written by: Anna Heinämaa
produced by: Kai Nordberg and Kaarle Aho
directed by: Klaus Härö
rated: unrated
runtime: 98 min.
release date: March 13, 2015 (Estonia/Finland) and March 8 & 11, 2016 (Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, IL)
This is the kind of ‘based on a true story’ film I gravitate to – one that informs its viewers of a person or event that the world would mostly likely never have heard of, it not for one particular film. “The Fencer” falls in that category. The film was selected as the Finnish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for this year’s Oscars, but was not nominated, even though it made the December shortlist of nine films. Add it to the list of the many great foreign films that didn’t make the cut. Read more…
written by: Sonja Prosenc and Mitja Licen
produced by: Sonja Prosenc, Sandra Rzen and Rok Secen
directed by: Sonja Prosenc
rated: unrated
runtime: 90 min.
release date: July 7, 2014 (Czech Republic) and March 5th & March 7th (Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, IL)
“The Tree” from 2014, was Slovenia’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards, but it was not selected. The five films that were nominated in that category were really great and having seen a handful of foreign films recently that were submitted in that category, I’ve been exposed to a wealth of variety and quality in international cinema. Writer/director Sonja Prosenc’s tense and immersive family drama is one such film. Read more…
written by: Cristina Comencini and Giulia Calenda
produced by: Lionello Cerri
directed by: Cristina Comencini
rated: unrated
runtime: 104 min.
release date: March 19, 2015 (Italy), March 5th & 8th, 2016 (Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, IL)
2015’s “Latin Lover” may revolve around the celebration of Saverio Crispo (a fictional Italian silver screen icon and womanizer, played by Francesco Scianna) on the 10th anniversary of his death, but the true celebration is the bouquet of wonderful actresses the film, from Italian director/co-writer, Cristina Comencini, showcases. Read more…
written by: Denis Decourt
produced by: Éric Altmayer, Nicolas Altmayer and Isabelle Grellat
directed by: Denis Decourt
rated: unrated
runtime: 87 min.
release date: April 15, 2015 (France), March 5th & 7th, 2016 (Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, IL)
From France, comes “In Harmony” (“En équilibre”), a poignant and strong 2015 drama from writer/director Denis Dercourt, inspired by the autobiography Sur mes quatre jambes by Bernard Sachsé and Véronique Pellerin. Sachsé, an accomplished equestrian, who worked with horses as a stuntman in movies until an on-set injury in 1994, rendering his legs useless and confining him to a wheelchair, but did not prevent him from following his passion. Dercourt’s film centers on passion, providing one character who must hold on to his passion and another who must reconnect with her own. “In Harmony” is a fine character-driven film with an intuitive script that is carried by two confident and nuanced performances and has, so far, become my favorite film playing at the Chicago European Union Film Festival at the Gene Siskel Film Center. Read more…
Every March, the Gene Siskel Film Center programs one of the most daunting film festivals in Chicago, blocking out the entire month to deliver dozens of current film from the European Union. This year there’s 62 features from 24 nations, playing from March 4th through 31st. Not only is it daunting for the theater’s programmers, but even moreso for the film critics and enthusiasts who are trying to catch each scheduled film. Indeed, that’s a highly improbable task, but with such a wide variety of usually fine films, it’s worth a shot. Read more…
ZOOTOPIA (2016) review
written by: Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush and Jennifer Lee (story) & Phil Johnston and Jared Bush (screenplay)
produced by: Clark Spencer
directed by: Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Jared Bush
rated: PG (for some thematic elements, rude humor and action)
runtime: 108 min.
U.S. release date: March 4, 2016
Don’t believe the hyperbolic quote from Gizmodo’s Germain Lussier on the TV spot for Disney’s new animated feature “Zootopia” that proclaims it as “…the best film Disney Animation has made in 20 years!” Whoa. Yes, it is a highly-entertaining and enjoyable movie with a clever script and great characters, but come now, the folks behind “Zootopia” were also responsible for “Bolt”, “Tangled”, “Wreck-It Ralph” and the Oscar-winning “Big Hero Six” (not to mention a little movie called “Frozen”). Those are memorable features that are rewarding with each repeated viewing and audiences will like “Zootopia” just as much. I can attest that myself and the fellow viewers at the screening I attended (which included press and everyone else – so, lots of kids were giggling), erupted in laughter and there may have been a few knee-slaps as well (guilty). So, if you’ve grown weary of anthropomorphic animated movies – hold on, this is how it’s done right. Read more…
THE WAVE (2015) review
written by: John Kåre Raake and Harald Rosenløw-Eeg
produced by: Are Heidenstorm
directed by: Roar Uthaug
rated: R (for some language and disaster images)
runtime: 105 min.
U.S. release date: March 4, 2016 (limited)
I’ve developed a certain proclivity toward the kind of disaster movies I see. I prefer them to be natural disasters, possibly based on actual events, but I’ve learned my limits thanks to last summer’s “San Andreas”, which left me enraged at all the disaster porn and the ridiculous, unrealistic aggrandizing of the antagonists we follow in these movies – American movies, mostly. So, when a foreign film called “The Wave” comes along, seemingly unannounced (although it did make it to the last fall’s Toronto International Film Festival), my curiosity was piqued. Read more…
EDDIE THE EAGLE (2016) review
written by: Sean Macaulay and Simon Kelton
produced by: Adam Bohling, David Reid, Rupert Maconick, Valerie Van Galder & Matthew Vaughn
directed by: Dexter Fletcher
rated: PG-13 (for some suggestive material, partial nudity and smoking)
runtime: 105 min.
U.s. release date: February 26, 2016
Sports and underdog movies go together like peanut butter and jelly, like salt and pepper. As a sports fan and a moviegoer, there’s something warm and inspiring about those stories of people who just shouldn’t be able to do what they do. Are they box office gold? Not usually, but they often enough find their niche with audiences sooner rather than later. The latest entry into the underdog genre is a good one, Dexter Fletcher’s “Eddie the Eagle”. Read more…
The 88th Academy Award Winners….
Chris Rock killed it – not holding back one bit amid all the #oscarsowhite controversy! The host had some zingers for the Academy, was able to make some poignant commentary about the need for diversity and even appealed to the mostly-white audience to donate funds for his daughter’s Girl Scout cookie fundraiser. Well done, Chris! During the typically long telecast, Rock managed to make the most of a set-in-stone itinerary that’s hard to add anything new to, but he did a solid job, seeming perfectly comfortable and at ease with the audience visibly getting a kick out of his work. The night was full of some big surprises though, so let’s touch on them before the full list of winners…. Read more…
written by: Tala Motazedi
produced by: Tina Pakravan
directed by: Kaveh Ebrahimpour
rated: unrated
runtime: 80 min.
release date: February 28-29, 2015 (Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, IL)
“Yahya Didn’t Keep Quiet” is about a young boy’s coming-0f-age tale, one in which the titular child is not quite ready to come -of-age yet. The resilient boy has trouble figuring out the confusing world around him and the one closest to him eventually feels the repercussion of his perspective. It’s the feature-length debut for Kaveh Ebrahimpour, who is fortunate enough to work with multi-award winning Iranian actress Fatemeh Motamed Arya here, who also starred in “Avalanche”, the film that opened the 26th Annual Festival of Films from Iran at he Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago, IL. This makes her the alpha and omega of the festival and deservedly so – she’s fantastic. Read more…
