The 2014 Chicago Critics Film Festival
Film enthusiasts in Chicago have much to be excited for this week. The 2nd annual Chicago Critics Film Festival, or CCFF, runs from May 9th through May 15th at the beautiful Music Box Theatre. It’s the only film festival created by film critics. So, unlike other film festivals out there, you’re not going to find that random dud you were at one point excited for or curious about. These films were hand-picked by select members of the Chicago Film Critic Association, in an effort to bring the best of what they’ve seen to viewers as passionate as they are.
Top Five Most Anticipated Films of Summer 2014
Anticipation is funny. It can really let you down or surpass your expectations. I’ve experienced that at the end of each summer, having either been let down by a film I was really looking forward to – or, on the flip side – been blown away by a film I only had a mild curiosity for. That will definitely happen again this summer. It’s easy to look at this summer and feel like we’re getting more of the same, with the expecting sequels, raunchy comedies and animated fare overshadowing sleeper hits and indie favorites. While some of them will indeed feel like a rinse-and-repeat formula, there were assuredly be others that rise about the rest. My fellow film enthusiasts here at Keeping It Reel have joined me in compiling our own select five “Most Anticipated Film” that’ll hit theaters this summer.
CHILD’S POSE (2013) review
written by: Răzvan Rădulescu and Călin Peter Netzer
produced by: Ada Solomon
directed by: Călin Peter Netzer
rating: unrated
runtime: 112 min.
U.S. release date: February 19, 2014 & April 25, 2014 (limited)
Parents often feel responsible for their child’s reprehensible actions or despicable behavior. They may feel it reflects poorly on their own character and will go out of their way to fix a situation, make it all better. Certainly not all parents, but definitely the mother we meet in “Child’s Pose”, a Romanian film from last year that is finally getting released here in the States. It’s a fascinating film centered on a controlling and manipulative mother who will confound audiences with her own questionable behavior and blunt demeanor, leaving them to ponder whether or not her concern and emotional responses are genuine or come from a place of self-preservation.
THE RAID 2: BERANDAL (2014) review
written by: Gareth Evans
produced by: Ario Sagantoro, Nate Bolotin and Aram Tertzakian
directed by: Gareth Evans
rating: R (for sequences of strong bloody
runtime: 150 min.
U.S. release date: April 4, 2014
Two years ago, the Indonesian film, “The Raid: Redemption”, smacked action movie fans upside the head. To briefly sum it up, it was nuts. The straight-forward plot took a backseat to some amazing stunt work, an insane amount of creative choreography and in-your-face violence. There’s no need to worry about the sequel not living up to the original with this film, since the highly-anticipated “The Raid 2: Berandal” is bigger and faster and even offers an indepth story to wrap your brain around – which getting hit upside the head once again.
TRANSCENDENCE (2014) review
written by: Jack Paglen
produced by: Broderick Johnson, Andrew A. Kosorve, Kare Cohen, Marisa Polvino, Annie Marter, David Valdes & Aaron Ryder
directed by: Wally Pfister
rating: PG-13 (for sci-fi action and violence, some bloody images, brief strong language and sensuality)
runtime: 119 min.
U. S. release date: April 18, 2014
Count me among those who have been anticipating the directorial debut of Wally Pfister. The long-time cinematographer for Christopher Nolan has had plenty of experience behind the camera, but “Transcendence” is the Chicagoan’s first shot at directing a film. One would think that such a director would offer some absorbing visuals at least, but unfortunately there’s nothing outstanding to look at here.
CHEAP THRILLS (2014) review
written by: Trent Haaga and David Chirchillo
produced by: Gabriel Cowan, Travis Stevens and John Suits
directed by: E.L. Katz
rating: not rated
runtime: 85 min.
U.S. release date: March 21, 2014 and April 11, 2014 (also available on Amazon and iTunes)
“Cheap Thrills” is a case study in human desperation and depravity. It’s a sick and twisted film, but it goes about it in a most absorbing albeit uncomfortable way. It’s one of those films that forces the viewer to place themselves in the protagonist’s unpredictable position, asking a question like, “What would you do for money?” Once you do it, what else are you willing to do for more and then, “How far is too far?”
UNDER THE SKIN (2014) review
written by: Walter Campbell and Jonathan Glazer
produced by: James Wilson and Nick Wechlser
directed by: Jonathan Glazer
rating: R (for graphic nudity, sexual content, some violence and language)
runtime: 108 min.
U.S. release date: April 11, 2014 (limited)
A decade ago, director Jonathan Glazer (2000’s “Sexy Beast”) released his last film, “Birth”, starring Nicole Kidman, which received mixed reviews – initially. The film would eventually earn some respect after additional viewings, generating something of a cult status. I predict the same fate for his latest film, “Under the Skin”, a psychological sci-fi thriller starring Scarlett Johansson. Although an extraordinary original film, one that both respects and challenges its audience, there will be some who will be too perplexed and frustrated to fully appreciate it. At first.
CLASSICS: Aliens (1986)
written by: James Cameron
produced by: Gale Anne Hurd
directed by: James Cameron
rating: R (for monster violence and for language)
runtime: 137 min.
U.S. release date: July 18, 1986
If “Alien” is the quintessential sci-fi horror film, “Aliens” is the quintessential sci-fi actioner. James Cameron is writing and directing instead of Ridley Scott, and the plot jumps 50 years into the future. Ripley has been found by chance after years hibernating in a space pod, and she’s heartbroken to learn her daughter, unmentioned in “Alien”, died several years before. Her grief is personified by her utter isolation—she’s stuck on a corporate space station orbiting Earth, disconnected from her beloved planet, home. Ripley was shocked to learn, as I was on my first viewing, that LV-426 (the satellite moon orbiting the planet Calpamos) is now inhabited. Not only that, but it has been commissioned as one of the sites fit for terraforming, the lengthy process of reshaping a planet’s atmosphere to make it livable.
NON-STOP (2014) review
written by: John W. Richardson, Chris Roach and Ryan Engle
produced by: Joel Silver, Alex Heineman, Steve Richards & Andrew Rona
directed by: Juame Collet-Serra
rating: PG-13 (for intense sequences of action and violence, some language, sensuality and drug references)
runtime: 106 min.
U.S. release date: February 28, 2014
Terror at 30,000 feet!!! There’s all sorts of crazy, scary, terrifying situations out there. But what about those situations where you simply can’t get away from it? Like literally, can’t get away, like on a plane flying at 30,000 feet. There’s a fun, little sub-genre of movies like this, including “Air Force One”, “Flightplan”, “Red Eye”, and most recently, “Non-Stop”.
RUNNER RUNNER (2013) review
written by: Brian Koppelman and David Levian
produced by: Arnon Milchan, Jennifer Davisson Killoran & Leonardo DiCaprio
directed by: Brad Furman
rating: R (for language and some sexual content)
runtime: 91 min.
U.S. release date: October 4, 2013
DVD/Blu-ray release date: January 7, 2014
If you would have told me back in the late 1990s, that some 14 years later Justin Timberlake would be where he is right now……….yeah, I would have said you were nuts. The ‘N Sync front guy?!? Really?!? But here we sit, Timberlake one of the biggest stars in entertainment in music, film, even on TV pairing with his buddy Jimmy Fallon. Good for him, the star doing quite the job of marketing himself. And then there’s “Runner Runner”, setting him back in a bad way.
