Limited runs, specials:
@ Big Wig, 1551 W. Division, (773) 235-9100: Bondage Not Bombs: Uniform Night at the 3rd Pleasure Play Party to Benefit the movie Dominatrix Waitrix – Nov. 9
@ Beat Kitchen, 2011 W. Belmont, (773) 281-4444: A Day on the Force benefit and wrap party. Funds raised go to help with completion of the feature documentary, A Day on the Force: Women's Professional Tackle Football. Music by The Expatriates, Big Smith and The Push – Nov. 5
@ Facets Multi-Media, 1517 W. Fullerton, (800) 532-2387: Chicago International Children's Film Festival – Oct. 29 – Nov. 2
@ Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State, (312) 846-2600: Theater series featuring the 1973 adaptations of plays into movies: The Iceman Cometh – Oct. 29, Nov. 5; In Celebration – Oct. 30; In The Mirror of Maya Deren – Oct. 31, Nov. 1-6; Nina Simone, Love Sorceress – Oct. 31, Nov. 3, 6; The Films of Maya Deren – Nov. 3, 5; 21 Grams, starring Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro – Nov. 7-13; The Year That Trembled Nov. 7-13; Shanghai Express (dir. by Josef von Sternberg, starring Marlene Dietrich) - Nov. 8, 13; Dishonored (von Sternberg/Dietrich) - Nov. 8, 10; Les Enfants Terribles (dir. by Jean Cocteau) - Nov. 12; Blonde Venus (von Sternberg/Dietrich) - Nov. 15, 20; Morocco (von Sternberg/Dietrich) - Nov. 16, 17; Cowards Bend The Knee (dir. by Guy Maddin) + shorts – Nov. 15-21; The Scarlet Empress (von Sternberg/Dietrich) - Nov. 22, 24; Beauty And The Beast (Cocteau) - Nov. 23, 28; Venus Boyz – Nov. 28-30, Dec. 1-4; Reno: Rebel Without A Pause – Nov. 28-30, Dec. 1, 2; The Devil Is A Woman (von Sternberg) - Nov. 29, Dec. 4; The AIDS Crisis Is Still Beginning (dir. Gregg Bodorowitz) – Dec. 4
@ Lakeshore Theatre, 3175 N Broadway, (773) 472-3492: The Cliffhanger—World premiere screening and benefit (appetizers, cash bar, live hip hop music and break dancing) for 'unique motion picture collaboration' featuring queer Chicago artists filmmaker Dan Mohr, actress Laura Lonigro - Nov. 17
In theaters:
The Human Stain (Miramax/Lakeshore) – Based on the complex Philip Roth novel, Oscar-winner Robert Benton's movie adaptation beats the odds even with the unusual casting of Anthony Hopkins as college professor with a secret Coleman Silk and Nicole Kidman as lower class Faunia Farley, who begin a tempestuous relationship. When Silk is wrongfully accused of racism (the irony of which is later revealed) and his wife dies shortly thereafter from the stress, his life is thrown into a chaotic state. He finds comfort in a friendship he begins with longstanding Roth character Nathan Zuckerman (Gary Sinise) and his sexual affair with Faunia. Both Nathan and Faunia have their own demons to contend with, but it is Coleman's heartbreaking story (told in flashbacks with the gorgeous Wentworth Miller playing the younger Silk) that leaves its mark on viewers. (B)
In The Cut – Jane Campion's ambitious, but somewhat unsatisfying film adaptation of Susanna Moore's 1997 novel, is an atmospheric thriller in need of more humanity. When a dismembered female body is found near the garden of NYC apartment dweller and repressed writer and teacher Frannie (Meg Ryan), she is visited by Detective Malloy (Mark Ruffalo) who is investigating the murder. Frannie eventually loses her inhibitions, standing up to homophobic cops, having sex with Malloy, and even spending more time with her loose sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who lives above a strip club. But pretty soon the body count begins to increase, with Pauline among the victims, and Frannie is suspicious of everyone, including John Wayne Gacy-fixated student Cornelius (Sharieff Pugh) and even Detective Malloy. The somewhat predictable ending is a disappointment, but it was interesting to watch Ryan working outside of her realm and seeing Ruffalo in the altogether. (C-)
On TV:
here! Pay-Per-View (now available): Sordid Lives, Food Of Love, Circuit, The Brotherhood (airdate: Oct. 31), Voodoo Academy, When Boys Fly (coming soon), The Business of Fancy Dancing (coming soon)
Sundance Channel (check local listings for times) – Fire - Oct. 30, Aimee & Jaguar – Oct. 30, American Waitress, Nov. 3, 10, 18, 23, 27, Last Dance – Documentary about 'the stormy collaboration between legendary author-illustrator Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are) and the iconoclastic modern dance troupe Pilobolus.' – Nov. 10, 19, 22, 25, Sex in a Cold Climate Nov. 17.
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Pictured: Busch and Priestly in Die, Mommie, Die!
