Limited runs and special events:
@ Butler Field/Grant Park, Lake Shore Drive and Monroe: Chicago Outdoor Film Festival - Rear Window - Aug. 26
@ Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State, (312) 846-2600: The Irreplaceable Katharine Hepburn, features films by the late actress such as Summertime - Aug. 23 & 26, The Philadelphia Story - Aug. 29 & 31, and Stage Door - Aug. 30 and Sept. 1
@ Landmark Century Center Cinema, 2828 N Clark, www.cuff.org: 10th Annual Chicago Underground Film Festival - Films screened include The Last Fuck, 'a goth queer punk tale of horror, death and love.' Advance tickets available through ticketweb.com or by calling (866) 468-3401. Aug. 27 - Sept. 2
@ Music Box Theater, 3733 N Southport, (773) 871-6604: Auntie Mame - Aug. 30 & 31 (late show)
Eric C. Reda's play Equinox, performed last January at the Bailiwick, is being turned into a movie. On Wednesday, Aug. 20 they will be having a kick-off party at T's Bar and Grill, 5025 N Clark, in Andersonville. See the Web site aboutfacetheatre.com/dryheat
In theaters:
Madame Sata (Wellspring) - Loosely based on the mythic life of Joao Francisco dos Santos (Lazaro Ramos), who was also known by his drag persona Madame Sata, this first feature-length film by Karim Ainouz begins in 1932 and is set in the seedy Lapa section of Rio de Janeiro. Joao works as the dresser for a bitchy and abusive cabaret singer named Vitoria (Renata Sorrah) and he shares a flat with single mother Laurita (Marcelia Cartaxo), her toddler daughter and his friend and partner in crime, the flaming Taboo (Flavio Bauraqui). Joao is also beginning a sexual relationship with Renatinho (Felipe Marques), whom he refers to as his 'Indian prince.' Joao, who was born both an 'outlaw' and 'bent,' has a short temper and often erupts in rages. One such eruption lands him in jail. Following his release, Joao is offered a job at his favorite saloon, the Blue Danube, and it is there that he makes his drag debut as Jamacy. Just as Joao's new career, with which he wants to go 'pro' and become a 'celebrated artiste' is about to take off, he shoots and kills a man who has assaulted and berated him with racial and homophobic slurs. Charged with first-degree murder, Joao is sentenced to 10 years. Upon his release, Joao burst onto the scene in the 1942 Carnival as Madame Sata, where he won the 'fancy dress costume' contest. Before his death in 1976, 'Madame Sata' would go on to win many costume contests, as well as being jailed many more times. (B-)
The Magdalene Sisters (Miramax) - Based on actual events that occurred in convents run by the Magdalene order of nuns across Ireland, The Magdalene Sisters is a stunningly well-acted dramatization. Though set in the early 1960s, writer and director Peter Mullan has crafted a near-Dickensian world. Three women—Margaret (Anne-Marie Duff), who was raped by a cousin at a family wedding; Bernadette (Nora-Jane Noone), an orphan who has a reputation for harmlessly flirting with boys; and Rose (Dorothy Duffy), who has a baby out of wedlock—are abandoned by their families and caretakers and sent to live with the Sisters and work in the Magdalene laundries. They are deprived of their rights to see anyone, and Rose has her name taken from her by the embittered, tight-fisted, physically and psychologically abusive Sister Bridget (Geraldine McEwan), and becomes Patricia because there is already a Rose at the convent. Living in almost inhuman conditions, the women are basically brainwashed into subservience. One young woman, the kind, but slightly mentally handicapped Crispina, is a particular target of abuse. There are also hints of the lesbianism said to exist in such settings, which we see when a pair of nuns rate the women's breasts and pubic areas following a group shower. Harrowing and moving, The Magdalene Sisters resounds like an answered prayer. (A-)
Passionada (Samuel Goldwyn Films) - This sappy, but well-meaning, romantic comedy tells the story of Celia (Sofia Milos), millworker by day and Fado singer by night. She is a widow and the mother of rebellious Vicky (Emmy Rossum) and she lives in the flat below her mother-in-law Angelica (Lupe Ontiveros, from Chuck & Buck). Celia hasn't dated since her husband was killed at sea more than seven years earlier and Vicky is eager to fix her up. Vicky's prayers are answered when Charlie (Jason Isaacs) begins to court Celia. Needless to say all sorts of melodrama occurs, especially when Celia learns that Charlie is not who he says he is. Directed by Dan (The Velocity Of Gary) Ireland, Passionada is long on passion, but short on sincerity. (C-)
S.W.A.T. (Columbia) - Big-screen adaptations of '70s TV shows are, more often than not, a bust. See the Charlie's Angels sequel for proof. Through a combination of clever writing, near-edge-of-the-seat pacing and action, and a cast that doesn't take itself too seriously, S.W.A.T. is strategically and tactically the best action flick of the summer. When a citizen is injured during a rescue during a bank robbery, S.W.A.T. partners Street (Colin Farrell) and Gamble (Jeremy Renner) are put on the spot and must take the fall. Renner leaves the force in anger while Street puts in his time in the gun cage. Street's patience is rewarded when renegade S.W.A.T. team leader Hondo (Samuel L. Jackson) is asked to assemble a new squadron, and selects Street, as well as Sanchez (Michelle Rodriguez) and Kay (LL Cool J) to join Boxer (Brian Van Holt) and T.J. (Josh Charles). Needless to say we hear more from the Gamble later, especially after deadly international fugitive Alex (Olivier Martinez) offers a $100 million to whomever helps him escape. Homoerotic in the way that movies with mostly male cast members tend to be, many of S.W.A.T.'s cast members have put in their time in queer roles including Charles, who made his movie debut in Hairspray and played a gay college student in Threesome; Farrell, who is starring in the movie adaptation of the Michael Cunningham novel A Home At The End Of The World, and has appeared in a couple of gay director Joel Schumacher's movies, and will be playing Alexander The Great in the upcoming bio-pic; Renner, who played Jeffrey Dahmer in the film dramatization of the mass-murderer's life; and Rodriguez, who has been making lesbians melt and squirm via her many hard-ass female roles. (B)
O Fantasma (Picture This!) - Young and strikingly handsome Sergio (Ricardo Meneses) is a sexual compulsive who, driven by his animal desires, eventually hits rock bottom. Working on the night shift as a garbage collector in Lisbon, Sergio seeks out anonymous gay sex in public restrooms, in cars and various settings. The only other being with whom Sergio has any kind of connection is a dog named Lorde, and there are times when Sergio's behavior, including licking faces, sniffing garbage, tearing at things with his teeth, growling and whimpering, not to mention his endless 'humping,' acts more like a dog than a person. However, when he stumbles across a sexy swimmer and motorcycle enthusiast, Sergio finds a focus for his desires, only to have them unreciprocated. This rejection leads Sergio, dressed in head-to-toe black latex, into a bottomless downward spiral. Sexually explicit and both visually and psychologically dark, O Fantasma is as haunting and nearly as inexplicable as an apparition. In Portuguese with English subtitles. (C)
On DVD:
River Made To Drown In (Picture This! Home Video): Newly available on DVD, this 1997 feature stars the recently out former 1960s TV heartthrob Richard Chamberlain as Thaddeus, a gay man with AIDS. Having sold off all of his belongings and in need of a place to stay, he shows up on the doorstep of Allen (Michael Imperioli of The Sopranos fame), an artist and former male hustler with whom Thaddeus was once in love. With his past behind him, Allen is now involved with gallery owner Eva (chanteuse Ute Lemper), who is going to give him the opportunity to show his work. Among Thaddeus's dying wishes is a request to Allen to help him track down a young hustler, named Jaime (James Duval), for whom he has developed an attachment. Made only a few years ago, River Made To Drown In feels strangely dated. However, Chamberlain gives a decent performance and the supporting cast is full of surprises, including gay actor Michael Kearns as an antique store proprietor, Austin Pendleton as a john, and Talia Shire as Jaime's mother. (C-)
