From the Ledge

Unfortunately, the films I saw during Week 2 of the Film Festival were not as interesting or memorable as Week 1’s “Four Months, Three Weeks, Two Days” and “You, the Living” (see previous posting). Going to film festivals is much like gay online dating - you’re seduced by the intriguing, articulately-written profile (or film synopsis) with just the right amount of interesting tidbits that beg for more information, but once you agree to meet in person, you plunge into manic-depressive-with-ex-boyfriend-issues-and-Cher-fixation-hell. Or in the case of this week’s film festival movies, incomprehensibility-and-boredom-hell.

Read the rest of this entry »

Share This

As a fervent theatre lover, I sometimes have to pinch myself when I see the extensive theatre coverage in the Chicago Tribune and Timeout Chicago, and realize how much interesting, creative, world-class theatre I have at my doorstep.  There is absolutely no other city in the US, other than New York City, where this extensive array of theatrical experiences are available in any given night.  You can literally see a play a day (and two on the weekends when there are matinees) given the staggering amount of choices. This week, for example, you can pick among the following:

Read the rest of this entry »

Share This

The Chicago International Film Festival held every October is the oldest film festival in North America.  It may not be as prestigious as Toronto, Telluride, or New York, so we do not have as many filmmakers and celebrities attending, but it does offer Chicagoans a great opportunity to see many films from other parts of the world that may not receive commercial distribution in the US.  Several years ago, I had the notion of trying to see 20 movies in 2 weeks, which I soon found out was about as much fun as having a herniated disc, especially while you’re sitting through the nth artsy subtitled movie about 90 year old Hungarian barley farmers. You live and learn, so over the years, I have been pretty selective as to what I end up seeing.  And the payoffs are huge- for every dud, there is at least 2 brilliant film experiences like Haneke’s Cache, one of the showcase films of 2005.  This year is no different, out of the 5 movies I have seen in the first week of the festival, there are 2 exceptionally great ones, 1 very good one, and 2 perplexing ones. Here are my thoughts on the 5:

Read the rest of this entry »

Share This