Belushi is a heartbreaking must-watch documentary about late Saturday Night Live, Animal House, and Blues Brothers star John Belushi. This summer marked the 40th anniversary of The Blues Brothers hitting the big screen. Sadly, this year also marked the 38th anniversary of the comedian’s tragic death at 33 years old. And yet this film finds a way to capture what was going on in his head with newfound movie stardom. Mind you, this was during…
"Belushi: A Heartbreaking Must-Watch Documentary"Tag: Chicago International Film Festival
Zach Woods spoke with Solzy at the Movies last week about his new short film, David, which was the only US short film selected for Cannes. David marks Zach Woods’s directorial debut and stars Will Ferrell, William Jackson Harper, and Fred Hechinger. The film recently screened during this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. It was just announced to screen during the upcoming Chicago International Film Festival. Your directorial debut, David, started screening during Toronto after…
"Zach Woods talks David, Improv, and More"
The Truth (La Verite) features some brilliant acting as director Hirokazu Kore-eda tackles a project that isn’t set in his home country of Japan. The root of the film is the mother-daughter relationship between Fabienne (Catherine Deneuve) and Lumir (Juliette Binoche). Lumir’s relationship with her mom is tenuous at best. The reason why she’s back in her native France is her mother’s memoir being published. To say it’s a memoir would also be exaggerating the…
"Chicago Film Fest 2019: The Truth (La Verite)"
Haroula Rose’s feature film, Once Upon A River, features stunning performances and camerawork as the indie plays the festival circuit. Bonnie Joe Campbell’s novel comes to the big screen in this well-made feature. Margo Crane (Kenadi DelaCerna, making her feature debut) is a Native American teenager living in rural Michigan. What drives the teen in this coming-of-age story is the search for her estranged mother (Lindsay Pulsipher). As Margo goes on this journey, she utilizes…
"Chicago Film Fest 2019: Once Upon A River"
Matthew Rankin’s The Twentieth Century may be one of the strangest historical satires about Canada that one will ever see in theaters. This film is not going to make any sense to people who are unfamiliar with Canada’s political history. Take it from this American. My initial reaction following the film basically comes down to this: I don’t know what to make of what I just saw. This is certainly a satire that plays better…
"The Twentieth Century Is A Strange Satire"
Mimi Plauché spoke with Solzy at the Movies about the 55th Chicago International Film Festival prior to the festival’s launch tonight. One of my favorite films this year was a small little indie film premiering during the Slamdance Film Festival: The Vast of Night. When did this film first get on your radar? Mimi Plauché: We were aware of it screening at Slamdance, but honestly didn’t catch it until after Amazon acquired it and shared…
"Mimi Plauché talks 2019 Chicago Film Fest"
As the 55th Chicago International Film Festival starts up on Wednesday night, Solzy at the Movies brings you the seven films that you have to watch. The action starts on October 16 with not one but two films. Motherless Brooklyn opens up the festival. In a change from recent years, Zombieland: Double Tap opens up the After Dark program. All in all, there are 132 feature films playing! Gala Knives Out: The Rian Johnson mystery…
"Chicago International Film Festival Must-Watch Films" The Gala and Special Presentations lineup were announced last week for the 55th Chicago International Film Festival ahead of this morning’s full lineup. The announcement was made last week by Mimi Plauché, Artistic Director of the Chicago International Film Festival. While it wasn’t included in the initial wave of announcements, this year’s Opening Night selection is Motherless Brooklyn. Tickets for both the Gala and Special Presentations will go on sale on September 27. “This year’s line-up of…
"Chicago Film Fest: Galas, Special Presentations"
A Private War follows The Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin during some of the most pivotal moments of her career as a Foreign Affairs correspondent. The film starts out in Homs, Syria in 2012 before flashing back to London, 2001. While her bosses wanted to send her to one country, Colvin (Rosamund Pike) believed that the Sri Lankan Civil War was the more important story. Whatever the case, Colvin’s decision would get her placed in…
"A Private War: Marie Colvin’s Important Story"
Flammable Children, while released as Swinging Safari in its native Australia, takes us back to the 1970s for a nostalgic comedy. The nostalgia starts the moment that “Spirit in the Sky” starts to play during the opening credits. It’s from this point where writer-director Stephan Elliott wisely introduces us to the people in the neighborhood along the beach. We’re introduced through Jeff Marsh (Atticus Robb), who serves as the narrator. We soon meet the Halls, Jones,…
"Chicago Film Festival 2018: Flammable Children"
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