Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Film No One's Pardoning These Turkeys
Posted by J.R. Jones on Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 3:29 PM
Tomorrow is a day of thanks, so when your annoying old uncle asks if you want to head out to the local multiplex to see Old Dogs or Ninja Assassin, don't say no—say "no, thank you." Andrea Gronvall calls Old Dogs, a comedy with Robin Williams and John Travolta, "a total train wreck." And I can tell you from bitter personal experience that Ninja Assassin is a punishment worse than grandma's halitosis.
No, the movie you want to see is Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox, a wonderfully droll stop-motion animation based on a book by Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Or, if you think grandma can hack it, John HIllcoat's harrowing adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Or, if you feel like hacking up grandma, John Woo's 3rd-century battle epic Red Cliff.
If you can hold out until Friday, the Music Box presents its annual engagement of The Sound of Music, captioned for audience sing-along. And if you're still catching up, here are my favorite commercial releases from the past couple months that are still in theaters: Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, La Danse—The Paris Opera Ballet, An Education, Good Hair, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, and Where the Wild Things Are.
Showing 1-1 of 1
How long does it take to make a movie? Six months in pre-production? Six weeks’ shooting? Six years for a writer to dream it all up in the first place? How about 30 days? That’s the challenge a group of three young L.A. filmmakers have set themselves. Their aim is to make a 90 minute feature film – from initial concept to production – in just one month. Start date, November 20th, 2009. Here is their website that is documenting their progress day by day. http://www.30dayfeaturefilmchallenge.com - check out the current dream team in just 8 days. Challenge yourself, JOIN THEM!!!
Latest in The Blog
-
Too New to Review: Prairie Fire, Leo's Coney Island, the Southern, Revolution Brewing Company, and More
Prairie Fire, Leo's Coney Island of Chicago, the Southern, and other restaurants too new to review.
- Feb 8, 2010
-
Fewer Shoes on the North Side
Times are tough for shoe stores too.
- Feb 8, 2010
-
When Golden Earring Were Good
Wait, Golden Earring was good?
- Feb 8, 2010
- More»
Author Archives
-
This Week's Movie Action
New movie reviews in this week's Chicago Reader.
- Dec 11, 2009
-
This Week's Movie Action
New movie reviews in this week's Chicago Reader.
- Jan 28, 2010
-
Daddy Dourest
Jonathan Rosenbaum reviews a memoir by Chris Welles Feder about her father, film director Orson Welles.
- Nov 16, 2009
- More»
Top Commenters
Comments (1) RSS