Results tagged “facets”

Don't kid yourself. Anyone who says summer is the best time of year in Chicago is a rotten liar. Autumn is matchless. Especially if you're a movie watcher. From now through Thanksgiving (when Hollywood's Holiday/Oscar assault begins in earnest) an embarrassment of cinematic variety is yours for the taking. Your stamina and your wallet's size are your only limitations.

Ah, the shopping mall: food courts, chain stores, erstwhile home to zombie uprisings and Tiffany concerts (specifically "The Beautiful You: Celebrating The Good Life Shopping Mall Tour '87"). The first enclosed shopping center, Southdale Mall in Edina, Minnesota (shown above), opened in 1956. Since then they've spread to practically every corner of the globe. In fact the world's largest malls are now in Asia, dwarfing their North American ancestors. Aside from McDonald's perhaps no other American innovation has been so equally reviled and embraced.

One of our very favorite pop culturists, for more than a decade Nathan Rabin has been head writer for The Onion A.V. Club. He's equally at home writing about Epic Movie or western swing, and you don't want to be on the receiving end of his wicked sarcasm when it's time to mete out a takedown.

Every man, woman and child in the Chicago-area will probably either go see Public Enemies (and watch for our review tomorrow) or Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen at the movies this weekend, but there are a ton of cinematic alternatives available. Because, you know, there's more to America than murderous gangsters and robots. Such as:

One of the very best films we saw last year is getting an encore presentation this weekend at Facets. And if anything, Wendy and Lucy is more crucial now than when we saw it last October at CIFF. Its portrait of folks living on the margins of society, with tenuous means of support, feels more like a documentary than ever.

Think of a film series as a mixtape that you listen to one song at a time, once a week. Each title enriches the previous ones, and experiencing them in sequence means a heightened appreciation for all of them. Two upcoming series offer a great chance to see some classic (and not-so-classic) movies in context.

Thousands of DVDs for you to choose from can be sent straight to your mailbox with a few clicks of your mouse. Netflix is awesome. It's also a soulless corporate empire. Like binging at McDonald's, it simultaneously appears to fill a need while leaves you wanting. Surely there has to be something better out there.

A whole lot more than just the Oscars comin' up. For instance:

Beginning next Friday, Facets is hosting an unprecedented retrospective of films dealing with the roiling events of the late '60s. In fact there are so many amazing titles included in the lineup that it's a shame we have to settle for a summary. The epicenter of "40 Years After: Filming the '68 Revolution" is Chicago's 1968 Democratic National Convention, when thousands of protesters and police in riot gear clashed on Michigan Avenue. Several programs of vintage shorts by the likes of Kartemquin Films and Tom Pallazolo are featured as well as the crucial semifictional masterwork Medium Cool. It's the definitive look at Richard J. Daley's Chicago. If you haven't seen Medium Cool yet, you'd better be there on Thursday, August 28.

Since retiring from the Reader earlier this year, Jonathan Rosenbaum has been as busy as ever. He's finishing up his film lecture series at the Siskel, which includes the upcoming screenings of Play Time, his all-time favorite movie. (For a great list, check out his Alternate Top 100 Films/Movies). And his website is now up and running. It's bulging with content dating back to 1987 and also features a Publications and Events section.