashby’s “The Last Detail” and “Harold and Maude” accompany Amy Scott’s bristling, empathetic documentary on the life of the great 1970s filmmaker.
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.
