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Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesTONIGHT! ‘Urgh! A Music War” at The Music Box Theatre!
On Monday Night CHIRP Radio and the Chicago Film Society present a very rare and special screening of the 1981 motion picture Urgh! A Music War at the Music Box Theatre (3733 N. Southport Ave. 60613). It's not just a movie, but a performance experience of 26 bands that helped define the New Wave era, including Devo, Echo & the Bunnymen, X, 999, Klaus Nomi, Au Pairs, Oingo Boingo, UB40, The Cramps, The Go Go's, Gary Numan, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, and XTC. The '80s never left, they've just been waiting for moments like this. You can buy tickets here.
KSanders writesOscar Night Special: All the 2017 Best Picture Nominees Reviewed
by Kyle Sanders
Lights, camera, Oscars! It's time for the 90th Annual Academy Awards, highlighting and celebrating the best films 2017 had to offer. This year's nominees range from basketball legend Kobe Bryant to Mother of French New Wave Agnes Varda, and feature a diverse Best Director category, a first time nomination for a woman in Best Cinematography, and a record-breaking 21st nomination for Meryl Streep, the most nominated actor in the Academy's history.
And this year's list of Best Picture nominees is no different, representing a multitude of different genres and directed by a varied group of talented filmmakers. This year, I accomplished a goal I had previously been unable to complete: seeing ALL Best Picture nominees prior to the telecast. For those of you not as awesome as me, here's a rundown of all Best Picture contenders to catch you up before the awards are handed out!
Call Me By Your Name (aka The Sensitive Film)
Like its predecessor, Call Me By Your Name draws comparisons to Brokeback Mountain, as it is a literary adaptation about a budding romance between two men that screams Oscar gold. Substituting the cold Wyoming wilderness for the sweltering summer heat of Italy, Luca Guadagnino's direction highlights the palpable attraction between teenager Emilio and grad student Oliver, beginning as a friendship that gradually builds into something much more. The chemistry between Best Actor nominee Timothee Chalamat and co-star Armie Hammer is almost as smoldering as the sun drenched Italian countryside and the subject matter never falters into tragedy. The melancholic mood is set by the dreamy soundtrack composed by Sufjan Stevens (who scored a much deserved Best Original Song nomination). Like Brokeback Mountain, the tender love story is anchored well with the lead performances, but the "ick factor" regarding the forbidden love between a man and a teenage boy could hinder the film's chances of winning.
KSanders writesReview: The 53rd Annual Chicago International Film Festival
by Kyle Sanders
Bonjour, my fellow CHIRPers! As we close out the month of October by dressing in costume and raising the dead, we also bid adieu to another year of foreign film viewing at the 53rd annual Chicago International Film Festival! This is my second year reviewing the fest for CHIRP, and this year did not disappoint! From big screen debuts to reflective re-releases, this year's crop of celluloid offered a little something for everyone.
There were special presentations of upcoming mainstream films such as Guillermo Del Toro's fanciful The Shape of Water and Reginald Hudlin's biopic Marshall. Audiences also got a peek at The Square (this year's winner of the Palm d'Or at Cannes) and Call Me By Your Name, both of which are considered early Oscar contenders. There were special tributes to acclaimed performers Vanessa Redgrave, Patrick Stewart, and Alfre Woodard thrown in as well. Finally, there was the presentation of awards, and this year's Golden Hugo award went to the Argentinian film A Sort of Family. All high-profile events were eagerly anticipated, and all the above events I was--naturally--unable to get into (damn you, expensive passes!).
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesThe Fourth Wall: The Ides of March
[Welcome to the Fourth Wall, CHIRP's weekly e-conversation on cinema. This week's subject is the film The Ides of March. This edition is written by CHIRP Radio volunteers Kevin Fullam and Clarence Ewing.]
Clarence: Kevin, after watching The Ides of March, I want to ask you about two of the bigger names in Hollywood in 2017.
First, a summary: Based on the novel Farragut North, the movie stars Ryan Gosling as Stephen Meyers, a hard-charging campaign manager who is working for Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney, who also directed, co-wrote, and co-produced the film). Morris wants the Democratic party nomination for the upcoming presidential election but, as is made clear several times, he is a Man of Integrity who will not compromise his principles to win any election.
Meyers and his senior campaign manager Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman) are locked in a metaphorical chess match with Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti), the campaign guru of Morris’ main opponent, to see who can collect the last batch of delegates needed to get their guy a shot at the White House. As events unfold, loyalties are tested and secrets revealed in a way that addresses the question, how far are you willing to go to get what you want?
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesThe Fourth Wall: Song to Song
[Welcome to the Fourth Wall, CHIRP's weekly e-conversation on cinema. This week's subject is the Terrence Malick film Song to Song. This edition is written by CHIRP Radio volunteers Kevin Fullam and Clarence Ewing.]
Kevin: Music reviews have never done much for me. Besides the fact that I find music to be a much more subjective art form than, say, narrative fiction, I simply have a hard time translating a paragraph or three about an album into an actual sound. Let me have a listen, and within a couple of minutes, I'll know whether I want to hear more.
Why am I mentioning this? Because I view Terrence Malick's last few films in the same light, from the acclaimed The Tree of Life (2011) to the new Song To Song. One knows early on whether Malick's style is for them, and I don't think it's possible for me to do his brand justice via print. His recent works all share an ephemeral quality which has polarized audiences and critics alike, featuring scenes that seem to have no clearly-defined beginning or end, oodles of internal monologues, and a dearth of exposition. (You'd think the monologues would actually translate into more exposition, but the voice-overs don't have much to do with the actual action on screen; more often, they're ruminations on life in general.)
Quick recap: BV (Ryan Gosling) and Faye (Rooney Mara) are budding singer/songwriters in Austin, Texas, where they're embroiled in a love triangle with big-time producer Cook (Michael Fassbender). The three pick up new significant others of varying durations, reflect on their aspirations and regrets, and bump into real-life celebs (including Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, and Val Kilmer, among others) along the way.