CIMMfest No. 5 CELEBRATES 50 YEARS OF THE ROLLING STONES ON FILM WITH CIMMPATHY FOR THE STONES, APRIL 19-21 AT MUSIC BOX THEATRE #CIMMfest

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Chicago International Movies & Music Festival (CIMMfest No. 5), Chicago’s annual festival of film screenings, music concerts and more, presents CIMMpathy for The Stones, a major retrospective celebrating The Rolling Stones’ 50 years of music on film. The retrospective includes screenings of ten concert films and documentaries – two never before seen in Chicago – plus music videos and filmmaker Q&As Friday-Sunday, April 19-21, at Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport. 

ABKCO Films’ Mick Gochanour and Robin Klein will be in attendance for audience Q&As following a trio of critically acclaimed films. These are: The Rolling Stones Charlie is my Darling - Ireland 1965, documenting The Stones’ first professionally filmed concert; the lost holy grail of rock films The Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus (1968); and Albert Maysles’ Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!  ABKCO Films’ Sympathy for the Devil, directed by auteur Jean-Luc Godard, also screens as part of the retrospective.

CIMMpathy for The Stones marks the Chicago premiere of the documentary Rolling Like a Stone (2005), which begins with a forgotten 1965 home movie of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones at an after-concert party in Sweden. Rolling Like a Stone won Best Music Documentary at the SilverDocs Film Festival. Also making its Chicago premiere is I Got the Blues in Austin, a visit with Austin's legendary surviving blues artists with Mick’s brother Chris Jagger. D Richard Jernigan and featured blues singer Lavelle Whitewill be present for a Q&A.

CIMMpathy for The Stones kicks off Friday at the Music Box with the concert film Muddy Waters and The Rolling Stones at the Checkerboard Lounge, Live Chicago 1981. 

CIMMpathy for the Stones Film Schedule

FRIDAY, APRIL 19

6:00PM Muddy Waters and The Rolling Stones at the Checkerboard Lounge, Chicago 1981

Chicago blues played a seminal role on the Stones early sound (so much so that they recorded at Chess Studios in 1964). On November 22, 1981, during their US tour, The Stones visited Chicago's South Side to catch Muddy Waters performing at the legendary Checkerboard Lounge. Before long, Mick, Keith, Ronnie and Ian Stewart joined Muddy on stage, as did Junior Wells, Buddy Guy and Lefty Dizz.

8:00PM The Rolling Stones Charlie Is My Darling - Ireland, 1965 (dirs. Mick Gochanour, Peter Whitehead)

Newly discovered, never-before-seen-footage has been woven into an intimate, behind-the-scenes diary of early life on the road with The Stones. Shot just weeks after "Satisfaction" hit #1 on the charts, it features their first professionally filmed concert. Charlie is my Darling-Ireland 1965 captures the band before they became legend.

+ Q&A with director Mick Gochanour and producer Robin Klein

9:45PM Stones in Exile (dir. Stephen Kijak)

In the spring of 1971, The Rolling Stones reluctantly departed the UK to take up residence in France. Keith Richards settled in a villa, and this became the venue for the recording of much of the band's masterpiece Exile on Main Street. Stones in Exile tells the story in the band's own words and through extensive archive footage of their time away from England and the creation of this extraordinary double album, which many regard as the Rolling Stones' finest achievement.

with:

The Rolling Stones music Videos: “Jumpin Jack Flash” (make up version); “Child Of The Moon”; “Have You Seen Your Mother Baby”; “We Love You”; “2000 Light Years From Home”

SATURDAY, APRIL 20

2:00PM Some Girls - Live In Texas '78 (dir. Lynn Lenau Calmes)

Shot on 16mm during The Rolling Stones' 1978 US Tour, after the release of Some Girls, this tour film documents what many consider one of the very best Stones shows at the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth, Texas, on July 18th, 1978. This is undeniably The Rolling Stones at the peak of their form.

4:30PM Rolling Like a Stone (dirs. Stefan Berg, Magnus Gertten) Chicago Premiere

The starting point for this film is an 8mm amateur home movie shot in 1965, where Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones attend an after-concert party with local musicians and pop fans. For some the party never ends. Immortalized by this forgotten home movie, the party-goers try - 40 years later - to make sense of these memories, and the eternal question of "What could have been?" 

6:15PM Sympathy for the Devil (dir. Jean-Luc Godard)

Jean-Luc Godard captures The Rolling Stones in the mist of producing their soon-to- become anthemic "Sympathy for the Devil," in London's Olympic recording studio. Beginning as a ballad, the track gradually acquires a pulsating groove. Juxtaposed against themes of revolution and democracy, the film is a brilliant portrait of the creative process at its most collaborative and arousing.

8:15PM The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus (dir. Michael Lindsay-Hogg)

Long considered the lost holy grail of rock films, this two-day event features circus fire-eaters, acrobats and clowns alongside extraordinary live performances by The Who, Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, The Dirty Mac Band (John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell), Yoko Ono and The Rolling Stones. As David Dalton so aptly put it, "For a brief moment, it seemed that rock 'n' roll would inherit the earth."

+ Q&A with filmmakers Mick Gochanour and Robin Klein

SUNDAY, APRIL 21

2:00PM Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones (dir. Rollin Binzer)

The legendary Rolling Stones concert film shot over four nights in Texas during the Exile on Main Street tour in 1972. This is one of the finest Rolling Stones concerts ever captured on film.

4:00PM I Got the Blues in Austin (dir. Richard Jernigan) Chicago Premiere

As The Rolling Stones prepare to play Austin, Chris Jagger, broadcaster and brother of the legendary Mick, joins local radio host John Peyton and visits Austin's legendary surviving blues artists, including: the late Pinetop Perkins, Lavelle White, Jimmie Ray Vaughan and Hubert Sumlin. The film culminates with a heartwarming jam session between Pinetop Perkins and The Rolling Sessions backstage. I Got the Blues in Austin allows audiences to spend intimate moments with the last of a blues generation in Austin like no other.

+ Q&A with director Richard Jernigan and featured blues singer Lavelle White

with:

Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! (dirs. Albert Maysles, Bradley Kaplan, Ian Marciewicz)

A spellbinding film diary of five songs performed at Madison Square Garden during The Rolling Stones' 1969 U.S. tour, a photo shoot featuring Mick, Charlie and a donkey, a mixing session at Olympic Studios, backstage tête-à-têtes between Keith, Jimi Hendrix and Mick Taylor, and a heliport summit meeting before Altamont.

+ Q&A with producers Mick Gochanour and Robin Klein

Thirteen world premieres, a film/music tribute with Melvin Van Peebles, closing night film The Source Family and much more highlight CIMMfest No. 5. The four-day festival annually brings together filmmakers, musicians and devotees from around the world for a celebration of movies and music at various venues centered around Chicago’s Wicker Park and Logan Square neighborhoods, with a satellite location at the Music Box Theatre. CIMMpathy for The Stones is co-presented by WXRT, ABKCO Films and Eagle Rock Entertainment.

More than 70 music-centric films from 27 countries will be screened, including features, documentaries, shorts, concert films, animation and music videos, all with music at their center.  Playing a bigger role this year will be the live music component, including 50 bands, live film scoring, live concerts by documentary film subjects and more. The complete program lineup is available at www.CIMMfest.org. The complete schedule of films and locations is below.

FESTIVAL TICKETS & VENUES

Single tickets to CIMMpathy for The Stones movies are $10 in advance at www.CIMMfest.org or day of show at the Music Box Theatre box office. The best way to guarantee attendance at CIMMfest No. 5 programming is via purchase of an All-Access Festival pass, priced at $79 and now available at www.CIMMfest.org.  Festival passes not only offer a substantial savings on individual tickets but provide access to four days of outstanding premiere films, concerts, Q&As, performances, afterparties and more. 

Corporate and Community sponsors of CIMMfest No. 5 include Columbia College Chicago, ACME Hotel, Ticketfly, ABKCO, Wicker Park Bucktown SSA #33, the Logan Theatre, the Music Box Theatre, The Society for Arts and Eagle Rock Entertainment.

A recent Driehaus Foundation Grant winner, CIMMfest is a Non-profit 501(c)3 organization.  For information on how to get involved, visit www.CIMMfest.org.

ABOUT CIMMFEST

The mission of the Chicago International Movies & Music Festival (CIMMfest) is to highlight the inseparability of film and music through the production of an annual four-day, multi-venue festival. CIMMfest is a convergence event that highlights the interconnectedness of all people shown through the lens of music and movies, on stage and on screen.  All participating films have music at their center: short and long form documentaries and narrative fiction; concert films; animation; music videos; performances; live concert events; art exhibits; and panel discussions, presented at both new and historic venues around Chicago.  CIMMfest is a platform for filmmakers and musicians, artists and producers, to present their vision and offer a connection point for people to come together for a celebration of movies, music and good times in the greatest city on earth – Chicago!  For more information, visit www.CIMMfest.org. 

ABOUT ABKCO

ABKCO Music & Records is one of the world’s leading independent entertainment companies. It is home to iconic catalog assets that include compositions and recordings by Sam Cooke, The Rolling Stones, Bobby Womack, Eric Burdon, The Animals, Herman’s Hermits, Marianne Faithfull, The Kinks as well as the Cameo Parkway masters by such artists as Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell, Clint Eastwood, The Orlons, The Dovells, ? & The Mysterians, Charlie Gracie, The Tymes and Dee Dee Sharp. Soundtrack releases include Wes Anderson’s 2013 Academy Award®-nominated Moonrise Kingdom, The Darjeeling Limited and the 2010 Academy Award®-nominated Fantastic Mr. Fox, Independent Spirit Award®-winner Safety Not Guaranteed, Our Idiot Brother, the international blockbuster Fast Five, Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, The Men Who Stare at Goats the soundtrack to the first season of the hit Showtime® series, Californication.ABKCO is active on many fronts including the release of critically lauded compilations and reissues from its catalog, film and commercial placement of its master recordings and music publishing properties in all media.  ABKCO Films most recent release is The Rolling Stones Charlie Is My Darling – Ireland 1965. has been involved with many successful movies including The Greek Tycoon  Quinn and Jacqueline Bisset, La Grande Bouffe of the International Critics prize at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival and The Concert for Bangladesh uring Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Bob Dylan and Ringo Starr. Renowned cult director Alejandro Jodorowsky’s classics El Topo and The Holy Mountain, restored and remastered to HD, were shown at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival (Classics section) and at the prestigious 44th New York Film Festival. In 2003 ABKCO Films won a Grammy for the DVD release of Sam Cooke – Legend and the following year released the DVD of The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus to universal acclaim. Upcoming releases include a restoration of the Spaghetti Western Blindman Ringo Starr. ABKCO Films is in pre-production on a biopic on the life of Sam Cooke.

ABOUT EAGLE ROCK

Eagle Rock Entertainment is the largest producer and distributor of music programming for DVD, Blu-ray, TV and Digital Media in the world. Eagle works directly alongside talent to produce top quality, High Definition and 3D programmes, both concerts and documentaries, including The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, The Who, Queen, The Doors, Jeff Beck, U2, Peter Gabriel, Paul McCartney and Ozzy Osbourne. Eagle’s TV library features over 2,000 hours of programming and there are over 800 titles currently available worldwide on DVD, Blu-ray and digitally. Eagle is a Grammy Award-winning company and has received over 30 Multi-Platinum, over 50 Platinum and over 90 Gold Discs, worldwide. Eagle continues to operate two audio music labels and has recently released both physical and digital albums by Ronnie Wood, Lindsay Buckingham, Gary Moore, Styx and Counting Crows.  Eagle is also now a fully fledged music publisher through its new subsidiary, Eagle-i Music. Eagle Rock Entertainment has offices in London, New York, Toronto, Paris and Hamburg.

FLICK PICKS: Upstream Color With Director Shane Carruth at Music Box 4/12 #film #directorappearance

DO-IT-ALL DIRECTOR SHANE CARRUTH IN PERSON FOR MIND-BLOWING DOUBLE FEATURE AT MUSIC BOX THEATRE

OPENING NIGHT OF NEW FILM UPSTREAM COLOR IS FOLLOWED BY HIS 2004 CULT HIT PRIMER WITH LIVE Q&A IN BETWEEN

Friday, April 12 at Music Box Theatre

**The 7:30pm show of Upstream Color is completely sold out! Due to popular demand, director Shane Carruth will now also attend the 5pm screening of Upstream Color on Friday, April 12 with a post show discussion.  (The 5pm screening will not include a screening of Primer).   

Click here for Tickets 

Shane Carruth’s new feature film Upstream Color opens exclusively in Chicago at the Music Box Theatre for a regular run starting Friday, April 12. This gorgeous piece of experimental science-fiction is about two broken souls who share a unique (and hallucinatory) bond.  On opening night of the run, the Music Box welcomes the do-it-all filmmaker – writer, director, star, producer, co-editor, composer, casting director, production designer, sound designer and distributor – in person for a very special double feature of his work. First the audience will be treated toUpstream Color at 7:30pm. Next up will be Carruth’s 2004 breakthrough Primer – which beat out Garden State andNapoleon Dynamite to take home the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and subsequently earned a cult following for its sophisticated twist on the complications of time travel – at 9:45pm. Carruth will introduce the films and do a Q&A withAV Club’s Scott Tobias between shows, Friday, April 12 at Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Avenue.  Upstream Color will continue its regular Chicago run through April 19 at the Music Box Theatre.

Friday, April 12th

·         7:30pm: Upstream Color

·         9:45pm: Primer

Tickets: The double feature of Upstream Color and Primer with director Shane Carruth is $12 in advance at www.musicboxtheatre.com/collections/the-av-club-presents-upstream-color-and-primer-with-director-shane-carruth or $15 day of at the Music Box Theatre box office.  Tickets for just Primer will only be available the night of the screening after Upstream Color has finished.

Upstream Color (2012): 7:30pm

Shane Carruth’s sensuously directed and much anticipated sophomore effort is a truly remarkable film that lies beyond the power of language to communicate while it delivers a cohesive sensory experience. With its muscular cinematic language rooted in the powerful yearnings felt before words can be formed, Upstream Color is an entirely original, mythic, romantic thriller that goes in search of truths that lie just beyond our reach. Kris (Amy Seimetz ) is derailed from her life when she is drugged by a small-time thief. But something bigger is going on. She is unknowingly drawn into the life cycle of a presence that permeates the microscopic world, moving to nematodes, plant life, livestock and back again. Along the way, she finds another being—a familiar, who is equally consumed by the larger force. The two search urgently for a place of safety within each other as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of their wrecked lives.

Primer (2004) 9:45pm

Four friends/fledgling entrepreneurs, knowing that there’s something bigger and more innovative than the different error-checking devices they’ve built, wrestle over their new invention.  Shane Carruth’s feature debut, which cost $7,000 and was shot on 16mm, won the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize in 2004.

About the Music Box Theatre: 

For nearly 30 years the Music Box Theatre has been the premier venue in Chicago for independent and foreign films, festivals and some of the greatest cinematic events in Chicago. It currently has the largest cinema space operated full time in the city. The Music Box Theatre is independently owned and operated by the Southport Music Box Corporation. SMBC, through its Music Box Films division, also distributes foreign and independent films in the theatrical, DVD and television markets throughout the United States. For additional information please visit www.musicboxtheatre.com . 

Download the entire Music Box Theatre Spring Calendar here

 

What We're Watching-National Theatre Live-The Magistrate

National Theatre Live’s 2013 season continues at Music Box with

Victorian farce The Magistrate starring John Lithgow

shown Wednesday, January 23 with encore matinee Sunday, February 10

The Music Box Theatre continues its partnership with the UK’s National Theatre Live – produced by Northwestern University alum David Sabel – to exhibit live stage performances beamed to Chicago from the prestigious National Theatre in London.  Academy Award nominee and Tony Award-winner John Lithgow (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Shrek, This is 40) takes the title role in Arthur Wing Pinero’s uproarious Victorian farce, The Magistrate, directed by Olivier Award-winner Timothy Sheader (Crazy for You and Into the Woods). The Chicago performances take place Wednesday, January 23, 7 p.m. and Sunday, February 10, 2 p.m. at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 North Southport Avenue.  Tickets to National Theatre Live events are $15 in advance at the Music Box Theatre box office and online at www.musicboxtheatre.com/collections/national-theatre-live-presents; $18 at the door. 

In a similar vein to the National Theatre’s smash-hit classic comedies, She Stoops to Conquer and London Assurance, The Magistrate is sure to have audiences doubled up with laughter. When amiable magistrate Posket (John Lithgow) marries Agatha (Olivier Award-winner Nancy Carroll, After the Dance), little does he realize she’s dropped five years from her age – and her son’s. When her deception looks set to be revealed, it sparks a series of hilarious indignities and outrageous mishaps.

Now in its fourth season, the international phenomenon National Theatre Live is the brainchild of Northwestern University alumnus David Sabel, National Theatre’s Head of Digital. Sabel explains, “When you think of filmed theatre it's the exact opposite of what it's supposed to be: there in the space, seeing the sweat and feeling the emotion and heat of the room. How is that going to work? People are surprised at how connected they feel. A huge part of that is the shared experience; if you were watching it on TV, even if it was live, you'd go and make a cup of tea, but here you are buying a ticket and reacting and applauding together.

“It's like filming a sports match; you take the audience's eye to where the ball goes. If we've done our job, you should feel you saw a piece of theatre, not a film, even though there were probably lots of close ups where the director was choosing what you see.” Since its debut in 2009, National Theatre Live has expanded from 40 theatres in the UK to nearly 300 screens worldwide.

The 2013 NTLive season at Music Box continues in March with People, the acclaimed new play by Alan Bennett (The History Boys) and concludes in May with This House, a biting and energetic new play about the ruthless world of 1970s British politics.   Visit www.musicboxtheatre.com/collections/national-theatre-live-presents for additional details.

About the Music Box Theatre: For nearly 30 years the Music Box Theatre has been the premier venue in Chicago for independent and foreign films, festivals and some of the greatest cinematic events in Chicago. It currently has the largest cinema space operated full time in the city. The Music Box Theatre is independently owned and operated by the Southport Music Box Corporation. SMBC, through its Music Box Films division, also distributes foreign and independent films in the theatrical, DVD and television markets throughout the United States. For additional information please visitwww.musicboxtheatre.com .  Download the entire Music Box Theatre Winter Calendar here: www.musicboxtheatre.com/assets/calendars/MusicBox_Winter2012_FINAL-LoSpeads.pdf

National Theatre Live is an initiative by the UK’s National Theatre to broadcast live performances onto cinema screens around the world. Since its first season, which began in June 2009 with the acclaimed production of Phédre starring Helen Mirren, more than 750,000 people have now experienced the National’s work on movie screens worldwide. 

What We're Watching: Save the Dates MUSIC BOX THEATRE’S 70MM FESTIVAL

Can you name those famous 70MM scenes?!

February Films on our Radar

THE ORIGINAL HIGH-DEFINITION CINEMA

MUSIC BOX THEATRE’S 70MM FESTIVAL INCLUDES THE RETURN OF OSCAR-NOMINATED THE MASTER, A NEW PRINT OF KUBRICK’S 2001, AND HITCHCOCK’S ELEVATED VERTIGO

DIVERSE LINEUP ALSO INCLUDES MUSICAL WEST SIDE STORY, CHILDREN’S CLASSIC CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG, FRENCH COMIC MASTERPIECE PLAYTIME AND MORE, FEBRUARY 15-28

An epic format deserves an epic festival. For two weeks in February, Music Box Theatre screens nine movies – more than a half-ton of celluloid – at the Music Box Theatre 70MM Festival.  Highlights include a brand new print of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and the return of Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master.  Music Box has spent more than 100 man-hours prepping their 70mm equipment to ensure that even audiences who’ve seen 70mm before have never seen it with this clarity. Music Box Theatre 70MM Festival runs February 15-28, 2012 at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave. www.musicboxtheatre.com/collections/music-box-theatre-70mm-festival

In August 2012, film fans from around the country flew into Chicago for an exclusive late-night sneak preview of Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master in glorious 70mm. Until now, the one-night, sell-out presentation was Chicagoans’ only opportunity to see this gorgeous film projected in the large film format in which it was filmed. 70MM Festival presents another rare opportunity to see this Academy Award-nominated modern masterpiece in its original format.

Music Box Theatre 70MM Festival also includes: a brand new print of Kubrick’s 2001 (1968); an archival print from a recent restoration of Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim (1965); Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958); Tobe Hooper’s outer space vampire/zombie thriller Lifeforce (1985); Kenneth Branagh’s interpretation of Shakespearean Hamlet (1996); Jacques Tati’s colorful and slapstick Playtime (1967); children’s favorite Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1961); and the timeless Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim musical West Side Story (1961). Synopses and showtimes below.

“Music Box Theatre is committed to film presentation in any and all formats available and is one of the very few cinemas in the United States – and the only one in Chicago—still able to screen 70mm,” said Music Box Theatre General Manager Dave Jennings. “It is with this capability that we proudly present these nine films as examples of 70mm film to Chicago in this very special series.  All of these films will be presented the way their makers intended: on the big screen, in a theater, on film and in 70mm.”

Tickets to individual movies in the Music Box Theatre 70MM Festival are $9.25 per screening. A festival pass, $70, entitles the holder to one admission to every screening – including seeing the same film more than once. To purchase, visit www.musicboxtheatre.com/collections/music-box-theatre-70mm-festival  or the Music Box Theatre Box Office, 3733 N. Southport Ave.

About the 70MM film format

Almost since the advent of cinema there have been variations of 70mm film used to capture visual clarity unequalled in 35mm filming. 70mm films became popular in the 1940s through the 1980s. Due to the cost of 70mm film, few films were ever shot in this large format, and following their initial release many of them were also released in 35mm to facilitate wide release. Other films were shot in 35mm and “blown up.” When DTS sound and Dolby Surround were introduced to cinemas, 70mm (and auditoriums devoted to 70mm) all but disappeared. The Result: few people have had the chance to see true 70mm presentation.

Contrary to popular belief, 70mm is not a larger image; it is a format that allows for more information and more visual clarity than its 35mm counterpart. There is a depth to the image that is unlike 35mm, and certainly very different from digital projection. Over the past several years the film industry has moved away from film in favour of digital projection. Film, in any format, is expensive to use for production and replication. For the first time since the advent of sound, cinemas have had to make a major change in their projection capabilities making the number of auditoriums outfitted for 35mm or 70mm film projection very few. The Music Box Theatre is committed to film presentation in any and all formats available and is one of the very few cinemas in the United States able to screen 16mm, 35mm, 70mm and almost all digital formats.

Music Box Theatre 70MM Festival Films

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) To begin his voyage into the future, Kubrick visits our prehistoric ape-ancestry past, then leaps millennia (via one of the most mind-blowing jump cuts ever conceived) into colonized space, and ultimately whisks astronaut Bowman (Keir Dullea) into uncharted realms of space, perhaps even into immortality. “Open the pod bay doors, HAL.” Let the awe and mystery of a journey unlike any other begin. Shows Friday, Feb. 15, 9:00pm; Saturday, Feb. 16, 9:00pm; Sunday, Feb. 17, 8:00pm; and Thursday, Feb. 21, 7:30pm   

This is one of our favs...especially on the big screen.   We announced the impending birth of our first kid in 2001 with the iconic movie poster and the tag line 2001:  A Baby Odyssey.   The ultimate trip indeed!

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). Dick Van Dyke stars as quirky inventor Caractacus Potts, whose magical flying car transports his family and lovely lady friend to Vulgaria, a kingdom strangely devoid of children, ruled by the evil Baron Bomburst. Written by Ian Fleming, with a screenplay by Roald Dahl and the same producer (Albert Broccoli) as the Bond bunch as well!   Shows Saturday, Feb. 16, 2pm; and Sunday, Feb. 17, 5:00pm   Didn't you ever wonder why that James Bondesque penchant for wacky inventions and quirky character names seemed sooo familiar in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?!   

Hamlet (1996). Veteran Shakespearean actor Kenneth Branagh delivers a brooding performance as the Danish prince driven to madness by his father’s death in this four-hour production of one of the Bard’s finest plays, featuring cameos by several stars. Tormented by his father’s ghost and enraged by his mother’s plans to wed his uncle, Hamlet concocts a revenge plot that leaves the stage dripping with blood. Look for Billy Crystal, Robin Williams and Kate Winslet. Shows Sunday, Feb. 24, 2:00pm; and Tuesday, Feb. 26, 7:30pm

Lifeforce (1985). American and British astronauts (Steve Railsback, Mathilda May and Peter Firth) on a joint mission exploring an alien spacecraft discover that the vessel contains several seemingly human bodies. But after they’re brought back to Earth, they come alive and start turning Londoners into zombies in this sci-fi thriller from director Tobe Hooper. Shows Wednesday, Feb. 20, 7:30pm; and Sunday, Feb. 24, 9:40pm

Lord Jim (1965). Writer Joseph Conrad’s stirring maritime novel charts the emotional course of British seaman Jim (Peter O’Toole), a thrillseeker aboard a merchant vessel who longs for adventure. He finds that in spades when the ship is caught in an all-consuming storm. But he also discovers that he has no courage to spare, and he soon abandons ship — an act that drives him to redeem himself in a dangerous Southeast Asian jungle. Shows Saturday, Feb. 16, 5:30pm; and Monday, Feb. 18, 7:30pm

The Master (2012). Academy Award nominees Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams and Philip Seymour Hoffman star in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1950s-set drama centered on the relationship between a charismatic intellectual known as “the Master” whose faith-based organization begins to catch on in America, and a young drifter who becomes his right-hand man. Shows Friday, Feb. 22, 9:00pm; Saturday, Feb. 23, 8:30pm; and Monday, Feb. 25, 7:30pm

Playtime (1967). Technology-minded visual comedy directed by and starring Jacques Tati. Monsieur Hulot (Tati) has to contact an American official in Paris, but he gets lost in the maze of modern architecture which is filled with the latest technical gadgets. Shows Friday, Feb. 22, 6:30pm; Saturday, Feb. 23, 5:30pm; and Thursday, Feb. 28, 7:30pm

Vertigo (1958). Alfred Hitchcock’s psychological masterpiece last year ousted Citizen Kane to become number one on the AFI’s list of top 100 films of all time. A San Francisco detective (James Stewart) suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend’s wife (Kim Novak), becoming dangerously obsessed with her. Shows Friday, Feb. 15, 6:30pm; Sunday, Feb. 17, 2:00pm; and Tuesday, Feb. 19, 7:30pm

West Side Story (1961). Natalie Wood and Russ Tamblyn star in Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim’s musical retelling of Romeo and Juliet set among rival NYC gangs. The sets were built six feet off the ground to allow for low-angle shooting with the large 70mm cameras. This became the winningest musical of all time when it earned 10 Oscars, including Best Picture. Shows Saturday, Feb. 23, 2:00pm; Sunday, Feb. 24, 6:45pm; and Wednesday, Feb. 27, 7:30pm.

Music Box Theatre 70MM Festival Daily Schedule

Fri 2/15:

·         6:30pm: Vertigo

·         9:00pm: 2001: A Space Odyssey 

Sat 2/16:

·         2:00pm: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

·         5:30pm: Lord Jim

·         9:00pm: 2001: A Space Odyssey 

Sun 2/17:

·         2:00pm: Vertigo

·         5:00pm: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

·         8:00pm: 2001: A Space Odyssey 

Mon 2/18:

·         7:30pm: Lord Jim

Tues 2/19:

·         7:30pm: Vertigo

Wed 2/20:

·         7:30pm: Lifeforce

Thurs 2/21:

·         7:30pm: 2001: A Space Odyssey 

Fri 2/22:

·         6:30pm: Playtime

·         9:00pm: The Master

Sat 2/23:

·         2:00pm: West Side Story

·         5:30pm: Playtime

·         8:30pm: The Master

Sun 2/24:

·         2:00pm: Hamlet

·         6:45pm: West Side Story

·         9:40pm: Lifeforce

Mon 2/25:

·         7:30pm: The Master

Tues 2/26:

·         7:30pm: Hamlet

Wed 2/27:

·         7:30pm: West Side Story

Thurs 2/28:

·         7:30pm: Playtime

About the Music Box Theatre: For nearly 30 years the Music Box Theatre has been the premier venue in Chicago for independent and foreign films, festivals and some of the greatest cinematic events in Chicago. It currently has the largest cinema space operated full time in the city. The Music Box Theatre is independently owned and operated by the Southport Music Box Corporation. SMBC, through its Music Box Films division, also distributes foreign and independent films in the theatrical, DVD and television markets throughout the United States. For additional information please visit www.musicboxtheatre.com.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING: Must See Shows at Music Box This Weekend

It's a director filled weekend in Chi-town.  Chicago-born filmmaker Linda Goldstein Knowlton will be here for the opening of her new movie Somewhere Between, Jan 11-13, as will the stars of the movie.   We caught a press preview of this moving, thought provoking doc. and highly recommend it!

I'm the daughter of an ESL (English as a second language) teacher and my cousin adopted Chinese girl twins as toddlers who are now 9.   You can check out their "Somewhere Between" experiences via the blog And Babies Make Four right here.  International families have always been a part of my world, and we're making a concerted effort to raise urban kids who have friends from many cultures.   So this film was of particular interest to me.   My husband's also a location sound engineer who travels the world on documentaries and other TV shoots, so he's picky about production values.   Even he was impressed by the quality of the audio and video in Somewhere Between.

The girls' stories are thought provoking, unique and insightful and raise great questions for adoptive multicultural families and society as a whole.   Check it out!

JOYOUS AND MOVING SOMEWHERE BETWEEN ASKS “WHO AM I?”

Award-winning documentary about adopted Chinese girls by Chicago-born filmmaker Linda Goldstein Knowlton opens exclusively at Music Box Theatre January 11

LINDA GOLDSTEIN KNOWLTON AND TEENAGERS FROM THE MOVIE WILL BE AT THE MUSIC BOX OPENING WEEKEND FOR POST-SCREENING Q&A’S

In profiling Chinese adoptees in contemporary America, the joyous Somewhere Between illustrates that even the most specific of experiences can be universally relatable. The deeply moving documentary by Linda Goldstein Knowlton (The World According to Sesame Street) intimately follows four American teenagers, some of the 80,000 girls who have been adopted from China since 1989 a decade after the country implemented its One Child Policy. These typical American teens reveal an inspiring sense of self-awareness as they attempt to answer the uniquely human question, “Who am I?” Somewhere Between makes its Midwest premiere Friday, January 11 for a limited engagement at Music Box Theater, 3733 N. Southport Avenue. Filmmaker Linda Goldstein Knowlton and the girls from the movie will be in attendance for post-screening Q&A’s on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. www.musicboxtheatre.com/features/somewhere-between

“My daughter's name is Ruby Goldstein Knowlton,” Knowlton explains. “She’s seven. When my husband and I adopted her from China, we had no idea what lay ahead. We became a family in an instant. But as I began to think about Ruby's future, I started to wonder how her coming of age would differ from mine. I began talking to older girls who had been adopted from China and brought to the U.S., and plunged into a world not just of identity but of what it means to be who we are. This film, SOMEWHERE BETWEEN, was born.”

The four girls at the center of the movie – Haley, Jenna, Ann and Fang – meet and bond with other adoptees, some journey back to China to reconnect with the culture, and some reach out to the orphaned girls left behind. In their own ways, they attempt to make sense of their complex identities. Issues of belonging, race and gender are brought to life through these articulate subjects, who approach life with honesty and open hearts.  Born in China to families who are unable to keep them, largely because of China’s “One Child Policy,” the baby girls were raised in orphanages, and then eventually adopted by American families. Here, they grow up with Sesame Street, hip-hop and Twitter. They describe themselves as “bananas”: white on the inside and yellow on the outside. All is well until they hit their teen years when their pasts pull at them, and they begin to wonder, “Who am I?”

As Somewhere Between plunges the viewer into the ordinary and extraordinary days of these four girls’ lives, we, too, are forced to pause and consider who we are—both as individuals and as a nation of immigrants.

Linda Goldstein Knowlton (Director/Producer)

Linda Goldstein Knowlton co-directed and co-produced the feature-length documentary, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO SESAME STREET. The film examines Sesame Street's international co-productions, made primarily in some of the world's political hotspots, including Kosovo, Bangladesh, and South Africa. The film made its World Premiere in competition at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival as an Official Selection in the U.S. Documentary category. The film was selected and screened at the Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto, the Seattle Film Festival, and other festivals including Boston, Dubrovnik, New Zealand, Melbourne, and Zurich. Previously, Goldstein Knowlton produced the New Zealand film WHALE RIDER (2002), directed by Niki Caro, which was the winner of the Audience Awards at Toronto, Sundance, Rotterdam, Seattle, San Francisco, and Maui film festivals. Goldstein Knowlton became involved with WHALE RIDER in 1992, a decade before its theatrical release, after reading the novella upon which the film is based. Prior to that, she initiated the development of THE SHIPPING NEWS after reading the novel in galley form in 1993, and then produced the 2001-released film, directed by Lasse Hallstrom. She made her feature-film producing debut in 1999 with both MUMFORD, written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan, and CRAZY IN ALABAMA, directed by Antonio Banderas. She is currently developing both fiction and documentary films.

Born and raised in Chicago, Goldstein Knowlton studied neuroscience at Brown University. Following college, she remained in Providence to serve the governor of Rhode Island in the Office of Intergovernmental Relations. She subsequently worked raising funds for film preservation at The American Film Institute, in Washington, D.C., and, later, in Los Angeles. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter.

About the Music Box Theatre: For nearly 30 years the Music Box Theatre has been the premier venue in Chicago for independent and foreign films, festivals and some of the greatest cinematic events in Chicago. It currently has the largest cinema space operated full time in the city. The Music Box Theatre is independently owned and operated by the Southport Music Box Corporation. SMBC, through its Music Box Films division, also distributes foreign and independent films in the theatrical, DVD and television markets throughout the United States. 

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