CHIRP is building an Associate Board for young professionals 35 & under. Interested? Please fill out this form.
The CHIRP Blog
KSanders writesScenes from the 2016 Chicago International Film Festival
by Kyle Sanders
Every year, it's a guessing game. Those eyes--those wide, darkened pupils--belong to someone but I can't figure it out who. Do they belong to Bridgette Bardot? Catherine Deneuve? Marlene Dietrich? Or how about Jeanne Moreau? Giuletta Masina? Anna Magnani? The longer I stare, the more impatient my questions become: WHO'S EYES DO YOU BELONG TO? WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN? WHAT STORIES CAN YOU TELL?!
In case I've completely lost you, I'm referring to the eyes that have become synonymous with the Chicago International Film Festival, an annual celebration of foreign film that was held at the AMC River East Theater in downtown Chicago October 17th through the 27th. The festival's alluring logo features a set of soft, mesmerizing eyes belonging to a feminine black and white shape.
This set of eyes suggests to hold plenty of life experiences, such as love, hope, and desire, much like my own eyes or even yours. It's why I come to this event every year--to see these familiar stories told from another set of eyes in a different world unlike my own.
I have seen a lot of movies, more so than the average movie enthusiast. I own a book entitled 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, and so far I've seen 700 of those titles (plus hundreds of others not included on that list), and at least half of them have been foreign films. Within the past ten years, I've become comfortably acquainted with the likes of Akira Kurosawa, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Michael Powell, Satyajit Ray, Agnes Varda, Peter Weir, Andrei Tarkovsky, Pedro Almodovar, Michelangelo Antonioni, Yasujiro Ozu, Jean-Luc Godard, and countless others.
While I feel like I've reached the point of desensitization, I still yearn to find a film that will enthrall me, leave me motionless in my seat as the end credits roll, numb to the visceral feeling I've just experienced. The CIFF is where I come to fulfill such hopes, and more often than not, that mission is accomplished. The best part about the CIFF is the audience: film lovers young and old (mostly old) who talk about nothing other than their love of film, conversations that rattle on 450 words per minute. Yes, the extensive ramblings of the film lover can sometimes be tedious and annoying, but one thing is for certain: they know to shut the hell up once the movie starts rolling, and remain silent until the lights go up.
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writes@CHIRPRADIO (Week of October 31)
Upcoming Events
- Sunday, Nov. 6 : CHIRP Radio welcomes Hiss Golden Messenger to the Old Town School of Folk Music
New Media
- The Friday MP3 Shuffle Says Happy Birthday to Desmond Child
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesFriday MP3 Shuffle: Happy Birthday Desmond Child Edition
(photo from songwriteruniverse.com)
Today on the MP3 Shuffle, we celebrate the birthday of songwriter extraordinaire Desmond Child. According to Wikipedia, he’s the son of a Hungarian aristocrat and a Cuban singer, which is pretty cool in itself. But he’s also made a name for himself penning hit songs for a bunch of popular hard Rock bands including KISS (“I Was Made for Loving You”), Bon Jovi (“You Give Love a Bad Name”), Aerosmith (“Dude [Looks Like a Lady]”), and even Ricky Martin (“Livin' la Vida Loca”). If you were listening to a commercial Rock station in the late ‘80s, you were hearing this man’s words on a regular basis.
To mark this prolific artist’s accomplishments, let’s play the shuffle. Hold your MP3 player high, press the shuffle button, and share the first 10 songs that play:
SKaiser writes@CHIRPRADIO (Week of October 24)
UPCOMING EVENTS
Join us for CHIRP Night at the Whistler (2421 N Milwaukee) tomorrow, Wednesday October 26th, with Iverson and Boycut! | 8:30 PM | No Cover | 21+
NEW MEDIA
A conversation with BESTMAN and Amelia Hruby
Lady Amelia writesA Conversation With BESTMAN
BESTMAN is the synthpop project of local artist Brian Clouthier. CHIRP volunteer Amelia Hruby caught up with Brian after the release of his new EP BIG SKY.
Amelia: Tell me how you started BESTMAN.
Brian: I started about three years ago. I had been playing in bands in Chicago and met a lot of really cool people, but I felt that I still needed a creative outlet of my own.
Around that time my best friend moved to California with his fiancé who was another one of my really close friends, and I was kind of bummed about it, because we had been close for a long time. So when he asked me to be the best man in his wedding, I took a trip out there. I had only been to California one time before, and I stayed in the Valley the entire time and just thought it was miserable. It totally validated my “I’m a Chicago guy” kind of thing, and I really didn’t understand the romance of the West Coast. But when I went out there to throw his bachelor party, we went to Malibu and Venice and down the coast, hiking in the canyons, and I finally got it.
I came home really inspired to make music that would melt the blue-collar aspect of the Midwest and Chicago and the rock music I had been playing for a long time with this new Cali-electro sound that had started to draw me in.