Ray Pride

Short Runs

Commentary by Ray Pride

Fri 24

*Barbershop

(2002, USA) Directed by Tim Story. 102m. $4. DOC Films (773) 702-8574, Max Palevsky Cinema, 1212 E. 59th St., 6:45, 9, 11:15.

*Fight Club

(1999, USA). Directed by David Fincher. "Fight Club" is the kind of once-a-decade event that inspires hyperbole. It's a ferocious rush of troubling dreams, but it isn't hermetic or cryptic. It is as dense and dark as any slab of arthouse Euro-murk, but as mordantly funny and sassy as any recent comedy that comes to mind. From the propulsive haste of the opening seconds, a voyage that begins literally inside a man's mind, we are pummeled into grateful submission by unrelenting imagination. Novelist Chuck Palahniuk's ream-of-consciousness pop parable seemed unadaptable, its tangy DeLilloesque zing unsuited to a medium of concrete images. But wow. But POW! This is a trickster's picture. Brad Pitt is always at his best when he plays a provocateur, intuitive and nonanalytical, working against his pretty face and country-boy charisma. Here, he's Tyler Durden, a sly stranger who changes the life of office-monkey Edward Norton. Norton's character is notably nameless: a man purged of identity, wanting desperately to be tinder to some new spark. Unable to sleep, the Narrator searches for tears, joining support groups for the mortally afflicted, eventually meeting Marla (Helena Bonham Carter), another pain junkie. Everyone's beaten down already. Fincher has rightly called it a comedy, albeit it a composite of "Raging Bull" and "Harold and Maude." 139m. Panavision. 35mm. Music Box (773)871-6604, 3733 N. Southport, Midnight.

*Nosferatu

(1922, Germany) Directed by F.W. Murnau. 90m. $8. Siskel Film Center (312)846-2600, 164 N. State at Randolph, 6:30.

*On Snow's Wavelength, Zoom Out

(2001, Canada) Directed by Teri Wehn-Damisch. A reverse variation on Michael Snow's famous experimental classic, "Wavelength," done with Snow's participation. 56m. Facets (773)281-4114, 1517 W. Fullerton, 7:30, 8:45.

* Seeing Is Believing: Handicams, Human Rights and the News

(2002, Canada) Directed by Peter Wintonick, Katarina Cizek. Valuable look at how consumer video technology has reinvented how we perceive the world. The primary thread of the film is about an activist in the Philippines whose efforts lead to violence from those he challenges (seen, shockingly, on screen), but Wintonick and Cizek also examine how a range of communication technologies, including cell phones, with or without texting, have led to uprisings around the world. It also serves as a kind of "worst hits" of the past decade, drawing from notorious imagery such as the Rodney King beating to effectively put its points across. 59m. Video. $7. Chicago Filmmakers (773)293-1447, 5243 N. Clark St., 2nd Floor, 7.

*Spellbound

(1945, USA) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. 111m. Block Museum (847) 491-4000, 40 Arts Circle Dr., 8.

Young Africa: Shorts Program

(1997-2000). Various directors. Program 112m. $8. Siskel Film Center (312)846-2600, 164 N. State at Randolph, 8:15.

Sat 25

*The Band Wagon

(1953, USA) Directed by Vincente Minnelli. One of the sleekest and sharpest of 1950s MGM musicals. Deader-than-deadpan Oscar Levant is priceless, and Fred Astaire has a couple of his most memorable numbers, including the gorgeously stylized "The Girl Hunt." 112m. Music Box (773)871-6604, 3733 N. Southport, 11:30am.

The Black Scorpion

(1957, USA) Directed by Edward Ludwig. 85m. Video. Free. Delilah's (773)472-2771, 2771 N. Lincoln, 6.

*Cinema Paradiso (Director's Cut)

(1988-2002, Italy-France) Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. More weep and woe from Tornatore's four-hankie-factory cinephelic melodrama. 170m. $4. DOC Films (773) 702-8574, Max Palevsky Cinema, 1212 E. 59th St., 6:15, 9:30.

*Cluny Brown

(1946, USA) Directed by Ernst Lubitsch. 100m. $8. Siskel Film Center (312)846-2600, 164 N. State at Randolph, 4.

*Diner

(1982, USA) Directed by Barry Levinson. Pass on the popcorn. 110m. $6. Block Museum . (847) 491-4000, 40 Arts Circle Dr., 8.

*Fight Club

See Jan 24. Music Box (773)871-6604, 3733 N. Southport, Midnight.

*Guide

(1965, India) Directed by V. Anand, T. Danielewski . 183m. $4. DOC Films (773) 702-8574, Max Palevsky Cinema, 1212 E. 59th St., 2.

*It's Tough To Be Famous

(1932, USA) Directed by Alfred E. Green. 79m. Also "Iron Coffin," Chapter 3 of the series "Spy Smasher." 16mm. $5. LaSalle Theater (312)904-9442, 4901 W. Irving Park, 8.

*Monte Carlo

(1930, USA). Directed by Ernst Lubitsch. 90m. 35mm. $8. Siskel Film Center (312)846-2600, 164 N. State at Randolph, 6.

*Murder By Contract

(1958, USA) Directed by Irving Lerner. Scorsese cites this clipped termite noir as one of his favorites. 81m. Music Box (773)871-6604, 3733 N. Southport, 11:30am.

*On Snow's Wavelength, Zoom Out

See Jan 24. Facets (773)281-4114, 1517 W. Fullerton, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30.

Young Africa: Shorts Program

(1997-2000) Various directors. 112m. $8. Siskel Film Center (312)846-2600, 164 N. State at Randolph, 6:00.

Sun 26

*Barbershop

$4. DOC Films (773) 702-8574, Max Palevsky Cinema, 1212 E. 59th St., 2.

*Blackboard Jungle

(1955, USA) Directed by Richard Brooks. 101m. $4. DOC Films (773) 702-8574, Max Palevsky Cinema, 1212 E. 59th St., 7.

The Blues Brothers

(1980, USA) Directed by John Landis. 130m. Video. Free. Delilah's (773)472-2771, 2771 N. Lincoln, 6.

*Microcosmos

(1996) Directed by Nuridsany, Perennou. Insect fuckumentary: like Animal Planet, but so cute your fillings will sock you. 80m. $4. DOC Films (773) 702-8574, Max Palevsky Cinema, 1212 E. 59th St., 4:20.

*Silver Rockets-Kool Things: 20 Years of Sonic Youth

(2002, Germany) Directed by Christopher Dreher. 60m. Shown with Stone's "Angel of Love." $8. Siskel Film Center (312)846-2600, 164 N. State at Randolph, 6:15.

*The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg

(1927, USA) Directed by Ernst Lubitsch. 105m. 35mm. $8. Siskel Film Center (312)846-2600, 164 N. State at Randolph, 4.

Mon 27

*Heaven Can Wait

(1943, USA) Directed by Ernst Lubitsch. 112m. $8. Siskel Film Center (312)846-2600, 164 N. State at Randolph, 8.

*Monte Carlo

(1930, USA). Directed by Ernst Lubitsch. 90m. 35mm. $8. Siskel Film Center (312)846-2600, 164 N. State at Randolph, 6:15.

*The Piano Teacher

(2001)Directed by Michael Haneke. Oh that Isabelle Huppert suffers for us all. 130m. $4. DOC Films (773) 702-8574, Max Palevsky Cinema, 1212 E. 59th St., 7.

Tue 28

*Nosferatu

(1922, Germany) Directed by F.W. Murnau. 90m. $8. Siskel Film Center (312)846-2600, 164 N. State at Randolph, 6.

Prime Shorts

Features the work of cult film director Trent Harris, among others. Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, (773) 227-4433, $5, 7:30.

*Twentieth Century

(1934, USA) Directed by Howard Hawks. Bet you can't talk this fast, or laugh this hard. 91m. 35mm. $4. DOC Films (773) 702-8574, Max Palevsky Cinema, 1212 E. 59th St., 7.

Wed 29

*Cluny Brown

(1946, USA) Directed by Ernst Lubitsch. 100m. $8. Siskel Film Center (312)846-2600, 164 N. State at Randolph, 6,8.

*Dune

(1984, USA) Directed by David Lynch. There's one shot I remember that still haunts me: a small royal child twirling in slow motion, a dagger in one hand, a smile on her face. Maybe I imagined it. Doubt I'll be checking into this one anytime soon, though: its greatest virtue is teaching Lynch that he would have to remain independent to remain happy in his career. 137m. Panavision. 35mm. $4. DOC Films (773) 702-8574, Max Palevsky Cinema, 1212 E. 59th St., 7.

Thu 30

*The Fearless Vampire Killers

(1967, USA) Directed by Roman Polanski. 108m. $4. DOC Films (773) 702-8574, Max Palevsky Cinema, 1212 E. 59th St., 9:15.

*Heaven Can Wait

(1943, USA) Directed by Ernst Lubitsch. 112m. $8. Siskel Film Center (312)846-2600, 164 N. State at Randolph, 6.

*Late Works are the Catastrophes

(2002, USA) Directed by Jerry Blumenthal, Gordon Quinn. The Kartemquin filmmakers will appear with their postscript to their 1988 documentary of the political painter, which will also be shown. Program 68m. Free. Free. Claudia Cassidy Theatre, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington, 1.

*Notorious

(1946, USA) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. 102m. $6. Block Museum. (847) 491-4000, 40 Arts Circle Dr, 8.

*Silver Rockets/Kool Things - 20 Years of Sonic Youth

(2002, Germany) Directed by Christopher Dreher. 60m. Shown with Stone's "Angel of Love". $8. Siskel Film Center (312)846-2600, 164 N. State at Randolph, 6.

*Trembling Before G-D

(2001, USA) Directed by Sandi S. Dubowski. The sheltered lives of gay Hasidic Jews. 94m. $4. DOC Films (773) 702-8574, Max Palevsky Cinema, 1212 E. 59th St., 7

(2003-01-22)

Also by Ray Pride

Tip of the Week
Thirty-two-year-old Jae-eun Jeong is one of South Korea's few female directors, and her coming-of-age story about five young women in the working-class port city of Inchon struggling against life after high school is a tender delight.
(2003-01-15)

Short Runs
This week's limited release movies.
(2003-01-15)

Which way the wind blows
Documentaries are tough enough to finance, even when they're not about a group of young people who bombed the U.S. Capitol.
(2003-01-15)

Short Runs
This week's limited-run movies
(2003-01-10)

Tip of the Week
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Good cop, better cop
(2003-01-08)

DVD Tip of the Week
(2003-01-08)

Tuman show
(2003-01-08)

DVD Tip of the Week
(2003-01-02)

Playing by fear
(2003-01-02)

Tip of the Week
(2002-12-26)

Fun and gangs
(2002-12-26)

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