Music Box--Films on Our Radar

With the mercury bubbling over 90 degrees in Chi-Town all week and a sweltering high of 98 predicted for Tuesday, it's a great time to head for the cool, dark caves of your local indie-movie theatres.    Check out these excellent picks at Music Box.

Music Box Theatre presents: Documentary Filmmaker Kirby Dick's THE INVISIBLE WAR   2012 Sundance Audience Award Winner! “Even by the Sundance Film Festival's impressive standards, 'The Invisible War' is exceptional.” -Kenneth Turan, LOS ANGELES TIMES  About the film. THE INVISIBLE WAR is a groundbreaking investigative documentary about one of our country's most shameful and best kept secrets: the epidemic of rape within our US military. Today, a female soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire with the number of assaults in the last decade alone in the hundreds of thousands.  Focusing on the powerfully emotional stories of several young women, the film reveals the systemic cover up of the crimes against them and follows their struggles to rebuild their lives and fight for justice. THE INVISIBLE WAR features hard-hitting interviews with high-ranking military officials and members of Congress that reveal the perfect storm conditions that exist for rape in the military, its history of cover-up, and what can be done to bring about much needed change. Dir. Kirby Dick | 93 min | Color | English language Film details. What: Kirby Dick's THE INVISIBLE WAR Where: The Music Box Theatre When: Opens Friday, June 29, 2012

Music Box Theatre presents THE DO-DECA-PENTATHLON 25 Events 2 Brothers 1 Champion “Endless enjoyable…undeniably hysterical.” - Twitchfilm                  Opens Chicago Friday, July 6!           Director Jay Duplass IN-PERSON July 7! About the film. THE DO-DECA-PENTATHLON is the story of two grown brothers who secretly rekindle their fiercely competitive childhood sporting event – a homemade Olympics of 25 events – during a family reunion in order to finally determine the ultimate champion. When the rest of the family is disrupted by their unfinished business, the brothers must choose between their passion for beating the hell out of each other or the greater good of the family. Film details.What: THE DO-DECA-PENTATHLONWhere: The Music Box Theatre When: Opens July 6, 2012 Add’l info: Dodecapentathlon.com

Saturday, July 7 at 7:00pm!   About the event. Filmmaker Jay Duplass (Cyrus; Jeff, Who Lives At Home; The Puffy Chair) will host a screening of the Coen Brother’s classic Raising Arizona for the fourth installment of “The Film That Changed My Life” series, based on Robert K. Elder’s book of the same name. Duplass will appear live to have a post-film discussion with Elder. Duplass and Elder will sign copies of The Film That Changed My Life following the screening and Q&A. The evening also features a screening of Jay Duplass’ new film The Do-Deca-Pentathlon, opening at The Music Box on July 6th. SCHEDULE 7pm – Screening of The Do-Deca-Pentathlon and Q&A  (Purchase tickets) 9:30pm – Screening of Raising Arizona and Q&A (Purchase tickets) Pricing  Single Feature tickets are $10, Double Feature tickets are $12 About 'The Film That Changed My Life'. A veritable who’s who of accomplished directors, The Film That Changed My Life: 30 Directors on Their Epiphanies in the Dark(Chicago Review Press, January 2011) includes interviews with everyone from Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney, who expounds on the virtues of the surrealistic film The Exterminating Angel, to Danny Boyle, who raves about the visceral genius (and madness) of Apocalypse Now. A movie guide for seasoned film lovers or those recently drawn to the silver screen, The Film That Changed My Life will inspire a whole new generation of film aficionados. For more info on the book, please visit http://www.filmchangedmylife.com. Film details.What: The Film That Changed My Life: RAISING ARIZONA with Jay DuplassWhere: The Music Box Theatre When: Saturday, July 7, 2012 Add’l info: http://www.musicboxtheatre.com/events/raising-arizona-2012-07-07-2130

Music Box Theatre presents: THE FILM THAT CHANGED MY LIFE: RAISING ARIZONA with Jay Duplass

Music Box Theatre presents: ELENA   WINNER! SPECIAL JURY PRIZE 2011 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL UN CERTAIN REGARD            Opens Chicago Friday, July 13! "Post-Soviet Russia in Andrei Zvyagintsev's somber, gripping film "Elena" is a moral vacuum where money rules, the haves are contemptuous of the have-nots, and class resentment simmers." - Stephen Holden, The New York Times About the film. Winner of Cannes’ Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize, Elena is a gripping, modern twist on the classic noir thriller. Sixty-ish spouses Vladimir and Elena uneasily share his palatial Moscow apartment—he’s a still-virile, wealthy businessman; she’s his dowdy former nurse who has clearly “married up.” Estranged from his own wild-child daughter, Vladimir openly despises his wife’s freeloading son and family. But when a sudden illness and an unexpected reunion threaten the dutiful housewife’s potential inheritance, she must hatch a desperate plan…. Masterfully crafted by award-winning Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev (Golden Globe nominee The Return) and featuring evocative, Hitchcockian music by Philip Glass, Elena is a subtly stylish exploration of crime, punishment and human nature. Dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev | Russian | 109m | 2:35:1 Film details.What: ELENAWhere: The Music Box Theatre When: Opens Friday, July 13

Tickets Admission for main features and midnight films is $9.25 (different prices may apply to special presentations). The first show of the day on Mondays through Thursdays is only $8.25. Admission for the 11:30am matinee films is $7.25. The Music Box Discount Card provides 5 admissions for $33.00 (a savings of up to $13.25; good for six months; limit two admissions per visit). Cards are available at the box office. Film info line: (773) 871-6604. Getting there The Music Box is located at 3733 North Southport Avenue, Chicago. Metered street parking is available on Southport Avenue. The Music Box is a short walk east from free street parking on Ashland Avenue. There is a parking lot one block north of the theatre at the Blaine School ($10). The theater is near the Southport station on CTA's Brown Line and the 152 Addison, 9 Ashland and 80/X80 Irving Park bus routes. For public transit information, call 836-7000. Facebook Be our friend on Facebook MySpace Be our friend on MySpace Twitter Follow us on Twitter YouTube Watch trailers on YouTube Visit Music Box Films