Limited runs and special events:
@ Butler Field/Grant Park, Lake Shore Drive and Monroe: Chicago Outdoor Film Festival - It Happened One Night - Jul. 15; A
Night At The Opera - Jul. 22; On The Town - Jul. 29; In The Heat of The Night - Aug. 5; Only Angels Have Wings - Aug.12; Pillow Talk -
Aug. 19; Rear Window - Aug. 26
@ Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State, 312/846-2600: Bonhoeffer - Martin Doblmeier's acclaimed documentary about the late
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian, resistance fighter and opponents of Nazism and anti-Semitism. - Jul. 2-10
Horns And Halos - Controversial documentary about the late James Hatfield, author of a contentious biography of George W. Bush,
co-directed by Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley. Jul. 11-17
Films by the late, gay director Pier Paolo Pasolini: The Decameron (Il Decameron) - Jul. 5, 7, 9; The Canterbury Tales (I Racconti
Di Canterbury) - Jul. 12, 14, 16; Arabian Nights (Il Fiore Delle Mille E Una Notte) - Jul.18 and 21; Salo, Or The 120 Days Of Sodom
(Salo O Le 120 Giornate Di Sodoma) Jul. 25-31
@ Music Box Theater, 3733 N Southport, 773/871-6604: What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? - Jul. 19 & 20 (late show); Auntie
Mame - Aug. 30 & 31 (late show)
In theaters:
The Trip (TLA Releasing)—A well-intentioned, but predictable, journey through contemporary gay life that unfolds like a well-worn
road map, The Trip is redeemed by the endearing performances of the two male leads, Steve Braun (Tommy) and Larry Sullivan
(Alan), who give these characters more depth than was provided by the script. Even though the movie veers off in a Gregg Araki-like
direction towards the end, you can't help but root for both of these men. Tommy, a young gay-rights activist, and Alan, a naïve young
Republican who is researching a book on the 'homosexual lifestyle through the ages,' meet in 1973. Peter (Ray Baker), an older,
closeted, but well-connected gay man, who is interested in Alan, offers to help him find a publisher. Alan's life takes an unexpected
turn as he begins a romantic relationship with Tommy, and he soon wants to forget about the book. Fast forward to 1977, when Anita
Bryant is leading her anti-gay crusade and Alan's publisher anonymously publishes the long-shelved manuscript, The Straight Truth.
Peter, who is jealous of Tommy and Alan's relationship, sabotages the couple by anonymously alerting the media to Alan's
connection to the book. Tommy leaves Alan, leading Alan to seek comfort in Peter's arms. Fast forward, again, to 1984. Alan, who is
making amends to the gay community as an activist, is living with the still-closeted Peter and Tommy, who has AIDS, is living in
Mexico. Beverly (Sirena Irwin), Alan's ex-girlfriend, who has become a successful fitness guru, teams up with Alan's mother Mary (Jill
St. John) to convince him to see Tommy before Tommy dies, and the road trip begins. (B-)
The Lawless Heart—The Lawless Heart is a Rashomon-meets-Go-style British film that was co-written and co-directed by Neil
Hunter and Tom Hunsinger. This touching and powerful motion picture tells the story, from different perspectives, of what happens to
Nick (Tom Hollander, who previously played gay in Rose Troche's Bedrooms and Hallways), the surviving male life-partner of Stuart
(David Coffey), after Stuart's death by drowning. The story begins, in each telling, with Stuart's funeral. As the sad story unfolds, we
learn that Stuart didn't leave a will, and while his sister Judy (Ellie Haddington) believes that Nick is the rightful heir, her husband Dan
(Bill Nighy), doesn't share her feelings. The remaining residents of the seaside town, including the flaky Charlie (Sukie Smith), Dan's
friend Tim (Douglas Henshall), and the philosophical florist Corinne (Clementine Celarie), all cross paths and intermingle their lives,
further complicating matters. Under Hunter and Hunsinger's careful direction, the cast brings the pair's genuinely heartfelt words and
characters to life, getting to the heart of the matter at its own sweet pace. (B+)
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (Columbia) —Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle is all about the full throttle return of Demi Moore. While
the Charlie's Angels sequel might seem like an unusual choice to mark Moore's return to the big screen, the fit-for-fighting actress
makes the most of it as rogue angel Madison Lee, whose tarnished halo leads her to make serious trouble for Dylan (Drew
Barrymore), Natalie (Cameron Diaz) and Alex (Lucy Liu). The plot involves two titanium rings that house the names of people in the
FBI's Witness Protection Program. Lee's plan is to deliver the rings to rival crime mobs so that they can kill off those under the
government's protection. As it turns out, one of the names on the list is Dylan's real name Helen Zass (a name that leads to a
multitude of jokes), since she sent her crazy killer boyfriend Seamus (a beefed up and buffed Justin Theroux) to prison eight years
earlier for killing a man in cold blood. Blaringly bright, bombastic and bursting at the seams with comic book-level violence, unrealistic
fight scenes and smutty sitcom humor, Full Throttle is full throttle summer entertainment whose only redeeming quality is the promise
of more sequels to come. (B-)
Alex and Emma (Warner Brothers)—It's almost incomprehensible that Rob Reiner, director of comedy classics such as This Is
Spinal Tap, The Sure Thing, The Princess Bride and When Harry Met Sally, is responsible for this tepid, chemistry-less romantic
comedy. The titular characters, Alex (Luke Wilson) and Emma (Kate Hudson), are a blocked writer in debt to Cuban loan sharks and a
naïve court stenographer, respectively. Alex cons Emma into helping him by allowing him to dictate his romance novel to her. As
Alex's novel unfolds and Emma becomes more involved in the story, the duo takes on the roles of characters in the book, and an
unfathomable relationship begins to take shape. (D+)
Capturing The Friedmans (HBO Documentary Pictures)—MovieFone co-founder Andrew Jarecki's debut documentary tells the
shocking story of the Friedman family and their downfall centering on a Great Neck, NY, sex abuse scandal during the mid-to-late
1980s. The late Arnold Friedman, husband of Elaine, and father of David, Seth and Jesse, was arrested for possession of child
pornography which led to subsequent allegations that he molested several young boys who were enrolled in a computer class taught
in his home. Moreover, Jesse, the youngest son, was also implicated. In addition to Jarecki's footage, which includes interviews with
David and Jesse (middle brother Seth chose not to be included in the documentary), two of the Friedman's three sons, their mother
Elaine, and Arnold's brother Howard, among others, there is family movie footage as well as video footage that David Friedman shot
himself. Further complications arise when it is discovered in some of Arnold's writings that he, in fact, struggled with his own
homosexual urges and actions. (A-)
