Highlights: 2012 Fall Calendar

Transcript

2012 FALL CALENDAR AUGUST 24th THROUGH NOVEMBER 29th Highlights: Story Of Film: An Odyssey pg. 10 Ira Glass introduces Sleepwalk With Me pg. 13 David Byrne in person! pg. 17 Music Box of Horrors! pg. 22 Chicago International Children’s Film Festival pg. 26 Méliès pg. 26 Sound of Music Sing-A-Long pg. 29 a Film by LAZHAR Philippe Falardeau MONSIEUR AN OSCAR-NOMINATED CLASSROOM CROWD-PLEASER THAT SURPASSES THE CLASS! CRITICS' REPORT CARD Welcome to the Music Box Theatre! As one of the hottest summers on record draws to an end, it’s a relief to look forward to cooler days and a terrific fall line-up at the Music Box. 96% Tomatometer Regular patrons know that, along with the turning of leaves, the fall means another edition of our 24-hour horror movie marathon (Music Box of Horrors), the Halloween Edition of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Chicago’s favorite Thanksgiving tradition, Sing-a-long ‘Sound of Music’ (this year we are adding performances to meet overwhelming audience demand). NEW YORK DAILY NEWS | NEW YORK NEWSDAY SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE | WASHINGTON POST N ominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, Monsieur Lazhar tells the moving and poignant story of a Montreal middle school class shaken by the death of their well-liked teacher, and the 55-year-old Algerian immigrant who offers his services as a substitute teacher and aids the process of collective healing. We thank you for all the positive feedback you have given us regarding the new magazine style of our quarterly schedule. One of the reasons we redesigned the schedule is so that we would have additional space for editorial content. The fall 2012 edition takes full advantage of this by offering two insightful interviews with talented filmmakers. BONUS FEATURES From Stage to Screen • Big Talk Interview with Philippe Falardeau Alice and Simon Audition Tapes • Bachir’s Story • Alice’s Report AVAILABLE FROM © Southport Music Box Corporation d/b/a Music Box Films 2012 2 MISS MINOES MOZART’S SISTER THE DEEP BLUE SEA ALSO AVAILABLE FROM MUSIC BOX FILMS www.musicboxfilms.com Music Box Theatre Mike Birbigelia, comedian and first-time director (Sleepwalk with Me), talks about translating his one-man show to the big screen, and what it was like collaborating with Ira Glass, host of public radio’s “This American Life.” By the way, Ira Glass will be with us on opening weekend to introduce select screenings of Sleepwalk with Me and take your questions. Also, within these pages is an interview with award-winning independent filmmaker Ira Sachs in which he discusses the literary and cinematic influences on his new film Keep The Lights On and the legacy of the New Queer Cinema. Keep the Lights On is one of three films on the fall schedule distributed by our own Music Box Films; The other two are the dark German comedy Snowman’s Land and The Story of Film: An Odyssey. Actually, The Story of Film: An Odyssey is much more than a film. It is an extraordinary look at the history of world cinema, an epic 15-hour journey hosted by film historian Mark Cousins. Starting October 6 we will present two new parts in the series every weekend at 11:30 am (for those of you who aren’t morning people, you can catch the first four parts when they repeat on the evening of October 15). The Daily Telegraph called The Story of Film: An Odyssey the “cinematic event of the year” so you won’t want to miss it. We hope to see you many times this fall! Brian Andreotti Director of Programming Music Box Theatre PS: Did I mention that David Byrne will visit the Music Box on September 17? Fall 2012 3 Matinees Forbidden Cinema: Infamous Pre-Code Classics It seems like a glimpse into an alternate universe, but there was a brief, glorious moment in early cinema history during which Hollywood censorship was all but vanquished. Thanks to a gentlemen’s agreement by the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, studios promised to police their own content and abide by the Production Code. For four years, from March 31, 1930 when the formal pledge of the Code was made, until the Production Code Administration’s strict enforcement of it began on July 2, 1934, Hollywood gave itself a free pass to produce and promote whatever morally ambiguous material it dared. Often salaciously advertised, hyping the bawdy or violent content promised within, Pre-Code films were the epitome of everything the Catholic League despised about Hollywood. When MPPDA president Will H. Hays finally brought the hammer down and appointed the zealously administrative Joseph I. Breen to chair the PCA, Hollywood’s wild ride was over. sept. 22-23 sept. 29-30 OCT. 6-7 GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 Three gold-digging roommates aim to skip the breadlines in this Busby Berkeley musical. Coin-clad Ginger Rogers warbles “We’re In The Money” while Ruby Keeler falls for tunesmith Dick Powell and Joan Blondell fends off upperclass lecher Warren William. Including the downright smutty “Pettin’ in the Park” number. (Mervyn LeRoy, 1933, 97m) RED-HEADED WOMAN Jean Harlow plays Lil Andrews, the titular scheming vixen who targets her rich married boss, and any other dimwitted male, to siphon his funds and advance her financial and social standing. After wrecking one marriage, Lil can’t help but keep climbing the ladder ‘til there’s no more rungs to grab! (Jack Conway, 1932, 79m) BLONDE VENUS While her impoverished and sickly husband can’t even sell his body to medical science for radium treatment, Marlene Dietrich has to beat back those who’d gladly purchase hers. Hitting the streets to pay for her hubby’s medicine, Dietrich climbs up and down the socioeconomic ladder, including a lucrative affair with Cary Grant. Featuring Dietrich’s gorilla-suited number “Hot Voodoo”! (Josef von Sternberg, 1932, 93m) OCT. 20-21 nov. 11 NIGHT NURSE Spunky nurses Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Blondell, in between a quick change of their uniforms for negligees, uncover a plot by a wealthy society doctor to starve two children to death in order to seize their trust fund. Aided by the evil chauffeur (Clark Gable), the doctor keeps the mother hopped up on pills and booze to advance his scheme! (William A Wellman, 1931, 72m) TWO SECONDS That’s how long it takes for Edward G Robinson to die in the electric chair! In those moments, Robinson relives the events that brought him here, from a loveless marriage to a scheming taxi dancer and the psychotic crimes he’s committed. Robinson’s outstanding performance brings to life the story of a high-rise construction worker whose grand ambitions were crushed by a cruel world. Print courtesy of the Library of Congress. (Mervyn LeRoy, 1932, 67m) Scarface 4 sept. 1-2 sept. 9 sept. 15-16 nov. 17-18 SCARFACE Of all the gangster films produced in the 30s, SCARFACE was the most controversial and violent. Thinly disguising an Al Capone biopic, Ben Hecht’s screenplay keeps a near forensic level of detail to the ordered killings Capone organized, as Hollywood double Tony Camonte (Paul Muni in a maniacal role) wastes his boss and takes over the racket, aided by the coin-flipping George Raft. (Howard Hawks, 1932, 93m) I’M NO ANGEL Go West and see Mae! With I’M NO ANGEL, Mae West wrote the plot for her own star vehicle, thanks to a surprise hit in SHE DONE HIM WRONG. Tira (West) is a dancing beauty at a carnival sideshow, prancing and preening in a formfitting dress before her dumbstruck male audiences. Before an all-male jury, she brings a similar wiggling panache to the courtroom to defend her modern ways. (Wesley Ruggles, 1933, 87m) BABY FACE Barbara Stanwyck stars in the most notorious sex-in-the-workplace vice film made during the PreCode era. Arriving in the big city after a stint in a speakeasy dive to work at Gotham Trust Company, Lily (Stanwyck) starts at the bottom floor but resolves to leap to the executive suite, two floors at a time! Screening in a restored, unedited print from the Library of Congress. (Alfred E. Green, 1933, 76m) SEARCH FOR BEAUTY Larry “Buster” Crabbe and Ida Lupino (in her American screen debut!) are a pair of Olympians duped into running a nudie rag dressed up as a fitness magazine. When the two want out to start something a bit more wholesome, their patrons have other ideas. This playfully dirty comedy runs true to the tabloid at the story’s center, often making the film an excuse to parade cheese- and beefcakes around. (Erle C Kenton, 1934, 78m) Music Box Theatre Gold Diggers of 1933 Fall 2012 5 2nd Saturday Silent Cinema Great movies call for great food! The second Saturday every month at noon! Named by Chicago Magazine as the Best New Film *October's Silent Cinema will be Series of 2011 and recently hailed by the Chicago a special presentation on Friday, Reader’s J.R. Jones as one of the best movie matiOctober 12 of Nosferatu. (pg. 21) nee series in the city; the Music Box Silent Cinema Series is presented on the second Saturday of each each month at noon! All films are shown “authentically” in $8 for students and seniors 35mm at proper silent film speed and aspect ratio with live accompaniment by Dennis Scott at the Available at the Box Office and online. Music Box theatre organ! Tickets: $10 15% off your food! Bring in your Music Box ticket stub from that day! Just across the street from the Music Box Theatre! SATURDAY, september 8 at noon THE CROWD (1928) Directed by King Vidor Poignant and uncompromising, The Crowd is a timeless tale of the American everyman. A classic story of a young man from a small town who heads to New York to pursue his dreams of big success in the big city but soon finds himself just one of many faceless workers in a large company. The film tells the story of John (James Murray) and Mary (Eleanor Boardman) without sentimentality or melodrama and eloquently captures the reality of their lives, regrets, brief triumphs and disappointments in an impersonal metropolis. While not a box office success when it was first released, The Crowd has consistently been hailed as one the best and most enduring silent films and was one of the first 25 films to be selected for preservation by the Library of Congress National Film Registry. 98m saturday, november 10 at noon THE CAMERAMAN (1928) Directed by Edward Sedgwick 6 Music Box Theatre The Cameraman was Buster Keaton’s first film for MGM Studios and made while he was still at the height of his career. Buster plays a sidewalk tintype portrait photographer who develops a crush on Sally (Marceline Day), an MGM secretary. In order to be near her, he uses all of his savings to purchase an old film camera and tries to get a job as one of MGM’s cameramen. Despite his complete lack of ability and experience, Sally encourages Buster to film everything he can and a wild series of comedic mishaps ensues. From a dazed monkey to a war in Chinatown and a boat race gone wrong, The Cameraman delivers a classic, unforgettable Buster Keaton performance! In 2005, this film, once thought lost but rediscovered in Paris in 1968, was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry having been deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.” 69m www.bluebayouchicago.com Fall 2012 7 Midnight Movies 8/24-25 The Big Lebowski 8/31 - 9/1 Fast Times at Ridgemont High 9/7-8 Bone (Larry Cohen, 1972, 95m) 40th Anniversary! 9/14 The Room (Tommy Wiseau, 2003, 99m) 9/15 The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Jim Sharman, 1975, 100m) 9/21-22 The Telephone Book (Nelson Lyon, 1971, 80m) New restoration w/ producer Merv Bloch in person! 9/28 Miami Connection (Y.K. Kim, 1987, 90m) 9/29 Bike Smut: Turning TriXXX Back by popular demand! 10/5-6 The Harder They Come (Perry Henzell, 1972, 120m) 40th Anniversary! 10/19-20 They Live Picture Show 11/2 Dune 11/3 Xanadu (David Lynch, 1984, 137m) (Robert Greenwald, 1980, 93m) presented by Camp Midnight! 11/9 The Room 11/10 (Tommy Wiseau, 2003, 99m) Clue (Johnathan Lynn, 1985, 94m) Closet sing-a-long!! 11/23-24 Tron (Steven Lisberger, 1982, 96m) 30th Anniversary! the Telephone Book - september 21 &22 New restoration w/ producer Merv Bloch in person! Co-Presented with Mr. Skin! A major, though forgotten, work from New York's underground film scene of the late 60s and early 70s, Nelson Lyon's THE TELEPHONE BOOK tells the story of a sex-obsessed hippie who falls in love with the world's greatest obscene phone caller and embarks on a quest to find him. Her journey introduces to her to an avant-garde stag filmmaker, a manipulative psychiatrist, a bored lesbian housewife and more. Photographed in high-contrast black-and-white and punctuated with a remarkable, surreal animated sequence, THE TELEPHONE BOOK is one of the greatest cult films you've probably never heard of. XANADU sing-a-long - November 3 Presented by Camp Midnight, hosted by Dick O’Day For one magical night only, Xanadu will be experienced the only way a classic musical roller disco film should be presented - in a theater filled with leg-warmers, drag queens and screaming Xanadu fans of all shapes and sizes belting out the film’s well known songs! Sing-Along Xanadu promises a tacky, hilarious extravaganza filled with roller skating, neon, spandex, and lots and lots of glitter. Trapped in the Closet Sing-A-long - november 16 & 17 R. Kelly, Jim Swaffield To say that R&B artist R. Kelly’s hip-hopera Trapped in the Closet is astounding would severely undersell the audacity, wonder and (possible) genius of this “work.” The film is as melodramatic as Douglas Sirk and as earnest as Ed Wood. The only thing that could improve it would be to present it as a Sing-Along, and that’s exactly what we will do. 8 Music Box Theatre october 17 at 7:00pm THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME adapted for the stage by Simon Stephens based on the international best-selling novel by Mark Haddon Christopher, 15, stands beside Mrs Shears’ murdered dog. Under suspicion himself, he records each fact in his book to solve the mystery. He has an extraordinary brain but is ill-equipped to interpret everyday life and has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road. Now, his detective work takes him on a frightening journey that upturns his world. w/ shadowcast by Midnight Madness! 11/16-17 Trapped in the Visit www.musicboxtheatre.com for advance tickets and more information (Jim Sharman, 1975, 100m) National Theatre Live is a groundbreaking initiative to bring the best of British theatre to cinemas around the world. (John Carpenter, 1988, 93m) 10/26-27 The Rocky Horror NT Live november 7 at 7:00pm THE LAST OF THE HAUSSMANS a new play by Stephen Beresford Anarchic, feisty but growing old, high society drop-out Judy Haussman holds court in her dilapidated house on the Devon coast. She’s joined by wayward offspring Nick and Libby, granddaughter Summer, local doctor Peter, and Daniel, a troubled teenager. Together they share a few sweltering months in the chaotic world of all-day drinking, infatuations, long-held resentments, free love and failure. NOVEMBER 28 at 7:00pm TIMON OF ATHENS By William Shakespeare Directed by Nicolas Hytner Wealthy friend to the rich and powerful, Timon of Athens is surrounded by free-loaders and sycophants. Finding his coffers empty, he reassures his loyal steward that all will be well. When he calls upon his associates, instead of offering help, they hang him out to dry. After a final, vengeful banquet, Timon withdraws to a literal and emotional wasteland, pouring curses on a morally bankrupt Athens. www.ntlive.com Fall 2012 9 “The cinematic event of the year…extraordinary!” – Daily Telegraph The Story of Film: An Odyssey A film by Mark Cousins The Story of Film: An Odyssey is an unprecedented cinematic event and an epic journey through the history of world cinema. Film historian Mark Cousins takes a personal and idiosyncratic approach in this bold 15-part love letter to the movies; beginning with the invention of motion pictures in the 19th century and concluding with the multi-billion dollar globalized digital industry of the 21st. Distinct in the world of documentaries about film The Story of Film: An Odyssey is unique in its focus on not only the history of film but also the artistic vision and innovations of filmmaking pioneers. TSOF_1200x1800_ART_V1.indd 1 11/10/2011 14:40 This landmark documentary is filled with glorious clips from some of the greatest movies ever made and features exclusive interviews with legendary filmmakers, writers and actors. Part 1 - October 6, 7 at 11:30am & October 15 at 7:00pm Birth Of The Cinema (1900-1920) -The birth of a great new art form and the ideas and passion that drove the development of film and the creation of Hollywood. The Hollywood Dream (1920’s) -The Silent Era and movies in the roaring 20s. Star directors like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton emerge and some of the greatest movies ever made are produced by directors like Eric Von Stroheim and Carl Theodor Dreyer. Part 2 - October 13, 14 at 11:30am & October 15 at 4:30pm and 9:30pm Expressionism, Impressionism and Surrealism: Golden Age Of World Cinema (1920’s) -The 1920s, a golden age for world cinema. From Paris to Tokyo to China movie makers push the boundaries of the new medium. Expressionism, impressionism and surrealism appear as passionate new movements. The Arrival Of Sound (1930’s) -The coming of sound in the 1930s upends everything. New genres are born: the screwball comedy, gangster pictures, horror films, westerns and musicals and directors Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock become masters of mood. Part 3 - October 20, 21 at 11:30am Post-War Cinema (1940’s) -The trauma of war takes cinema down new and more daring paths. Part 3 charts the darkening of American film, in the work of Orson Welles and the drama of the McCarthy era.  Interviews with screenwriters Paul Schrader and Robert Towne and director Stanley Donen are featured. Schrader discusses his screenplay for Taxi Driver, Robert Towne explores the dark ideas in Chinatown and director Charles Burnett talks about the birth of Black American cinema. Movies To Change The World (1970’s) -Movies try to change the world in the 70s. Bold and moving films are made around the world by Wim Wenders, in Germany and Ken Loach in Britain as well as by directors in Japan, Africa, Australia and South America. Part 6 - November 10, 11 at 11:30am The Arrival of Multiplexes and Asian Mainstream (1970’s) -Innovative films like Star Wars, Jaws and The Exorcist usher in the age of the multiplex. In India, movie star, Amitabh Bachchan, discusses Bollywood and Bruce Lee’s movies and the action films of Master Yuen Wo Ping kickstart the kinetic Hong Kong film scene. Fight The Power: Protest in Film (1980’s) -The 1980s, are years of protest in the movies. Director John Sayles talks about truth and power in film, In Beijing, Chinese cinema blossoms before the Tian’anmen crackdown and in Poland the master director Krzysztof Kieslowski emerges. Part 7 - November 17, 18 at 11:30am New Boundaries: World Cinema in Africa, Asia, Latin America (1990’s) -World cinema enters a golden age in the 90s. Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami’s discusses realism in film. In Japan, Shinya Tsukamoto, lays the groundwork for bold new Japanese horror films and director, Claire Denis, talks exclusively about her work. New American Independents & The Digital Revolution (1990’s) -Brilliant, flashy and playful, the movies of the 90s flourish through Tarantino’s new style of dialogue and the edgy work of the Coen Brothers. The writer of Starship Troopers and Robocop discusses irony and Baz Luhrmann talks about Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge. The digital world changes movies forever. Cinema Today and The Future (2000’s) -The story of film comes full circle. David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive becomes one of the most complex dream films ever made, Inception turns film into a game and in Moscow Alexander Sokurov talks exclusively about his innovative films. Finally, The Story of Film goes beyond the present, to look at film in the future. Bring in your Music Box Theatre ticket stub to receive a FREE appetizer* for your table Sex & Melodrama (1950’s) -Sex and melodrama are key in the movies of the 50s. From On the Waterfront and the films of James Dean to passionate world cinema from Egypt, India, China, Mexico, Britain and Japan. Features interviews with actress Kyoko Kagawa and the first great African director, Youssef Chahine. Part 4 - October 27, 28 at 11:30am European New Wave (1960’s) -The explosive story of film in the late 50s and 60s. Actress Claudia Cardinale talks exclusively about Federico Fellini, Lars Von Trier discusses Ingmar Bergman and Bernardo Bertolucci remembers his work with Pier Paolo Pasolini. New Directors, New Wave (1960’s) -World cinema dazzles in the 1960s. Cinematographer Haskell Wexler discusses the influence ofdocumentaries on mainstream movies. Easy Rider and 2001: A Space Odyssey begin a new era in America cinema and the new wave in world cinema is realized in the films of Roman Polanski, Andrei Tarkovsky and Nagisa Oshima. Part 5 - November 3, 4 at 11:30am American Cinema of the 70’s - American cinema matures in the 70’s. Buck Henry, who wrote The Graduate, talks about satire in film, Paul 10 Music Box Theatre *Free appetizer available when other purchases exceed $15. Dine in only. Not valid with other offers. Limit 1 appetizer per table. Lunch | Dinner | Late Night Daily Specials | Private Parties Sunday Brunch Buffet 2.5 BlockS South of MuSic Box 3443 N. Southport | 773.529.8550 | mysticceltchicago.com Fall 2012 11 Featured Presentations STARTS AUGUST 24 “Both winsome and sophisticated, Chicken with Plums unfolds like a rich Persian carpet woven of memories and nostalgia.” – Hollywood Reporter “What Satrapi and Paronnaud have really achieved is an evocation of a lost world, much as they did in Persepolis.” – Variety Chicken Plums with www.sonyclassics.com From the Filmmakers of ‘Persepolis’ Directed by Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud Chicken With Plums is a romantic thriller with flashbacks and flash forwards where the pieces of the puzzle gradually fit together and the poignant secret of his life comes to light. Since his beloved violin was broken, Nasser Ali Khan, one of the most renowned musicians of his day, has lost all taste for life. Finding no instrument worthy of replacing it, he decides to confine himself to bed to await death. As he hopes for its arrival, he plunges into deep reveries, with dreams as melancholic as they are joyous. A romantic thriller with flashbacks and flash forwards, the pieces of the puzzle gradually fit together and the poignant secret of his life comes to light: a wonderful story of love which inspired his genius and his music. august 24 - 30 Based on a true story, The Imposter, is documentary filmmaking turned Film Noir. In 1994, a 13 year old boy disappeared without a trace from San Antonio, Texas. Three and a half years later he is found alive, thousands of miles away in a village in southern Spain telling an elaborate story of kid­nap and torture. His family is overjoyed to have him back but everything may not be as it seems. His strange accent and changes in appearance all seem to be suspicious inconsistencies, yet the family seems not to notice. It’s only when an investigator starts asking questions that this story takes an even stranger turn. With all of the twists of a true thriller, The Imposter challenges our perceptions of the truth and every new revelation leaves the viewer on the edge of their seat. “This documentary begins in mystery and ends in horror – a disturbing vision of the lengths we go to, to fool ourselves.” —The Guardian The Imposter Directed by Bart Layton 12 Music Box Theatre STARTS august 31 Ira Glass in person Friday, Aug 31st and Saturday September 1st for intro and Q & A “An endearing indie feature about the day-to-day indecisions and nocturnal perambulations of a commitment-phobic New Yorker.” – Variety “As an artistic coming-of-age story and intimate, affectionate peek inside the tight-knit community of stand-up comedians, Sleepwalk With Me is as charming as it is winningly modest.” – AV Club “I’m going to tell you a story and it’s true… I always have to tell people that,” so asserts comedian-turnedplaywright-turned-filmmaker Mike Birbiglia directly to the viewer at the outset of his autobiographically inspired, fictional feature debut. We are thrust into the tale of a burgeoning stand-up comedian struggling with the stress of a stalled career, a stale relationship threatening to race out of his control, and the wild spurts of severe sleepwalking he is desperate to ignore. Based on the successful oneman show, SLEEPWALK WITH ME engages in the kind of passionate and personal storytelling that transfigures intimate anguish into comic art. INTERVIEW WITH MIKE BIRBIGLIA PAGES 14-15 sleepwalk with me Directed by Mike Birbiglia www.sleepwalkmovie.com Fall 2012 13 Wide Awake with Sleepwalk With Me writer-director-star Mike Birbiglia By Steve Prokopy Although Mike Birbiglia began his career as a stand-up comedian, his act has evolved to the point where he has become more of a comedic storyteller, retelling some of the most painful events of his young and adult life in across comedy albums, appearances on the Public Radio series “This American Life,” a book, and in theater performances, including a successful off-Broadway run. Birbiglia’s debut as a feature director-writer-lead actor is Sleepwalk With Me, based on his one-man show, which chronicles his early years as a comic suffering from a chronic sleepwalking disorder that occasionally endangers his life and the lives of those around him. The story deals with stress that comes from his condition, as well as his limp act and a fading relationship. The film is funny, charming, and front-loaded with universal, anxiety-laden truths about pitting expectations others place on you against simply following one’s life ambition. I sat down to talk with Birbiglia to discuss the transition his story took from stage to book to the big screen, and working with Ira Glass (credited as a co-writer) to fine tune the screenplay. SP: Was the transition of your comedy career from joke-joke-joke to more talking about your life really as simple as someone saying, “Hey, you should talk about your life.” MB: That’s the movie version for sure. SP: So it wasn’t a single incident, but was that how it worked for you where you thought “This is where it’s probably going to work best for me.” MB: That was based in a few different people, like one person was Mark Maron, who was a disciple of that school of comedy, and I knew him a little bit. In New York, we had a love-hate relationship [laughs]. My first manager gave me this piece of advice once where he said, “If you write abut yourself, no one can steal it,” and there’s a lot of truth to that. That is one of the frustrations of being a stand up comedian, we’re all swimming in the same pond and you do get frustrated. I don’t watch many stand-up comedy specials, but I saw a clip of someone’s special the other day where almost verbatim they have a bit that is in my notebook and I just have to go, “Alright, can’t use that one.” And it’s a bit I really like. The more I found the audience was engaged and the more I thought, “They are engaged because I’m engaged and I’m giving myself to this to some extent.” There’s something I realized in my 20s about observational comedy or clever comedy where you look at someone doing it and to some degree you just have this thought in your mind like, “Yeah, I could have written that.” And when someone tells you something personal and revealing about themselves, you’re like “Oh thanks.” It’s a different reaction. I’ve never watched someone who tells a truly inspired personal story and thought, “I could have thought of that.” No, you couldn’t have. That happened to that person. Something happened where I was put in these situations and was asked to tell stories, and I realized, “I’m actually better at this, and there’s something happening that’s more exciting to me.” SP: Observational storytelling comedy has opened up stand up for a lot of people. When I hear people like you tell stories about their life, it’s identifiable. More than likely somewhere in your show, we will think, “I’ve been through that. I’ve lived through that.” I think it’s opened up comedy for people who weren’t maybe that interested in just hearing joke after joke. MB: I agree. There’s something special about being in an audience and having one person on stage say something that in a different context would be off the wall. If someone had said it at work, you would be like, “Oh my God!” But you’re in a room where everyone is laughing, and there’s something deeply cathartic about that. SP: The version of you in this movie, there might be some people in the audience who might not ever like him, and I don’t mean that’s because you are unlikable; it’s because he does some unlikable things. Is it more important that we like him or that we understand him? MB: No, I don’t think you have to like him. I’m always afraid of the word “likable” when writing anything. I try to use the word “relatable” and I think that the character is relatable, because the character is misunderstood. No one in his life thinks that he can do what he wants to do and no one really believes in him, and I feel like that’s relatable. I feel like that all of the time. 14 Music Box Theatre SP: His girlfriend seems very supportive. MB: I think that that’s the paradox if the film. She is the one person he’s closest to in his life, and he can’t tell the truth to her anymore, because of his changing feelings. That was painful in real life, and I think that’s what works about the film. For most people when they watch the film, the moment where it makes you cringe is when he starts talking about her on stage, because you’re just going, “Oh no. We like her. Why is he doing this?” SP: It’s very clear he doesn’t ever want her to see him perform. We don’t ever see her in the audience of one of his shows. Did the girlfriend who was sort of the model for this never see that material? MB: The reality of it was, she knew that I had jokes about her, but I feel like the more I went on the road, the more specific the jokes got and the less she saw them. For film construction, we had to assemble it that way story-wise. That’s also why I’m “Matt Pandamiglio” and not Mike Birbiglia. SP: The condition you have is called…”? MB: REM Behavior Disorder. Something like 60 percent of Americans sleepwalk, or some really high number. I was shocked by it. A guy whose real name is Dr. Demented [who appears in the film as himself] wrote a wonderful book on sleep and sleep habits, and it’s a big problem. People are sleep deprived in our country. It’s a really common and dangerous thing. SP: In addition to co-writing the screenplay and being the lead actor, why did you decide piling directing on top of those was a good idea? MB: I always wanted to direct films, since I was about 19 or 20 years old, and what I discovered was that I couldn’t afford to financially. It’s so expensive. I was directing shorts and just burning through money and I realized that making movies is the opposite of having a job. You are spending money, so it’s the opposite of taking in money. So it was a little like a suppressed dream all through my 20s. When push came to shove with this movie, I wasn’t going to direct it. It was with a company that makes a lot of films and it was going to be a larger-budget film—maybe as much as $7 million, but then they decided that they didn’t think the script was ready, and Ira and I felt like the script was ready. So we parted ways amicably, and we said “Let’s try to make it for $1 million.” I’m friends with Lena [Dunham], and she made TINY FURNITURE; I’m friends with like Jeff Garland who had made I WANT SOMEONE TO EAT CHEESE WITH. There were a lot of people who I was friends with, like Craig Zobel who did COMPLIANCE this year. They all said to me, “You should direct it, because you’re the closest to the material.” Jeff Garland literally said to me, “If you hire a director, you’re just going to fight with him the whole time. It was other filmmakers who gave me the confidence to direct. SP: What were Ira’s contributions to the screenplay? MB: It’s a really complex crediting, but all three of the other writers (Glass, brother Joe Birbiglia, and Seth Barrish] are people who I have collaborated with intensely over many years. Ira and I worked with each other over the last four or five years; Seth I worked with for about eight year; and my brother I had been working with since I was 19 years old. I always held the master document, but we would have sessions of just me and Ira or just me and Seth or me, Ira, Seth, and Joe. I’ve always felt that the thing about Ira is that he’s a real “story Jedi.” He’s a real stickler for perfection in telling stories. In a lot of ways, that’s the reason the film works, because there were scenes that I really liked, and he would go, “We are not feeling anything from this character,” and I would be “But it’s funny, because of this, and it moves the story.” He would just go, “No, we need something that is more along the lines of this.” In many ways, he did a lot of dramaturgical work on it. His standards on his radio show, his TV show, and with this movie are absurdly high. SP: The relationship with the girlfriend, and almost equally the relationship you have with your parents in the film, are fueling these dreams and sleepwalk incidents. MB: Sure. White Birch Trading Co. A Boutique for the Home. 3735 N. Southport Ave. Chicago, Illinois 60613 ph: (773) 698-6984 www.whitebirchtradingco.com Steve Prokopy is the Chicago Editor for Ain’t It Cool News (www.aintitcool.com), where he has contributed film reviews and filmmaker & actor interviews under the name “Capone” since 1998. In 2005, he also joined the staff of the Chicago-based media outlet GapersBlock. com as the site’s Friday film critic with his Steve@theMovies column. Fall 2012 15 (Les Bien-Aimes) Directed by Christophe Honore “Exquisitely romantic” -Screen International www.sundanceselects.com This sly and exquisitely romantic musical drama from Christophe Honoré spans over three decades as it follows a mother and daughter’s misadventures in love. Beloved was featured as the centerpiece of this year’s Chicago French Film Festival, and it returns to the Music Box for this limited engagement. From the 1960s era story of a young Madeleine (Ludivine Sagnier) and her Czech husband to the romance of Madeleine’s daughter, Vera (Mastroanni), thirty years later and the rekindling of an affair between a re-married Madeleine (Deneuve) and her former husband Jaromil (Milos Forman). Beloved is a light-hearted but ultimately moving exploration of DeleeceHalf.pg.ad.B. 4.625x3.75.revised.pdf the changing nature of relationships. OFFICIAL SELECTION 2011 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 1 5/9/12 3:13 PM Dinner & a Movie! 2011, France, 139m ALL ACCESS SERIES Beloved PRESS PASS SPECIAL EVENT MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 AT 7:00 pm september 14 - 20 Greg Kot with David Byrne & Bettina Richards Join Chicago Tribune critic Greg Kot for a special evening with author and Talking Heads cofounder David Byrne and Thrill Jockey Records founder Bettina Richards. The three will discuss Byrne’s new book, “How Music Works,” in which the legendary artist explores the joy, the physics and the business of making music. “How Music Works” will be available for sale at the event. SEPTEMBER 17 Tickets: $20 Location: Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave, Chicago Time: 7 p.m. (Doors open at 6 p.m.) SPECIAL EVENT FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 Come to Deleece restaurant before or after the show, just a few doors North of the Music Box. Serving dinner, lunch and weekend brunch. 3747 N. Southport Ave. Chicago, IL 60613 773.325.1710 AN AFFORDABLE, ECLECTIC, NEIGHBORHOOD HAUNT 16 Music Box Theatre www.deleece.com Fall 2012 17 STARTS september 21 STARTS september 28 “Words like “important” and “inspiring” tend too often to be meaninglessly attached to non-fiction filmmaking, but in the case of David France’s compelling snapshot of a revolutionary period in AIDS treatment, they are amply justified.” – Hollywood Reporter Directed by David France www.sundanceselects.com Faced with their own mortality an improbable group of young people, many of them HIV-positive young men, broke the mold as radical warriors taking on Washington and the medical establishment. This is the story of two coalitions—ACT UP and TAG—whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition. These self-made activists infiltrated the pharmaceutical industry and helped identify promising new drugs, moving them from experimental trials to patients in record time. Filmmaker David France puts the viewer smack in the middle of the controversial actions, the heated meetings, the heartbreaking failures, and the exultant breakthroughs of heroes in the making. SPECIAL EVENT SEPTEMBER 22 - 27 United Film Festival - Chicago is excited to be returning for its 4th year at the Music Box Theatre! United Film Festival screens cuttingedge independent films and highly acclaimed classics with the audience in mind. Our focus is to bring together talented filmmakers from diverse backgrounds, thus creating a “United” showcase of creative energy and talent. There’s truly something for everyone, and this dynamic lineup of features, documentaries, and shorts is not to be missed! www.theunitedfest.com “Few names conjure “style” with the zest of Diana Vreeland, and the documentary “The Eye Has to Travel” gets the zing just right.” -Variety Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Traval Directed by Lisa Immordino Vreeland DIANA VREELAND: THE EYE HAS TO TRAVEL is an intimate portrait and a vibrant celebration of one of the most influential women of the 20th century, an enduring icon whose influence changed the face of fashion, beauty, art, publishing and culture itself forever. Along the way, the story of Vreeland illustrates the evolution of women into roles of power and prominence throughout the 20th century, and travels through some of the century’s greatest historical and cultural eras, including Paris’ Belle Epoque, New York in the roaring twenties, and London in the swinging sixties. www.samuelgoldwynfilms.com september 28 - October 4 In this German dark comedy, Walter is a professional hitman who has botched a job. Forced to leave the city, he takes up an offer from crime boss Berger to protect his house in a remote region of the Carpathian Mountains. At his side is his old friend Mickey. By accident, Berger’s young and pretty wife Sybille is killed, and Walter and Mickey hide her body, fearing Berger’s vengeance. What seemed to be a nice, easy holiday trip for Walter and Mickey soon becomes a fight for survival for all parties involved. Snowman’s Land Director by Tomasz Thomson www.musicboxfilms.com “A Teutonic mix of Tarantino and Jarmusch, ‘Snowman’s Land’ provides considerable diversion with its deadpan take on befuddled urban hitmen assigned to a far-flung winter wonderland. Impressively handled sophomore feature by writer-helmer Thomasz Thomson” - Dennis Harvey, Variety 18 Music Box Theatre Fall 2012 19 SPECIAL EVENT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2 LCD Soundsystem: The Final Concert Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012 7:30 “Shut Up and Play the Hits” the film that documents the last LCD Soundsystem concert at Madison Square Garden has already drawn huge audiences in Chicago and across the country and now the Music Box Theatre will be showing the filmed version of the entire concert!  This will be a totally different experience from the documentary.   This farewell concert was a celebration, a send-off extraordinaire and a once in a lifetime experience for those who were lucky enough to be there.  october 5 - 11 ABOUT CHERRY challenges assumptions about sexuality and pornography, while addressing the common struggle of finding one’s role in life. Angelina (Ashley Hinshaw) is an 18-year-old on the verge of finishing high school, rushing to escape her broken family life. She skips town with her best friend (Dev Patel) and gets a job cocktailing in a San Francisco strip club where she meets Frances (James Franco), an affluent lawyer who introduces her to a high-class world beyond her wildest dreams. At the same time, Angelina begins exploring San Francisco’s porn industry, using the moniker Cherry. But Angelina’s newfound ideal lifestyle soon comes apart at the seams. Starring co m Ja es Fran d an Dev Patel This event is also the EARLY RELEASE PARTY for “Shut and Play the Hits” on DVD and Blu-Ray; both these and SUAPTH posters will be on sale at the theatre that evening! Directed by Stephen Elliott friday, october 12 at 7:00 pm S (La Fille Du Puisatier) “Imbued with the bucolic charm and the conspicuous lack of villains that is typical of Pagnol’s work,” Variety www.kinolorber.com 20 Music Box Theatre A remake of Marcel Pagnol’s eponymous 1940 film, Set in preWWII France, the film tells the moving story of Pascal Amoretti (Daniel Auteuil), a hardscrabble well digger who is forced to come to terms with his 18-yearold daughter’s early pregnancy. The film begins with Patricia Amoretti’s (Astrid Berges-Frisbey) first romantic encounter with 26-year-old fighter pilot Jacques Mazel (Nicolas Duvauchelle). Class struggle, social norms and the war get in the way of a happy life as Jacques is drafted and the young Patricia finds herself pregnant with his child. A silent film classic, Nosferatu never fails to strike fear into the hearts of audiences. F.W. Murnau’s unsettling and unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” is a masterpiece of German Expressionist horror. Real estate agent Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wagenheim) has come to the Carpathian Mountains to finalize the sale of a property to the eerie Count Orlok (Max Schrek). The Count’s obsession with blood and his strange habit of sleeping in a coffin soon leads Hutter to realize the truth about his client’s monstrous nature but too late! The Count has already made his way to the city of Wisborg setting off a series of mysterious deaths. Hutter’s wife, Ellen (Greta Shröder), also realizes the truth and nobly decides to pay the ultimate price by “entertaining” the vampire until dawn when the rays of the rising sun will rid the world of the hideous menace Count Orlock! 94m cial friday night Pr The Well-Digger's Daughter pe es n OCTOBER 5 - 11 e n tat i o LCD Soundsystem themselves said, “If it’s a funeral, let’s have the best funeral ever” and it’s clear that they did just that. NOSFERATU Directed by F. W. Murnau Fall 2012 21 friday, october 12, at 9:30 pm STARTS october 19 “Dazzling!  May well be the crime film of the year, or the decade.” -Salon Actress Sybil Danning in person! Music Box Of Horrors Noon, Saturday October 13th until Noon, Sunday October 14th experience Horror on the big screen. Film Line-Up to include: THE BURNING (uncut print!) CHILD’S PLAY (Terror in Lincoln Park!) HOWLING II: Your Sister is a Werewolf (with queen of the werewolves herself Sybil Danning in person!) SQUIRM (with director Jeff Lieberman in person!) Check the website for more titles! Plus Vendor tables, prizes, and Charity auctions TICKET INFO $30 from 8/15 – 9/15 only 350 available at this price! $35 from 9/16 – 10/12 only 220 available at this price! *$40 day of show * A Swedish crime thriller based on the international best-selling novel "Snabba Cash" by Jens Lapidus. Lower-class business student JW lives a double life mingling with Stockholm’s wealthy elite while also being lured into a world of crime. Jorge is a petty fugitive on the run from the both the police and Serbian mafia. Mafia enforcer Mrado is on the hunt for Jorge, but his efforts are complicated when he’s unexpectedly saddled with caring for his young daughter. As JW’s journey ventures deeper into the dark world of organized crime, the fate of all three men becomes entangled and ends with a dramatic life and death struggle. STARTS october 26 KEEP THE LIGHTS ON Read Interview with Ira Sachs Page 24-25 Directed by Ira Sachs “(A) beautifully aching love story. Sach’s stunner is a front-runner for best American film of the year.” - Eric Hynes, The Village Voice NEW DIGITAL RESTORATION STAR TREK I I: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982) Directed by: Nicholas Meyer 30 years after its release, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is regarded as the best of the Star Trek films. Continuing a story thread begun in an episode of the television series, The Wrath of Khan finds Captain Kirk and his crew once again battling the revenge-seeking, genetically-enhanced Khan. Ricardo Montalban still reigns supreme as the most bad-ass of the Star Trek villains, and this film is still one of the best edge-of-yourseat sci-fi thrillers. Music Box Theatre www.weinsteinco.com only 80 available at this price! Available at the door for day of sales only! october 12 - october 18 22 Directed by Daniel Espinosa “STUNNING! Moving and totally engrossing.” - Simon Abrams, indieWIRE Keep the Lights On chronicles an emotionally and sexually charged journey of two men in New York City through love, friendship, and addiction. Documentary filmmaker Erik (Thure Lindhardt) and closeted lawyer Paul (Zachary Booth, Damages) meet through a casual encounter, but soon find a deeper connection and become a couple. Individually and together, they are risk takers—compulsive, and fueled by drugs and sex. In an almost decade-long relationship defined by highs, lows, and dysfunctional patterns, Erik struggles to negotiate his own boundaries and dignity while being true to himself. Harrowing and romantic, visceral and layered, Keep the Lights On is a film that looks at love and all of its manifestations, taking it to dark depths and bringing it back to a place of grace. www.musicboxfilms.com Fall 2012 23 A Conversation With Ira Sachs By Patrick Z. McGavin Keep the Lights On is the beautiful, emotionally devastating new film by New York independent filmmaker Ira Sachs (“40 Shades of Blue”). It is autobiographically-inflected piece charting the intricate, complicated decade in the relationship between a documentary filmmaker (Thure Lindhardt) and a closeted lawyer (Zachary Booth). The movie premiered in the competition at Sundance, and has won prizes at festivals in Berlin and Outfest. Music Box Films is releasing the movie around the country. In a recent Interview Ira Sachs spoke about the entwining of his life and art. The movie lives or dies with the casting. How did you decide on the somewhat unorthodox choice of Danish actor Thure Lindhardt in the lead. Ira Sachs: Given the nakedness of the material, both physically and emotionally, I had a sense that this would be a hard film to cast in America. We are a country of Puritans, and sex is still something that is rarely seen in our films. Early on, I sent the film to an agent I know well in Hollywood. His response was that, “No one in our agency will be available for these roles.” That gave me a good idea of the hurdles I was going to face, and I had a feeling I might have to look outside the US for casting. At about that time, I heard about Thure Lindhardt, who I was told was “the bravest actor in Denmark,” as well as one of the very best. I sent him the script; he recorded himself performing a few of the scenes. I saw the material, and I cast him immediately. He was it, all the energy, and all the vulnerability, and all the risk I could want rolled into one. Given how personal, even autobiographical the material is, did you try to find some distance or was the point to simply mediate something more direct  or private through its making. Ira Sachs: I didn’t begin to write the script until I had achieved the two things I need before starting any new project, which is a great intimacy with the subject along with a certain analytical distance. I think without both of those you can’t be a good storyteller. So by the time we were shooting, for me, my own personal experiences were just one of many resources the actors could access in the process of creating their own reality. Ultimately, I think of every film as a kind of documentary, and what the camera is recording is the present, what happens right at the moment of shooting between the actors in front of the lens.  When people leave Keep the Lights On, what they remember is the reality of the characters on the screen, not the emotional history that I brought to it as the filmmaker. For me, part of what’s so powerful about the film is the glancing style you interpolate throughout. It’s almost Jamesian, so much is felt rather than expressed. Ira Sachs:  Henry James is my favorite author, and I’ve read all his books except the two last, and most difficult, ones. To me what I try to do in making a film is to have a strong story with a beginning, middle, and end, but then how you get there needs to be made up of a series of moments that contain as many contradictions as possible. I want as much life in the film as I can get, and that includes all the mess, and all the conflicts. [John] Cassavetes has also been a big influence on me, and Maurice Pialat from France. 24 Ira Sachs: I knew Thimios would be the perfect collaborator for this project for a number of reasons. First and foremost, he has the eye of a painter, as much as a cinematographer. His understanding of light and of the frame is instinctual and brilliant. Secondly, he shoots sex better than anyone else I see working today. Affectionately, and with humor, as well as an openness. For Thimios, sex is just a part of life. The camera doesn’t have to shoot it any different than a dinner scene, or a birthday party. This is a very important theme in the film: it’s a story driven by shame, but we wanted to tell it shamelessly, with all the lights on. What I didn’t know about Thimios until we worked together – and I think is maybe the most important element in his work – is his warmth and kindness. He is someone who relishes life, and he brings that joy to every frame. All of your films seem predicated on relationships that either cannot be consummated or survive, so there’s an underlying melancholy and sadness. Ira Sachs: Looking back at the four features I’ve made, I see that they are all about the conflict between how a person appears in the world, and what they keep hidden. I am then interested in how that individual conflict affects the relationships one has, and particularly how this secretiveness corrupts romantic intimacy. All my films have also been coming of age films, whether that be for a young man, as in “The Delta,” or a middle-aged one, like Chris Cooper in “Married Life.” I am interested in how we learn to know ourselves. It’s not surprising, I guess, that I spent many years in psychoanalysis. I think if I hadn’t been a film director, the only other job I would have been equipped for is an analyst, in fact. The criteria are quite similar. My next film, I’m glad to say is about a different kind of love relationship, one between two men who have been together, mostly happily, for 40 years. In many ways the story reflects a new way of being in the world – and a new way of being in relationships – that came for me in the wake of the difficult experiences that Keep the Lights On depicts. At Sundance, you introduced the largest artistic delegation I’ve ever seen there. It underlined what a labor of love the project is for everybody involved. Ira Sachs: My co-screenwriter Mauricio Zacharias and I finished the script in January of last year, and with my fellow producers, Marie Therese Guirgis and Lucas Joaquin, we committed to going into production by July of the same year. In a way, we went back to the idea of “independent” cinema not as a Hollywood genre, as it has become since the rise of Indie Cinema, but as a declaration of a type of production. Truly independent. Free. But you need a community of support to have this opportunity, and we found that community for Keep the Lights On, from institutions like Sundance and Cinereach, to hundreds of individuals who gave us money for the film, to companies like Kodak and Panavision, who made it possible for us to shoot on film. This film came out of the city of New York, and it was people who wanted to see a film that was honestly about that city, and its inhabitants, that made it possible. This was the 20th anniversary of the rise of the New Queer Cinema. Do you consider an heir of that movement, or do you belong to your own tradition. Ira Sachs: We are all products of our time and of our history, and I very much feel that I came of age as a filmmaker in an exciting time where it felt important and necessary to make work that was unafraid of being extremely open and queer. I was deeply influenced by [Todd Haynes’s film] “Poison,” as I was by my experiences in ACT UP, and by the urgency we all felt to make films that mattered, and that were not ashamed of. In my life now, my sexuality is less something that separates me, and I think Keep the Lights On reflects that change. Gratefully, whether in Denver or in Tulsa, London or Paris, many of us live in communities where gay and straight no longer live in separate universes. That doesn’t mean that the experience for each of us is the same – there is always specificity in life, and in one’s place in culture – but the truth is the differences now are less pronounced than the were 20 years ago. These are directors who believe in telling a good story, but the audience always feels when watching their films that the actors have a certain freedom. The characters drive the film, not the plot, and at any moment they could shift its direction. In that way, I think Keep the Lights On is something very new. It’s not a film that struggles with identity. It’s a film about people struggling with life, and love. Something most of us know well. You shot in Super-16mm, and the movie feels warmer, even sensual.  What about your collaboration with the cinematographer, Thimios Bakatakis. Again, this is much different film stylistically than the Greek films I know him through, like “Dogtooth” or “Attenberg.” Patrick Z. McGavin is a Chicago writer and film critic. His reviews, essays and film festival reports currently appear in “Time Out Chicago,” “Boston Phoenix” and “Cineaste.” He also maintains the film blog, www.lightsensitive.typepad.com Music Box Theatre Fall 2012 25 Join us as we do the Time Warp again! n ee ! ecial w gs Sp o nin e re Hall Sc The largest festival for kids film in North America! The Cast of Midnight Madness ensures that what’s happening in the audience is just as entertaining as what is on screen! The Rocky Horror Picture Show Friday Oct 27 at 11:59pm Saturday Oct 28 at 11:59pm Wednesday Oct 31st at 10pm Adults $9, children $6 (ages 2-16) Saturday, Oct. 27th 10am - “ParaNorman”   Sunday, Oct. 28th 9:30am – “Laura’s Star and the Dream Monsters” Sunday, Oct. 28th 11:30am – “Pirates! Band of Misfits” Saturday, Nov. 3rd 9:30am – “Tribute to Pixar Shorts” Sunday, Nov. 4th 9:30am – “Tad, the Lost Explorer” Sunday, Nov. 4th 11:30am – “Coming Home” Special presentation follows the film! Disney Pixar’s Brian Larsen, the story supervisor for Pixar’s newest release “BRAVE.” Larsen will give a presentation on animation production. This is a rare chance to learn from a master in the field! For information on LAIKA, Aardman and Pixar animation workshops during the Festival, visit cicff.org. Special event saturday, october 27 Ciné-Concert: Presented by 26 Music Box Theatre MÉLIÈS Georges Méliès, the father of cinematic special effects revolutionized the history of cinema with his creativity and originality. This masterful craftsman deserves credit for conceiving film as an original performance, recreating newsreels, advertising films, extravaganzas in color, and science fiction. One hundred years later, his films are still relevant today. To celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth, his family presents a series of performances in the true family tradition: This film-concert is designed as homage to this brilliant magician through a narrated performance accompanied by piano for if the film was silent, the room was never so! For 33 years, The Rocky Horror Picture Show has delighted audiences and terrified parents. The Music Box Theatre is the proud Chicago home of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Every screening has a shadow-cast of the film (that’s actors acting in front of the screen during the film), and the Halloween screenings are known to sell out! STARTS november 2 “Breathtaking. A strikingly successful piece of daring.” –The Wall Street Journal “powerful, exquisitely lensed.” – Variety Starring Gael Garcia Bernal the lonliest planet Directed by Julia Loktev Alex (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Nica (Hani Furstenberg) are young and in love and backpacking in the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia. The couple hire a local guide (Bidzina Gujabidze) to lead them on a camping trek, and they set off into the beautiful wilderness. While trekking they experience a moment that threatens to tear the young couple apart but they continue their journey, dealing with the regret and fallout of instinctual actions. This is a tale about love, forgiveness, coming to terms with someone else’s choices and rebuilding a relationship with a new view of your partner. www.sundanceselects.com Fall 2012 27 STARTS november 9 STARTS november 16 “An exhilarating tour de force… The most astonishing film at Cannes.” –Vogue Directed by Leos Carax After a long hiatus Leos Carax, the director of the cult classic Pola X, is back and in rare form as he takes us on a mad journey into the darkness of the virtual world. Holy Motors shows us the life of one Monsieur Oscar (Denis Lavant) who, during a 24 hour period, transforms himself into eleven different personas including a leprechaun lulled to sleep in the arms of a supermodel (Eva Mendes) all while being chauffeured around the city by his dedicated driver Celine (Edith Scob). Strange and surreal, Holy Motors, defies explanation and invites us to sit back and enjoy an inexplicable, weird, wonderful night of surprises, questions and breathtaking imagery. november 16 - 22 “You’ve never seen images like this before…it deserves to be seen and felt on the big screen”-Robert Redford Directed by Paolo Sorrentino Starring indominia.com CHASING ICE Directed by Jeff Orlowski Acclaimed National Geographic photographer, James Balog was once skeptical about climate change but, through his Extreme Ice Survey, he discovers undeniable evidence of our quickly changing planet. Using revolutionary timelapse cameras he captures a multi-year record of the world’s melting glaciers. His hauntingly beautiful videos compress years into seconds and we see these ancient mountains of ice disappearing at an astonishing and troubling rate. Travelling with a team of adventurers across the brutal Arctic, Balog risks his career and well-being in pursuit of the biggest story facing humanity. As the debate polarizes America and the intensity of natural disasters ramps up globally, Chasing Ice depicts a heroic photojournalist on a mission to deliver hope to our carbon-powered and endangered planet. 28 Music Box Theatre Cheyenne (Sean Penn) is a former rock star. At 50, he still dresses ‘Goth’ and lives in Dublin off his royalties. The death of his father, with whom he wasn’t on speaking terms, brings him back to New York where he discovers his father had an obsession: to seek revenge for a humiliation he had suffered. Cheyenne decides to pick up where his father left off, and starts a journey across America to finish what his late father started. www.weinsteinco.com sean penn “Funny, Charming and Stylish…unlike anything Penn’s done before!” -Total Film This Thanksgiving weekend, give thanks for some of your “Favorite Things” The classic film with on-screen lyrics so that everyone can sing along! Fun Packs Included! Costume Contest! Sing-A-Long FUN whole family for the Tickets to go on sale October 1st Sound of Music Friday November 23, 2012 4:00pm and 8:30pm Saturday November 24, 2012 11:30am, 4:00pm and 8:30pm Sunday November 25, 2012 11:30am and 4:00pm Advance Tickets Available Fall 2012 29 Free november 26 - 29 posters! MONTY PYTHON and the Free Coconuts!! Holy Grail Directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones The greatest tale of King Arthur's Court digitally remastered! Featuring an additional 12 minutes of rediscovered animations, narrated by Terry Gilliam! S E I V O M  D L O NOW H C T A TOW In this classic comedy from Monty Python, the gallant King Arthur gallops off, on foot, to recruit bold knights to help him in his quest for the Holy Grail. Along the way, they encounter such horrific obstacles as the dreaded Black Knight, a richly-accented French castle guard, the legendary cowardice of brave Sir Robin, a voracious Killer Bunny and the mighty Tim. Finally, a chance to see the special restored version of the film on the big screen! special event tuesday, november 27 Sound Opinions at the Movies: The Blues Brothers RE AMIN G T S S IE V O M R FO LU S P U L U H D O U R RE VIE WS N A O N NE TFLIX Tuesday, November 27th, 7:30pm O M A D E R . C E R O G A C H I C Join Sound Opinions hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot for a special screening of The Blues Brothers. See this film up on the big screen and hear Jim and Greg discuss its musical importance in the Chicago canon of film and music and enjoy this musical comedy love letter to Chicago 30 Music Box Theatre Fall 2012 31 calendar of events RUN DATE Starts August 24 August 24 - 30 Starts August 31 September 1 - November 18 Saturday, September 8th Starts September 14 September 17 September 21 September 21 & 22 Starts September 21 September 22 - 27 Starts September 28 September 28 - October 4 October 2 October 5 - 11 October 5 - 11 October 6 - November 18 October 12 October 12 October 13 - October 14 October 12 - 18 October 17 Starts October 19 Starts October 26 October 27- November 4 October 27 October 27, 28, & 31 Starts November 2 November 3 November 7 Starts November 9 November 10 November 16 - 22 Starts November 16 November 16 & 17 November 23 - November 25 November 26 - November 29 November 27 November 28 PRESENTATION Chicken with Plums The Imposter Sleepwalk with Me Forbidden Cinema: Infamous Pre-Code Classics Second Saturday Silent Cinema Presents: The Crowd Beloved PAGE 12 12 13 4 6 16 Press Pass All-Access Series: Greg Kot with David Byrne and Bettina Richards 17 Superstars of Burlesque 17 Midnight Movie: The Telephone Book 8 How To Survive a Plague 18 Chicago United Film Festival 18 Diana Vreeland 19 Snowman’s Land 19 LCD Soundsystem: The Final Concert 20 Well Digger’s Daughter 20 About Cherry 21 The Story of Film: An Odyssey 10 Second FRIDAY Silent Cinema Presents: Nosferatu 21 Chained Heat 22 Music Box of Horrors 22 Restored Print of Star Trek II the Wrath of Kahn 22 NT LIVE Presents: The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night-Time 9 Easy Money 23 Keep The Lights On 23 29th Annual Chicago International Children’s Film Festival 26 Ciné-Concert: Méliès 26 The Rocky Horror Picture Show 27 The Lonliest Planet 27 Midnight Movie: Sing-A-Long Xanadu 8 NT LIVE Presents: The Last of the Hausmans 9 Holy Motors 28 Second Saturday Silent Cinema Presents: The Cameraman 6 Chasing Ice 28 This Must Be The Place 29 Midnight Movie: Sing-A-Long Trapped in the Closet 8 Sing-A-Long Sound of Music 29 Monty Python and the Holy Grail: REMASTERED! 30 Sound Opinions Presents: The Blues Brothers 30 NT LIVE Presents: Timon of Athens 9 facebook.com/musicboxchicago twitter.com/musicboxtheatre youtube.com/musicboxchicago Visit www.musicboxtheatre.com to -Sign up for our E-Newsletter -Read our blog -Subscribe to our RSS feed 3733 N. Southport Avenue | 773.871.6604 musicboxtheatre.com