a

• Absinthe A 2010 documentary about the hallucinogenic alcoholic beverage. Christopher Buddy directed. In English and subtitled French. Alliance Francaise
• American Pie Another giggly gross-out comedy for teenagers (1999), this one somewhat better than most by virtue of a more satisfying ending. Four horny high school seniors … the Vic
• American Reunion The American Pie franchise returns after a nine-year hiatus to answer such haunting questions as "Can love survive the ravages of time?" and "What household … the Vic
• Recommended
  The Artist French director Michel Hazanavicius takes a break from his OSS 117 spy spoofs to pay loving tribute to the silent cinema, re-creating its luminous black-and-white … Century 12 and CineArts 6
• New
  The Avengers 3D Marvel Studios unveils its costliest special-effects demo to date; somewhere beneath the nonstop digital explosions lies a story about superheroes fighting an evil demigod from … 600 N. Michigan, Century 12 and CineArts 6, Cicero Showplace 14, City North 14, Crown Village 18, Ford City, Lake, River East 21, Showplace 14 Galewood Crossings, Showplace ICON and Webster Place 11
• New
  The Avengers: An IMAX 3D Experience Marvel Studios unveils its costliest special-effects demo to date; somewhere beneath the nonstop digital explosions lies a story about superheroes fighting an evil demigod from … Crown Village 18
• New
  The Avengers Marvel Studios unveils its costliest special-effects demo to date; somewhere beneath the nonstop digital explosions lies a story about superheroes fighting an evil demigod from … 600 N. Michigan, Century 12 and CineArts 6, Chatham 14, Cicero Showplace 14, City North 14, Crown Village 18, Davis, Ford City, Lake, Lawndale 10, New 400, River East 21, Showplace 14 Galewood Crossings, Showplace ICON, Webster Place 11 and Wilmette

b

• Bailout Sean Fahey directed this documentary, which uses the story of a man who walked away from his mortgage to frame an investigation of the 2008 … Music Box
• New
  Battleship Here's a tough assignment for any self-respecting director: a Transformers knock-off, board-game adaptation, and military recruitment film all rolled into one. Peter Berg (Hancock, Friday … 600 N. Michigan, Century 12 and CineArts 6, Cicero Showplace 14, City North 14, Crown Village 18, Davis, Ford City, Lake, River East 21, Showplace 14 Galewood Crossings, Showplace ICON and Webster Place 11
• A Beautiful Soul This Greek documentary (2011) looks at women who experienced difficult pregnancies after being poorly advised by their doctors. Vivi Zografou directed. In Greek with subtitles. Ford City
• Recommended New
  Bernie Richard Linklater messes with Texas again, seeking comic inspiration from his home state for the first time since Dazed and Confused (1993). His source material … Century 12 and CineArts 6 and Landmark's Century Centre
• New
  The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel An assortment of aging Brits (Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Penelope Wilton, Celia Imrie) respond to an advertisement for a luxurious retirement … Century 12 and CineArts 6, Crown Village 18, Lake, Landmark's Century Centre, River East 21 and Showplace ICON
• Bolshoi Ballet - The Bright Stream Wilmette
• Born to Be Wild 3D A large-format nature documentary, directed by David Lickley and narrated by Morgan Freeman. Navy Pier IMAX
• New
  Bound for Glory Hal Ashby's 1976 biography of Woody Guthrie begins well, with some wonderfully aimless footage of life in the Dust Bowl, and builds detail as Guthrie … Portage Theater
• The Bright Stream: Bolshoi Ballet - Encore Wilmette
• Bully Children have always been bullied at school, but they haven't always been bullied so badly that they go home and hang themselves. For this well-meaning … Crown Village 18 and River East 21

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• The Cabin in the Woods Sort of a postmodern Scooby-Doo, this horror flick by Buffy the Vampire Slayer collaborators Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard cuts between a familiar story of … Century 12 and CineArts 6, Chatham 14, Davis, Ford City, Logan, Showplace 14 Galewood Crossings and Showplace ICON
• The Captain Hates the Sea Silent star John Gilbert, whose career collapsed in the talkie era, had his last role in this 1934 comedy from Universal, as a drunken newspaperman … Portage Theater
• Chimpanzee A three-year-old chimpanzee is adopted by an older male in this Disney nature documentary. Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield directed, and Tim Allen provides voice-over … Century 12 and CineArts 6, Cicero Showplace 14, Crown Village 18, Logan and River East 21

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• New
  Dark Shadows Tim Burton is like a billionaire fanboy who buys Bela Lugosi's Dracula cape: he has a perfect right to it, but that doesn't mean it … 600 N. Michigan, Century 12 and CineArts 6, Chatham 14, Cicero Showplace 14, Crown Village 18, Davis, Ford City, Lake, New 400, River East 21, Showplace 14 Galewood Crossings, Showplace ICON and Webster Place 11
• New
  Dark Shadows: The IMAX Experience Tim Burton is like a billionaire fanboy who buys Bela Lugosi's Dracula cape: he has a perfect right to it, but that doesn't mean it … Crown Village 18 and Navy Pier IMAX
• New
  The Dictator Now that Sacha Baron Cohen is too famous to get away with the hit-and-run pranks of Borat or Da Ali G Show, he's just another … 600 N. Michigan, Century 12 and CineArts 6, Chatham 14, Cicero Showplace 14, Crown Village 18, Ford City, Lake, Lawndale 10, River East 21, Showplace 14 Galewood Crossings, Showplace ICON and Webster Place 11
• Dirty Pictures Alexander Shulgin, the chemist behind over 200 psychedelic compounds—including MDMA, better known as ecstasy—is the subject of this 2010 documentary. Étienne Sauret directed. Portage Theater

e

• Erik the Viking Monty Python member Terry Jones wrote and directed this comic Viking saga (1989), which includes a voyage to the edge of the world and an … Univ. of Chicago Doc Films

f

• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Hunter S. Thompson's 1971 account of taking drugs and behaving like an asshole in Las Vegas yields a singularly unpleasant 1998 feature from writer-director Terry … Univ. of Chicago Doc Films
• First Position Six ballerinas between the ages of 10 and 17 prepare for the Youth America Grand Prix, a competition that awards scholarships to ballet schools around … Landmark's Century Centre
• New
  The Five-Year Engagement Jason Segel is the ideal rom-com star for women who find Woody Allen too macho. In movies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Bad Teacher, and now … 600 N. Michigan, Century 12 and CineArts 6, City North 14, Crown Village 18, Lake, River East 21, Showplace 14 Galewood Crossings, Showplace ICON and Webster Place 11

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• Gerhard Richter Painting Shot mainly in 2008 and 2009, this video documentary shows the German artist preparing exhibitions of his work, conversing with colleagues, and, of course, painting. … Gene Siskel Film Center
• Girl in Progress A mother and daughter find themselves at a crossroads in this coming-of-age comedy from director Patricia Riggen. With Eva Mendes, Cierra Ramirez and Patricia Arquette. Century 12 and CineArts 6, Cicero Showplace 14, Crown Village 18, Ford City, River East 21, Showplace 14 Galewood Crossings and Showplace ICON
• Recommended New
  God Bless America In Bobcat Goldthwait's blacker-than-black comedy, a potbellied everyman (Joel Murray) learns that he's terminally ill and, assisted by an alienated high schooler (Tara Lynne Barr), … Landmark's Century Centre
• Recommended
  The Golden Coach Essential viewing. Anna Magnani plays the head of a commedia dell'arte troupe touring colonial Peru in the early 18th century who dallies with three lovers … Univ. of Chicago Doc Films
• Free
  The Great Lie Bette Davis stars in this 1941 melodrama, as a woman who marries, loses her husband in a plane crash, and then discovers that another woman … Northbrook Public Library
• Grindhouse Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's celebration of 70s-style sleaze, 191 minutes long including a short intermission, seems ideally suited for gleeful, mean-spirited 11-year-old boys who … Univ. of Chicago Doc Films
• Götterdämmerung: Met Opera Ring Cycle Encore Century 12 and CineArts 6, River East 21 and Showplace ICON

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• New
  Headhunters A corporate job recruiter who doubles as an art thief faces a series of life-or-death situations after a rival criminal frames him for murder. This … Landmark's Century Centre
• Recommended
  Hedwig and the Angry Inch Hedwig (John Cameron Mitchell), whose halfhearted, half-assed sex change at least got her out of Berlin, fronts the Angry Inch, an obscure rock band playing … Landmark's Century Centre
• The Hunger Games Adapted from the popular young-adult novel, this sci-fi fantasy concerns two dozen teenage gladiators fighting each other to the death as part of a televised … 600 N. Michigan, Century 12 and CineArts 6, Chatham 14, City North 14, Crown Village 18, Davis, Ford City, Lawndale 10, River East 21, Showplace 14 Galewood Crossings, Showplace ICON and Webster Place 11

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• Recommended New
  In the Family Patrick Wang's moving debut feature appropriates the story arc of a courtroom drama, but the law turns out to be less pivotal than such old-fashioned … Wilmette
• Free
  Indie Incubator Film Fest Filmmakers Matt Kubinski and Charles Klein host this two-hour program of independent shorts, trailers, and music videos. the Original Mother's

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• Jiro Dreams of Sushi Like other culinary documentaries (Kings of Pastry, El Bulli: Cooking in Progress, Three Stars), this film by David Gelb combines food porn with hagiography of … Landmark's Century Centre
• Journey 2: The Mysterious Island The Rock (aka Dwayne Johnston) plays the babysitter of two adventurers in this sequel directed by Brad Peyton. Logan

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• Recommended
  The Kid With a Bike Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne—the French brothers who wrote and directed La Promesse (1996), Rosetta (1999), The Son (2002), L'Enfant (2005), and Lorna's Silence (2008)—often come … Beverly Arts Center and Univ. of Chicago Doc Films
• New Free
  The Killing Floor Originally broadcast on the PBS series American Playhouse, this creaky 1984 drama follows a young black husband and father from the south (Damien Leake) as … Univ. of Chicago Film Studies Center

l

• Legendary Milt Trenier & Company: Live in Concert Wilmette
• New
  The List This informative documentary calls attention to the tens of thousands of Iraqis currently targeted by extremists in their own land for having assisted reconstruction efforts … Gene Siskel Film Center
• The Lorax Hypocrisy on an epic scale, this computer-animated feature turns the Dr. Seuss classic about corporate greed into a multimillion-dollar toy commercial. The movie pays lip … Chatham 14 and the Vic
• New
  The Lucky One Adapted from a novel by Nicholas Sparks, this soft-core romance touches on the Iraq war, but any topical relevance is incidental to the formulaic torrid … 600 N. Michigan, Crown Village 18 and River East 21
• Recommended
  Lust for Life Vincente Minnelli's 1956 biography of Vincent van Gogh, adapted from the Irving Stone book. Basing his mise-en-scene on the colors of van Gogh's paintings, Minnelli … Gene Siskel Film Center

m

• Free
  Maniac Low-budget horror (1934) from exploitation director Dwain Esper, about a lunatic who assumes the identity of a mad doctor he murders. Delilah's
• New
  Mansome One can't really call this a documentary, or even a movie for that matter: it looks like any number of the pop-culture gabfests on VH1, … River East 21
• The Metropolitan Opera: Götterdämmerung - Encore River East 21 and Webster Place 11
• The Metropolitan Opera: Siegfried Encore City North 14, River East 21 and Webster Place 11
• Free
  Mindwarp In this futuristic sci-fi adventure (1992), a young woman rebels against the hermetically sealed world known as Inworld and discovers that Outworld is filled with … Delilah's
• Recommended
  Mirror Mirror Reviewing Tarsem Singh's grisly sword-and-sandal epic Immortals (2011), I took a stab at prognostication and described him as "a talented and eccentric visual artist with … Showplace 14 Galewood Crossings
• Recommended
  Monsieur Lazhar In this French Canadian feature by Philippe Falardeau, a standard liberal tale about an inspirational teacher gradually deepens into a quiet study of how grief … Music Box and Wilmette
• New
  The Moth Diaries The claustrophobic setting—a strict boarding school for girls—enhances the gothic overtones and lesbian undertones of this Canadian vampire chiller (2011). The 16-year-old heroine (Sarah Bolger), … Gene Siskel Film Center
• Recommended
  The Mother and the Whore A major work, not because of its exhausting length (217 minutes) or the audacity, brilliance, and total originality of its language, but because of writer-editor-director … Northwestern University Block Museum of Art

n

• Free
  The Nanny A little boy begins to believe that his governess is responsible for a series of child murders. Bette Davis, in her late, self-parodying manner, is … Northbrook Public Library
• The New World No important American filmmaker in recent years has divided audiences more than writer-director Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line), and his fourth feature in 35 … Univ. of Chicago Doc Films

o

• New
  The Outfit A steely performance from Robert Duvall anchors this 1974 crime flick, adapted from a Donald Westlake novel and directed by action specialist John Flynn (Rolling … Music Box

p

• New
  The Perfect Family A suburban mom (Kathleen Turner) is nominated for Catholic Woman of the Year but fears the award will slip away if her fellow parishioners discover … River East 21
• Phantom Week: Love Never Dies Century 12 and CineArts 6, River East 21 and Showplace ICON
• Phantom Week: Phantom of the Opera Century 12 and CineArts 6, River East 21 and Showplace ICON
• The Pirates! Band of Misfits 3D Peter Lord and Jeff Newitt directed this children's adventure, the latest from Aardman Animations (Chicken Run). Among the voice talent are Hugh Grant, Salma Hayek, … Crown Village 18, Ford City, River East 21, Showplace ICON and Webster Place 11
• The Pirates! Band of Misfits Peter Lord and Jeff Newitt directed this children's adventure, the latest from Aardman Animations (Chicken Run). Among the voice talent are Hugh Grant, Salma Hayek, … Century 12 and CineArts 6, Chatham 14, Cicero Showplace 14, Davis, Lawndale 10, Logan, New 400 and Webster Place 11
• Recommended New
  Possession Andrzej Zulawski’s 1981 masterpiece opens with the messy separation of a middle-class couple (Sam Neill, Isabelle Adjani) then goes on to imagine various catastrophic breakdowns—of … Gene Siskel Film Center
• Free
  Promised Land Directed by Yoruba Richen, this 2009 documentary examines the land-ownership conflicts between blacks and whites in South Africa that have arisen in the wake of … DuSable Museum of African American History

q

• New
  Quill: The Life of a Guide Dog Naturalistic pet movies are a popular genre in Japan, though they rarely win theatrical distribution in the U.S. This 2004 family drama follows a Labrador … Music Box

r

• Recommended
  The Raven Edgar Allan Poe invented the detective story, so turning him into the heroic sleuth of a mystery thriller makes perfect sense, and the much-debated circumstances … Chatham 14 and New 400
• Recommended
  Red Cliff Released in China as two movies but edited down to a single feature for U.S. release, John Woo's 2008 historical drama takes place early in … Univ. of Chicago Doc Films
• Requiem for a Heavyweight A classic of liberal humanist filmmaking (1962), and almost completely worthless. Anthony Quinn is the fighter gone to seed, slogging his way through his final … Gene Siskel Film Center
• The Road After three teenagers disappear along an abandoned road, investigators uncover its 20-year history as a site of various kidnappings and murders. Yam Laranas directed this … 600 N. Michigan and Crown Village 18
• Rock 'n' Roll High School P.J. Soles and the Ramones lead off in this amiable, rambunctious New World production (1979), aimed ostensibly at the teen trade but more obliquely and … Delilah's
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show This 1975 film version of the bisexual-chic rock musical tries its damnedest to be outrageous, but finally has a hard time justifying its R rating. … Music Box
• The Room Written, produced, and directed by Tommy Wiseau, this inept 2003 melodrama has become a Rocky Horror-style cult favorite. Wiseau stars as an eerily placid and … Music Box

s

• New
  Safe Through a string of plot developments too convoluted to recount here, former cop Jason Statham takes a brainy Chinese girl under his wing and goes … Century 12 and CineArts 6, Chatham 14, Cicero Showplace 14, Crown Village 18, Ford City, Logan, River East 21 and Showplace 14 Galewood Crossings
• Salmon Fishing in the Yemen Lasse Hallstrom, director of such middlebrow touchstones as Chocolat (2000) and The Cider House Rules (1999), brings his art-house honey to this limp adaptation of … Logan
• The Salt of Life With the Italian comedy Mid-August Lunch (2008), writer-director-star Gianni Di Gregorio told the poignant story of an aging divorced man who winds up babysitting his … Beverly Arts Center
• New
  The Samaritan Samuel L. Jackson stars as an ex-con roped back into a life of crime by the son of a former associate. Scripted by Elan Mastai … Facets Cinematheque
• Secret Life, Secret Death Genevieve Davis directed this drama about a young mother who gets mixed up with Chicago gangsters in the 1920s and during the Depression operates a … Portage Theater and Viaduct Theater
• Recommended
  A Separation A tale of two families linked by tragedy, this extraordinary drama by Iranian writer-director Asghar Farhadi (Fireworks Wednesday) is hugely compelling on a moral and … Tivoli
• Recommended
  Shanghai Express More action oriented than the other Dietrich-Sternberg films, this 1932 production is nevertheless one of the most elegantly styled. The setting, a broken-down train commandeered … Univ. of Chicago Doc Films
• Siegfried: Met Opera Ring Cycle Encore Century 12 and CineArts 6, River East 21 and Showplace ICON
• Sonic Celluloid Silent and experimental work, presented by Northwestern University's film program with live musical accompaniment. For a lineup of films and performers see blockmuseum.northwestern.edu. Northwestern University Block Museum of Art
• New
  Sound of My Voice In the wake of Martha Marcy May Marlene, Fox Searchlight releases another gimmicky independent drama about a cult, this one with sci-fi overtones and a … Century 12 and CineArts 6, Landmark's Century Centre and River East 21
• Soundtrack for a Revolution John Legend, Wyclef Jean, Joss Stone, Richie Havens, the Roots, and the Blind Boys of Alabama are among the artists performing folk songs and spirituals … Chicago Filmmakers
• Still Standing A documentary about a man who regained his mobility after being paralyzed from the neck down. Chatham 14 and Lawndale 10
• The Story of Adele H The critics loved to honor the late Francois Truffaut for his glowingly humanistic films, yet as time goes by it becomes more and more clear … Alliance Francaise
• Films by Chick Strand Short 16-millimeter works by the founder of the west-coast collective Canyon Cinema. Screening are Anselmo (1967), Fake Fruit (1986), and Anselmo and the Women (1986). Univ. of Chicago Doc Films
• Strong! Julie Wyman's documentary about Cheryl Haworth, a female weightlifter who competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Chicago Cultural Center

t

• Think Like a Man Comedian Steve Harvey—whose dating self-help book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man inspired this ensemble rom-com—hangs over the action like a deity, appearing … 600 N. Michigan, Century 12 and CineArts 6, Chatham 14, Cicero Showplace 14, Crown Village 18, Ford City, Lawndale 10, New 400, River East 21, Showplace 14 Galewood Crossings, Showplace ICON and Webster Place 11
• Thirst Korean bad-boy Chan-wook Park (Oldboy, Lady Vengeance) serves up more of his signature art-house mayhem but ditches the neonoir genre to make a revisionist vampire … Univ. of Chicago Doc Films
• The Three Stooges For years the Three Stooges begged Columbia Pictures to give them a feature, to no avail. So now that Peter and Bobby Farrelly have brought … Chatham 14, Ford City and Lawndale 10
• To the Arctic 3D Greg MacGillivray directed this large-format documentary about a polar bear and its seven-month-old cubs. Meryl Streep narrates. Navy Pier IMAX

u

• New
  Under African Skies Paul Simon returns to South Africa for a 25th-anniversary performance of his celebrated 1986 album Graceland. Though destined for VH1, this feature by Joe Berlinger … Gene Siskel Film Center

w

• Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale An indigenous tribe defend themselves from oppressive colonialists. Ford City and River East 21
• Recommended
  We Have a Pope The films of Italian writer-director-actor Nanni Moretti (Caro Diario, The Son's Room) mete out their narrative developments so casually that they often appear formless; only … Landmark's Century Centre
• New
  What to Expect When You're Expecting Woody Allen once turned a self-help book into a killer comedy—Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex . . . but Were Afraid to … 600 N. Michigan, Century 12 and CineArts 6, Cicero Showplace 14, City North 14, Crown Village 18, Ford City, Lake, New 400, River East 21, Showplace 14 Galewood Crossings, Showplace ICON and Webster Place 11
• Wings This 1927 silent feature won the first Academy Award for best picture, establishing a tradition of silliness that hasn't been broken to this day, but … Deer Park Town Center
• Woman Thou Art Loosed: On the Seventh Day In this sequel to T.D. Jakes's Woman, Thou Art Loosed (1999), a married couple's darkest secrets are revealed after their six-year-old daughter is kidnapped. Neema … Ford City

y

• Yellow Submarine Blue meanies make war on the peaceful music lovers of Pepperland, one of whom travels to another dimension—an expressionist 1960s Liverpool—to enlist John, Paul, George, … River East 21 and Showplace ICON

z

• Free
  Zelig As critic Jean-Pierre Coursodon has noted, Woody Allen's greatest talent is as an imitator; this short mock documentary (1983) allows him to imitate newsreel footage, … Transistor
• Zombie Dawn In this Chilean horror film (2011), a group of mercenaries are sent by the government to investigate the site of a zombie invasion. Lucio A. … Cicero Showplace 14 and Showplace 14 Galewood Crossings