The Tribune’s wrap-up of the Chicago International Film Festival schedule, by Tribune movie critic Michael Wilmington and the movie reviewing staff, appears each day. * indicates a personal appearance by the director or star.
Pick of the day
“Gates of Heaven” (star)(star)(star)1/2 (Errol Morris, U.S.) Undoubtedly the best pet cemetery movie ever made, this 1978 documentary, the debut movie of offbeat non-fiction film maestro Morris (“The Fog of War,” “The Thin Blue Line”), is all about a sort of Forest Lawn for deceased pampered pets. Done absolutely tongue-in-cheek, the deliciously morbid tale chronicles the fabulous legal tangle and weird exodus that follows the closure of the Foothill Pet Cemetery and the transfer of its dead animal residents to the Bubbling Well Pet Cemetery Park.
The seemingly unconscious deadpan humor of the interviewees as they recount this strange variation on Noah’s Ark is so dry, the characters begin to resemble American Gothic puppets. Bereaved owners, apparently concerned cemetery operators and others face Morris’ rock-still camera for an even loonier take on the posh graveyard world of Evelyn Waugh’s classic Forest Lawn satire “The Loved One.” It’s a typical Morris documentary: a straight-faced look at material so outlandish, it turns surreal as you watch. With an appearance by Roger Ebert. 6:45 p.m. Thu., Landmark. — M.W.
A few more
* “Mutual Appreciation” (star)(star) (Andrew Bujalski, U.S.). A realistic youth drama, set in the fringe pop music world of New York City, this new film from the actor-director of “Funny Ha Ha” examines the musical aspirations and tangled love life of a young musician who arrives in the city after his band has broken up and makes a modest but slightly unlikely foray into radio, the club scene and the bedrooms or hearts of some local ladies — including his best friend’s girlfriend. Shot cheaply in black-and-white, mostly on interiors, the film has a sweet disposition, easy verbosity and occasional realistic flair that sometimes win you over. 9:30 p.m. Thu., Landmark. — M.W.
* “That Man: Peter Berlin” (star)(star) (Jim Tushinski, U.S.). In jeans tight enough to squeak, and more often out of them, 1970s gay porn star, model and occasional filmmaker Berlin tripped the light fantastic with everyone from Andy Warhol to Sal Mineo, becoming an icon of San Francisco hedonism. Berlin’s life is captured in strictly surface terms by this doc, in which the modern-day Berlin appears looking much like the man — a self-stylized fantasy of a sex toy — he was in his steely, Owen Wilson-but-dangerous heyday 9 p.m. Thu., AMC (also 5 p.m. Fri., AMC). — Michael Phillips
Unscreened, but of interest:
* “Gabrielle” (Patrice Chereau, France/Italy). One of France’s leading filmmakers, Chereau (“Intimacy,” “Queen Margot”), and most brilliant actresses, Isabelle Huppert, combine for this psychologically complex romantic drama about a threatened marriage. (In French, with English subtitles.) 7 p.m. Thu., Landmark (also 9:15 p.m. Fri., Landmark). — M.W.
* “Everlasting Regret” (Stanley Kwan Kam-Pang, Hong Kong). Hong Kong glamor and sin: Kwan’s movie follows the fortunes of a knockout ’40s Miss Shanghai contestant who becomes a famous fallen woman. With Sammi Cheng and Tony Leung Ka Fai. (In Mandarin, with English subtitles.) 9 p.m. Thu., Landmark). — M.W.
