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Showing posts with label films on our radar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label films on our radar. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

FILMS ON OUR RADAR: MANOLO: THE BOY WHO MADE SHOES FOR LIZARDS NOW PLAYING AT THE MUSIC BOX THEATRE

Music Box Films Presents
MANOLO: THE BOY WHO MADE SHOES FOR LIZARDS
Directed by: Michael Roberts

Now Playing at the Music Box Theatre


"Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world."
– Marilyn Monroe

Manolo is an in-depth portrait of legendary fashion designer Manolo Blahnik, whose extraordinary dedication to his craft set a fashion standard among celebrities, stylists, and industry icons. Longtime fashion journalist Michael Roberts presents this never-before-seen peek into Mr. Blahnik’s world, featuring a ‘who’s who’ of the fashion and entertainment industries including Anna Wintour, Rihanna, Paloma Picasso, Iman, Naomi Campbell, Rupert Everett, Karlie Kloss, André Leon Tally, and more.

Official Website: http://www.musicboxfilms.com/manolo
Official Facebook Handle: @manoloblahnikfilm
Official Twitter and Instagram Handle: @ManoloFilm
Official Hashtag: #ManoloFilm



About Music Box Films:
Founded in 2007, Music Box Films is a North American distributor of acclaimed international, American independent and documentary features. Recent releases include Hannes Holm’s A MAN CALLED OVE nominated for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Achievement in Makeup & Hairstyling at the 89th Academy Awards, Terence Davies’ A QUIET PASSION starring Cynthia Nixon, and François Ozon’s FRANTZ. Current and upcoming releases include Martin Provost’s THE MIDWIFE starring Catherine Deneuve and Catherine Frot, MANOLO: THE BOY WHO MADE SHOES FOR LIZARDS featuring ‘who’s who’ list of some of the most notable figures in the fashion and entertainment worlds, CHAVELA a documentary about the legendary Mexican Ranchera singer Chavela Vargas, AIDA’S SECRETS a moving documentary that unravels a web of family secrets, Cédric Klapisch’s BACK TO BURGUNDY, and VAZANTE Daniela Thomas’ first feature debut.

Music Box Films is independently owned and operated the Southport Music Box Corporation, which also owns and operates the Music Box Theatre, Chicago’s premiere venue for independent and foreign films. For more information, please visit www.musicboxfilms.com.




About The Music Box Theatre:
 For the last two decades, the Music Box Theatre has been the premiere venue in Chicago for independent and foreign films. It currently has the largest theater 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.

Please follow The Music Box Theatre on Instagram @musicboxchicago and Twitter @musicboxtheatre

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Coen Brothers' Blood Simple 4K Digital Restoration Opens at Music Box July 8th

ChiIL Flix Picks

BLOOD SIMPLE, the first film by Joel and Ethan Coen, opens at The Music Box Theatre on Friday, July 8th, 2016 on a stunning 4K Digital Restoration!


To honor this brand new restoration, The Music Box has programmed A Coen Brothers Retrospective. Films include FARGO, BARTON FINK, and THE MAN WHO ISN’T THERE. Each film will be shown on 35mm! Schedule to be announced. 

BLOOD SIMPLE opens on a brand new restoration  at The Music Box on Friday, July 8th. Color correction and restoration were supervised and approved by filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, as well as director of photography Barry Sonnenfeld. For further information on BLOOD SIMPLE and the Coen Brothers retrospective, please visit www.musicboxtheatre.com.


About Joel and Ethan Coen- (writers/directors/ producers/editors)
The Coen Brothers began making films in their backyard as children, using a Super 8 camera to re-create late-night-TV staples in a manner that foreshadowed their future tendency to re-envision classic Hollywood genres. After Joel graduated from New York University’s lm program and worked on a number of industrial films (as well as future Coen collaborator Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead), and Ethan completed his studies in philosophy at Princeton, the pair teamed up in 1984 to produce Blood Simple, which made waves at the Sundance Film Festival and quickly became a critical hit upon its commercial release. Having established themselves as key figures in the new American independent cinema of the 1980s, the brothers further burnished their reputation with increasingly popular films such as Raising Arizona, Miller’s Crossing, and Barton Fink, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and garnered three Academy Award nominations.

About BLOOD SIMPLE-
This razor-sharp modern lm noir, the rst lm by Joel and Ethan Coen, introduced the brothers’ inimitable black humor and eccentric sense of character, a sensibility that has helped shape the course of contemporary American cinema. Deep in the heart of Texas, a sleazy bar owner suspects his wife of having an a air and hires a private detective to con rm his suspicions—only to have the crosshairs turned back on himself. Playfully shot by Barry Sonnenfeld and featuring a haunting score by Carter Burwell and a cunning performance by Frances McDormand, Blood Simple was a career-launching lm for this ensemble and the rst articulation of the precision of style that has de ned the Coens’ work ever since.



About The Music Box Theatre-
For the last two decades, the Music Box Theatre has been the premiere venue in Chicago for independent and foreign films. It currently has the largest theater space operated full time in the city. The Music Box Theatre is independently owned and operated by the Southport Music Box Corporation. SMBC, through itsMusic Box Films division, also distributes foreign and independent films in the theatrical, DVD and television markets throughout the United States.


Follow The Music Box Theatre on Instagram @musicboxchicago and Twitter @musicboxtheatre

Monday, May 9, 2016

The Music Theatre Hosts The 4th Annual Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) Festival 5/20-26

Films On Our Radar:

The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) Festival kicks off on Friday, May 20th, 2016 at The Music Theatre!

This year's lineup will include 25 feature films and shorts. This programming brings together an eclectic array of films ranging from raucous comedies and foreign-made dramas to thought-provoking documentaries and midnight genre films.



Special guest appearances include Craig Robinson (Morris From America), Martin Starr (Operator), Anne Hamilton (American Fable), Ira Sachs (Little Men), Ti West (In a Valley of Violence), Michael Pena (War on Everyone) among others!


Now in its fourth year, the CFCA festival will run May 20-26th, 2016 and will be held once again at Chicago's historic Music Box Theatre. Click HERE for Program Scheduling.


The CFCA will be programming the following titles as part of this year's program at The Music Box Theatre:

Beauty and the Beast
Christophe Gans, the director of such visually stunning films as "Brotherhood of the Wolf" and "Silent Hill," unites two of France's biggest stars, Vincent Cassel and Lea Seydoux, to produce this lavish live-action version of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's classic fantasy story that has already served as the basis for two classic screen adaptations from Jean Cocteau and Disney. For those of you who somehow missed those, it tells the story of a beautiful young woman who agrees to become the prisoner of a ferocious beast in order to save her beloved father's life and eventually learns that there is more to him than his gruff exterior would suggest.

The Blackcoat's Daughter
Set on a nearly deserted prep school campus during winter break, the debut feature from writer/director Oz Perkins (son of Anthony Perkins) follows two students (Kiernan Shipka and Lucy Boynton) who have been left behind and a young woman (Emma Roberts) who has just left the hospital and is hitchhiking towards the school with a seemingly good-natured couple (James Remar and Lauren Holly). Needless to say, something is clearly amiss but what exactly it is and how it connects these seemingly unrelated characters is what gave audiences a start when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it was formerly known as “February”.

Goat
Co-written by David Gordon Green and based on the memoir by Brad Land, this harrowing drama follows a 19-year-old boy, who, following a brutal assault, pledges the college fraternity to which his older brother belongs. As the hazing rituals grow more and more dangerous, he finds himself reconsidering his loyalty to both his brother and his new-found allies. Directed by former documentarian Andrew Neel and co-starring Nick Jonas and James Franco, the film offers an eye-opening look at some of the more appalling aspects of masculinity in contemporary society.

Hunt For the Wilderpeople
From Taika Waititi, the writer-director-star of "What We Do In The Shadows," comes the comedic coming-of-age story of Ricky (Julian Dennison), an unruly orphan boy who is dropped off at a remote farm with the latest in a long string of foster parents, the cheerful Aunt Bella and the more taciturn Uncle Hec (Sam Neill). For a while, everything works out fine, but when a tragedy strikes that threatens to remove Ricky to another family, he and Uncle Hec take off into the bush and, thanks to a series of odd events, unexpectedly find themselves at the center of a nationwide manhunt. 

Life, Animated
Based on the memoir by Ron Suskind, this documentary tells the story of his autistic son Owen and how they still managed to communicate with each other utilizing characters and dialogue from Disney animated films that were the only thing that seemed to truly engage the boy. Mixing live-action and animation, the film shows  how Owen was able to utilize his responses to these films as a way to explore his own personal feelings while growing up, and to help him as he makes his first steps towards adulthood and independence.

Morris From America
Directed by Chad Hartigan (whose previous feature, "This is Martin Bonner," was part of the first Chicago Critics Film Festival), this crowd-pleasing comedy follows the adolescent misadventures of a 13-year-old American boy (Markees Christmas) growing up in Germany while living with his father (Craig Robinson). This film was a hit at this year's Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award and a Special Jury Award for Individual Performance for Robinson.

Trash Fire
In this super-dark comedy with horrific overtones from Richard Bates Jr. (whose "Excision" managed to make even the most dedicated genre buffs squirm in their seats), Adrien Grenier stars as an unpleasant young man who, to please his pregnant girlfriend (Angela Trimbur) and prove that he can be a reliable father figure, agrees to visit the estranged grandmother (Fionnula Flanagan) and sister (Annalynn McCord) that are his only living relatives. Although the two make the trip in order to allow him to bury the hatchet at last, they soon discover that family ties can choke as well as bind

American Fable
American Fable is a fairytale thriller set in the 1980s Midwest farm crisis about a courageous girl living in a dark and sometimes magical world. When 11-year-old Gitty discovers that her beloved father is hiding a wealthy man in her family’s silo in order to save their struggling farm, she befriends the captive in secret and quickly becomes trapped between protecting her family and her soul.

Another Evil
After encountering a ghost in his family’s vacation home, a modern artist and his wife hire an “industrial-grade exorcist” to get rid of the beings. But he soon realizes that ridding the home of evil won’t be as simple as it seems.

Contemporary Color
In the summer of 2015, legendary musician David Byrne staged an event at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center to celebrate the art of Color Guard: synchronized dance routines involving flags, rifles, and sabers. Recruiting performers that include the likes of Saint Vincent, Nelly Furtado, Ad-Rock, and Ira Glass to collaborate on original pieces with 10 color guard teams from across the US and Canada.

Dark Night
The lives of six strangers intersect at a suburban Cineplex where a massacre occurs.

Demon
A bridegroom is possessed by an unquiet spirit in the midst of his own wedding celebration, in this clever take on the Jewish legend of the dybbuk.

Disorder
Vincent is an ex-soldier with PTSD who is hired to protect the wife and child of a wealthy Lebanese businessman while he’s out of town. Despite the apparent tranquility on Maryland, Vincent perceives an external threat.

First Girl I Loved

With Dylan Gelula (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) in attendance.

Seventeen-year-old Anne just fell in love with Sasha, the most popular girl at her LA public high school. But when Anne tells her best friend Clifton—who has always harbored a secret crush—he does his best to get in the way.

The Fits
While training at the gym 11-year-old tomboy Toni becomes entranced with a dance troupe. As she struggles to fit in she finds herself caught up in danger as the group begins to suffer from fainting spells and other violent fits.

In a Valley of Violence

With Writer/Director Ti West in attendance!

A mysterious stranger, and a random act of violence drags a town of misfits and nitwits into the bloody crosshairs of revenge.

Into the Forest

With Director Patricia Rozema in attendance

In the not-too-distant future, two young women who live in a remote ancient forest discover the world around them is on the brink of an apocalypse. Informed only by rumor, they fight intruders, disease, loneliness and starvation.

Joshy

With Adam Pally in attendance

Josh treats what would have been his bachelor party as an opportunity to reconnect with his friends.

Little Men

With Writer/Director Ira Sachs in attendance!

A new pair of best friends have their bond tested by their parents’ battle over a dress shop lease.

Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World
Werner Herzog’s exploration of the Internet and the connected world.

My Blind Brother
The rivalry between two brothers reaches a fever pitch during a charity swim competition.

Nuts!
The mostly true story of Dr. John Romulus Brinkley, an eccentric genius who built an empire with his goat-testicle impotence cure and a million-watt radio station.

Operator

CLOSING NIGHT FILM!
With Martin Starr, Writer/Director Logan Kibens and Writer Sharon Greene in attendance!

Joe (Martin Starr) is a programmer and self-quantifier who uses the data he collects to make sense of the world and control his panic attacks. He and his wife Emily (Mae Whitman), a member of the Neo-Futurists, are happily married until they start working together on a project that promises to replicate Emily’s personality. What begins as a collaboration that strengthens their relationship quickly spirals into a technological love triangle in this dark comedy about love in the age of anxiety shot on location in Andersonville.

The Other Half
Nickie Bellow (Tom Cullen) is a self-destructive drifter, ever mourning the disappearance of his younger brother. Then he meets Emily (Tatiana Maslany) and the two form an immediate, inseparable bond – it is love at first sight deepened by a shared sense of sorrow. After a short amount of time, his PTSD and her bipolar disorder surface complicating their new-found intimacy. For Nickie and Emily, time does not heal all wounds, but could real love indeed conquer all?


For the most current details, along with information on the festival as a whole and a look back at previous years, please go to www.chicagocriticsfilmfestival.com


About The CFCA-
The CFCA has always been dedicated to supporting and celebrating quality filmmaking that has something to say about our world, our lives, and our society. In the past, while it supported and fought for the continued role of film critics in the media, the CFCA's primary public interaction was through the announcement of its annual film awards each December. In recent years, however, the CFCA moved aggressively to expand its presence on the Chicago arts scene and to promote critical thin king about cinema to a wider base. In 2012, in addition to re-launching a late-winter awards ceremony, CFCA members presented numerous film screenings at theaters like the Studio Movie Grill in Wheaton, and Muvico Theaters Rosemont 18 in Rosemont. Illinois. CFCA members also team-taught a new Young People's Film Criticism Workshop at Facets Multimedia that emphasized not just film analysis and criticism, but also writing skills to middle- and high-school students, many of whom were attending the course on lower-income scholarships. With this film festival, we intend to take the next step.

About The Music Box Theatre-
For the last two decades, the Music Box Theatre has been the premiere venue in Chicago for independent and foreign films. It currently has the largest theater 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.

Follow The Music Box Theatre on Instagram @musicboxchicago and Twitter @musicboxtheatre




Thursday, October 29, 2015

Chicago Comedy Film Festival: Killing Poe Film Premieres November 6th

What We're Watching: Killing Poe

Killing Poe is a full-length feature film that was shot in Chicago with mostly Chicago cast and crew. They will be celebrating their Chicago homecoming with a Premiere at the Chicago Comedy Film Festival on Nov 6th, with two SOLD OUT showings, 5:30 and 7PM. The Chicago and L.A. cast will be coming to the festival. Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we love to support our locals and Killing Poe features Chicago native producers, director, writers, actors, soundtrack artists, and crew! We can't wait to check it out. Keep an eye out for this one.



The film stars Matt Bush (ADVENTURELAND and THE GOLDBERGS), Osric Chau (SUPERNATURAL and THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS), Julianna Guill (CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE and A GIRLFRIENDS GUIDE TO DIVORCE), Cyrina Fiallo (GIRL MEETS WORLD and GOOD LUCK, CHARLIE), Sunkrish Bala (CASTLE and THE WALKING DEAD), and Rick Plastina (CHICAGO VERCOAT and HERO).



Friday, May 17, 2013

OPENING TODAY: Sightseers at Music Box #review #film #blackcomedy




Films on our radar.   Highly recommended.    
Sightseers Opens in Chicago Today, Friday, May 17th at The Music Box!


Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we caught a sneak peek at Sightseers and highly recommend it if you dig dark humor.   This welcome addition to the road trip killers genre ala Bonnie and Clide and Natural Born Killers follows a benign looking but lethal English couple on a cross country killing spree.



It's a charmingly cathartic wish fulfillment movie in that the couple kills anyone that annoys them.   I'm reminded of the Talking Heads line from Psycho Killer "...I hate people when they're not polite."   Who can say they've never fantasized about "accidentally" offing rude strangers.   Fortunately most of us stop far short of acting on those thoughts.  Still, the concept makes for a hilarious film.   

Amid the downright banality of a museum tour road trip to such winning locals as Crich Tramway Museum, the Ribblehead Viaduct, and the Keswick Pencil Museum, trigger tempered Chris inadvertently creates an avid disciple.   When Tina discovers her new beau is a psycho killer, instead of doing the sensible thing like fleeing and turning him in, she embraces his unfortunate habit and becomes a jealous, dognapping murderess herself, much to his chagrine.


The scariest thing about this film is the utter normality of the protagonists.   They could easily be the couple camped out next to you this summer.



  

A FILM BY BEN WHEATLEY STARRING ALICE LOWE, STEVE ORAM, EILEEN DAVIES

“A wicked little pic in which a tacky couple discovers that cross-country road-tripping makes it surprisingly easy -- and fun! -- to knock off the more obnoxious characters they encounter en route.”
–Peter Debruge, Variety


Fri, May 17
  2:15pm · 5:00pm · 7:15pm · 9:30pm
Sat, May 18
  2:15pm · 5:00pm · 7:15pm · 9:30pm
Sun, May 19
  2:15pm · 5:00pm · 7:15pm · 9:30pm
Mon, May 20
  5:00pm · 7:15pm · 9:30pm
Tue, May 21  
  5:00pm · 7:15pm · 9:30pm
Wed, May 22   
  5:00pm · 7:15pm · 9:30pm
Thu, May 23
  5:00pm · 7:15pm · 9:30pm



Music Box Says:


This week we’re opening Sightseers, the new film from director Ben Wheatley (Kill List). In this gleefully gory laugh riot, Chris wants to show girlfriend Tina his world, but events soon conspire against the couple and their dream caravan holiday takes a very wrong turn. Produced by Shaun Of The Dead creator Edgar Wright and co-written & starring members of The Mighty Boosh and Garth Merenghi’s Dark Place, this black comedy is not to be missed! Check out The Playlist’s 5 Reasons You Must See Sightseers

About the film
A pair of sad-sack lovers turns into a frumpy Bonnie and Clyde as their romantic getaway to the English countryside turns into a bloody killing spree.
Directed by Ben Wheatley (Kill List), Chris (Steve Oram) wants to show Tina (Alice Lowe) his world and he wants to do it his way - on a journey through the British Isles in his beloved Abbey Oxford Caravan. Tina's led a sheltered life and there are things that Chris needs her to see - the Crich Tramway Museum, the Ribblehead Viaduct, the Keswick Pencil Museum and the rolling countryside that accompanies these wonders in his life.

But it doesn't take long for the dream to fade. Litterbugs, noisy teenagers and pre-booked caravan sites, not to mention Tina's meddling mother, soon conspire to shatter Chris's dreams and send him, and anyone who rubs him up the wrong way, over a very jagged edge...

Dir. BEN WHEATLEY | English | 88m |

Film details.
What: Sightseers
Where: The Music Box Theatre
When: Opens Friday, May 17th


More at Music Box:
Our Orson Welles matinee series continues this weekend with The Trial. Welles and Anthony Perkins star in this gripping adaptation of Franz Kafka’s tale of a nightmarish totalitarian state. Given 4 stars by Roger Ebert, the Music Box is thrilled to give our patrons the rare chance to see this film on the big screen!
 
This weekend, cult classics come out at midnight. On Friday, it’s The Room, director/writer/“actor” Tommy Wiseau’s bizarre drama about love and betrayal (Purchase advance tickets now). Then, on Saturday night, it’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Grab a virgin kit and join the Midnight Madness shadow cast for a party that’s been going on for over 35 years (Purchase advance tickets now).


Monday, March 11, 2013

FILM OPENING & TICKET GIVEAWAY: The End of Love #review #giveaway



OPENING at Facets Multimedia, Chicago 
March 15th.   

ChiIL out with ChiIL Live Shows and win a pair of tickets to The End of Love showing of your choice here.   Click the Rafflecopter link below to enter through midnight 3/12.   Recommended for ages 15+ (MPAA RATING:  Not rated. Contains some strong language and mild drug content.)







We had a chance to check out a press preview of The End of Love and we were blown away by the poignant plot and genuine rapport of Mark Webber and his toddler son.  The fact that they have an actual father/son relationship and bond makes the characters realistic and the improvised dialogue natural in a way even a great script struggles to approach.  It's intriguing to me that Mark pulled this off without a crew, generally in single takes.  My husband's been in the film/TV industry for over 25 years as a location sound engineer, and I know what a behemoth behind the scenes production usually is!  Mark is on to something vital and dynamic with his hybrid reality show/art film genre.

The End of Love is a must see.  This film has beautiful camera work and deals with matters of life and death, the intensity, fear and exhaustion of being responsible for another little life, and conversely the pure creativity and silly joy that spending 24/7 with a toddler can bring.  It's tough to grieve and recover from the loss of a loved one, through death or even a break up, and far more so when you've got to mentally and physically keep it together for a child.  This is a tribute to that struggle; a coming of age story and a family love story unlike any other I've seen.   




When the mother of his two-year-old son suddenly passes away, down-on-his-luck actor Mark (filmmaker Mark Webber) is forced to confront his shortcomings. He can no longer avoid his responsibilities, but he continues to cope with his reluctance to mature, struggling with the demands of being a single father. When he has a meaningful encounter with a young mother, Mark is no longer able to live in the comfort of denial, as this relationship offers not only a reprieve from loneliness, but a glimmer of hope for the future as well.

The End of Love is an intimate and honest slice-of-life portrait of a father and son (played by Webber's real life son, Isaac) in transition. This semiautobiographical drama is an achingly honest portrait which tells a story about the universal pain of loss and the courage it takes to change. With Michael Cera, Amanda Seyfried and Aubrey Plaza.

Directed by Mark Webber, U. S.A., 2012, 90 mins.

Onion AV Club     Los Angeles Times     RogerEbert.com            




Facets Showtimes:
Fri., Mar. 15 at 7 & 9 pm
Sat., Mar. 16 at 3, 5, 7 & 9 pm
Sun., Mar. 17 at 1. 3, 5 & 7 pm
Mon.-Thurs., Mar.18-21 at 7 & 9 pm   



NOMINATED
Grand Jury Prize
for Dramatic Feature
Sundance Film Fest



"The threat [of economic collapse] is brought home by the extraordinary intimacy and tenderness with which The End Of Love captures the relationship between father and son"
  -Onion AV Club

"Exceptionally intimate... Told in a loose, surprisingly involving cinema verité style, the film is as successful depicting the smallest daily routines between parent and child...as it is at portraying life's more overwhelming moments"
  -Los Angeles Times


 "The End of Love excels at conveying the moment-to-moment frustrations and exhilarations of being a dad"
  -TimeOut NY


"The End of Love connects and lingers by making incredible effort seem natural"
  -RogerEbert.com

DIRECTED BY Mark Webber

STARRING
Mark Webber (Save the Date, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World), Shannyn Sossamon (Rules of Attraction, 40 Days & 40 Nights)

Michael Cera (Juno, Superbad, Arrested Development), Jason Ritter (Parenthood) Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia, Chloe), Aubrey Plaza (Parks & Recreation, Safety Not Guaranteed)

When the mother of his two year old son Isaac suddenly passes away, struggling actor Mark (played by writer/director Mark Webber) is forced to grapple with his ability to grow up.

 

As he kindles a relationship with a young single mother (Shannyn Sossamon, 40 Days and 40 Nights), he begins to realize that he can no longer remain in denial about the real life consequences his choices have on Isaac (played by Webber’s real life son to phenomenal affect).   


Set against the backdrop of Los Angeles, The End of Love is an intimate and stunningly honest portrait of a young father in transition between the life he’s been working for and the one that’s waiting for him.

A Here Now Production
in association with
Poor Rich Kids



DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT


I starting writing The End of Love right after the relationship with my son's mother was coming to an end.   My son was a year old at the time. My passion for making another film was reaching a fever point.   I've always been obsessed with realism in film, and I knew my next project needed to explore that obsession.

It hit me suddenly: why not take what I was going through in my life and use that to build a character and create an ultimate situation where I could live in character for the duration of the shoot.  I never had a father growing up, and I myself at the time was a brand new dad.  One night playing with my son, the story of The End of Love was born.


I rehearsed with my cinematographer Patrice Cochet on how we could film the movie in a way that would not obstruct the real life moments happening.  He came over and played with my son and me for a full month before we even got started.   



The filming was very experimental in nature. It is mostly shot in real time utilizing just single takes.   

We had no crew.


Patrice and I got to the point of being so in synch with one another, I would make a small gesture or glance and 
he knew where to move the camera. 
In this day and age where millions of people are tuning into reality television, I hope audiences will connect with my cinematic version. In so many ways as an artist, my work is a reflection and reaction to what I'm experiencing in my life. I love leaving a film where I felt a connection with its characters, where I feel I have related somehow, and I believe The End of Love successfully blurs the line between reality and fiction in a way where the raw emotion is so easy to tap into.

It's been a huge eye opening journey for me, and I hope you enjoy the film as much as I do. 


Thank you.

MW


Wednesday, December 26, 2012

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING: MUSIC BOX ROCKS #ChiILpicks



Tis the season for fabulous films and music and Music Box Theatre makes our ChiILpicks List as one of the city's best.   We adore the vintage decor, and their excellent lineup.   The Music Box is brimming with fam friendly sing alongs, Oscar winning classics, and new release international, indie and art films.  



Music Box & The Stage
In 2012 we caught a number of The National Theatre of Great Britain's excellent live theatre productions, filmed and shown around the world, like Frankenstein staring dual Sherlocks (Benedict Cumberbatch from the BBC revival and Jonny Lee Miller from Elementary).   Check out our review here.  And more of our past coverage here.

Live theatre on film is an acquired taste, and many film critics dislike the genre, but theatre people are flocking to the shows.   Folks dress up for the films, more like a night out at a Broadway in Chicago show, and applaud like a live performance.   We think they're a hoot, and relish the opportunity to see world renowned stars on stage without a pricy flight across the ocean!   We hit up press previews of most of Music Box's National Theatre offerings.   The Last of The Haussmans, and Timon of Athens which we had just seen live at Chicago Shakespeare, were some of our favs pf 2012.   Keep an eye out for more in 2013.   Highly recommended.


A FILM BY HOWARD DAVIES STARRING JULIE WALTERS, RORY KINNEAR, AND HELEN MCCRORY

Presented by National Theatre Live



Julie Walters plays Judy Haussman with Rory Kinnear and Helen McCrory as her children in this eagerly-anticipated new play: a funny, touching and sometimes savage portrait of a family that’s losing its grip.
Anarchic, feisty but growing old, high society drop-out Judy Haussman remains in spirit with the Ashrams of the 1960s while holding court in her dilapidated Art Deco house on the Devon coast. After an operation, she’s joined by wayward offspring Nick and Libby, sharp-eyed granddaughter Summer, local doctor Peter, and Daniel, a troubled teenager who makes use of the family’s crumbling swimming pool. Together they share a few sweltering months in this chaotic world of all-day drinking, infatuations, long-held resentments, free love and failure.
One of Britain’s best-loved and most versatile actors, Julie Walters has wonBAFTA, Golden Globe and Olivier Awards for her work. Her screen credits range from Educating Rita to celebrated work with Victoria Wood, from lead roles in the movies of Mamma Mia! and Harry Potter to portraying Mo Mowlam for Channel 4.
Rory Kinnear recently won the Evening Standard Award for Best Actor for his performance as Hamlet at the National Theatre. Helen McCrory’s acclaimed work includes the films The Queen and, recently, Hugo.



A FILM BY NICHOLAS HYTNER STARRING SIMON RUSSELL BEALE, PAUL DODDS, AND NICK SAMPSON

Simon Russell Beale takes the title role in Shakespeare’s strange fable of consumption, debt and ruin, written in collaboration with Thomas Middleton.
“A perfect parable for our times in Nicholas Hytner’s exhilarating production featuring a compelling central performance by Simon Russell Beale.”

The Guardian
The National Theatre’s acclaimed contemporary staging of Shakespeare’s strange fable, set against a backdrop of modern-day London where money is power, has enjoyed a sell-out run at the theatre.
Wealthy friend to the rich and powerful, patron of the arts and ostentatious host, Timon of Athens suddenly finds his coffers empty. When he calls for upon his friends for help, they hang him out to dry. So begins Shakespeare’s strange fable of conspicuous consumption, debt and ruin.
Simon Russell Beale, who has been described by the Independent as ‘the greatest stage actor of his generation,’ takes the title role in Nicholas Hytner’s (HamletOne Man, Two Guvnors) bold production, which makes Timon of Athens more relevant and compelling than ever before.










HOLLYWOOD LEGEND CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER DELIVERS AN OSCAR-WORTHY PERFORMANCE AS HOLLYWOOD LEGEND JOHN BARRYMORE IN THE CAPTURED-LIVE STAGE PRODUCTION BARRYMORE
One showing, Thursday, December 27, 7:30pm at Music Box Theatre

We had the great pleasure of catching a press preview and were blown away by Christopher Plummer's Barrymore.   We've been giving you the heads up on this one on our FB and Twitter feeds since the first week of December.   Check back January 10th to see if rumors of Oscar nominations for this film come true and absolutely catch it if you can.


BARRYMORE, a captured-live stage production, stars Academy Award winner Christopher Plummer as American acting legend John Barrymore. In a career defining performance, Plummer (as Barrymore) reckons with the ravages of his life of excess while rehearsing a revival of his 1920 Broadway triumph in Richard III

Music Box is pleased to offer BARRYMORE, plus "making of" documentary BACKSTAGE WITH BARRYMORE featuring Helen Mirren, Julie Andrews and Zoe Caldwell, on Thursday, December 27, 7:30 p.m. at Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave. www.musicboxtheatre.com/events/barrymore-2012-12-27-730-pm

BARRYMORE, based on the 1997 Broadway production, is set in 1942, and follows acclaimed American actor John Barrymore, a member of one of Hollywood’s most well-known theatrical dynasties, as he rehearses the Shakespearean triumph that made him a household name, Richard III. The film finds Barrymore in his faded glory reckoning with the ravages of his life of excess, only months before his premature death. The film is directed and written by Érik Canuel, based on the play by William Luce.

Barrymore is played by Academy Award winner and master thespian Christopher Plummer, reprising his 1997 Tony Award-winning role. His nuanced performance has earned him rave reviews and, for a film that didn’t find a distributor after its World Premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival, talk of a third Academy Award nomination, and more importantly, a nomination for Best Actor after three nominations and one win for Best Supporting Actor. Could this staged one-man play, where Plummer chews the scenery for the entirety of its running time, get him that nomination? 

“I’m all but convinced he has the Oscar in the bag,” Hollywood Elsewhere critic Jeff Wells exclaimed after seeing it. 

David Edelstein of New York Magazine says, “God, I love Plummer’s performance — the twiddling fingers, the tipsy sway of the head, the reverberating roar, as well as the pathos of a man who can’t stop acting long enough to hear the cry of his own soul.”

There is a precedent for plays on film getting Academy love.  A 1965 filmed version of Britain’s National Theatre presentation of Othello earned acting nominations for its cast. In 1975, James Whitmore was nominated in the Best Actor category for the production of his one-man show Give ’Em Hell, Harry!

The December 27 showing includes a ”making of” documentary, Backstage with Barrymore, featuring Helen MirrenJulie Andrews, and Zoe Caldwell.  Total running time of the film (84m) plus the documentary (45m) is 129 minutes.

Barrymore
Starring Christopher Plummer, directed and written by Érik Canuel, based on the play by William Luce. In English, 129 minutes.


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 

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