*indicates a capsule review from Chicago Tribune archives.
(diamond) indicates a film that is not reviewed, but of interest.
After Hours Film Society
Tivoli Theatre
5021 Highland Ave.
Downers Grove
630-534-4528
afterhoursfilmsociety.com
*”Summer Hours” **** (France; Olivier Assayas, 2008) The French film “Summer Hours” hangs its hat on a Chekhovian question: what to do with the family estate, an artist’s cottage and its well-used, well-loved 19th Century furnishings situated by a pond an hour’s drive from Paris? Stars Juliet Binoche, Charles Berling, Jeremie Renier. 7:30 p.m. Mon.
BACinema
Beverly Arts Center
2407 W. 111th St.
773-445-3838
beverlyartcenter.org
*”Sugar” **** (U.S.; Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, 2008) As played by the wonderful screen newcomer Algenis Perez Soto, Sugar’s a hero to his Dominican village. His talent takes him to spring training in Phoenix, where life is a series of cultural dislocations, minor and major injuries. 7:30 p.m. Wed.
Bank of America Cinema
4901 W. Irving Park Rd.
312-904-9442
*”The Scarlet Empress” **** (U.S.; Josef von Sternberg, 1934) Nowhere else is Marlene Dietrich’s hauntingly perverse image — and her surroundings — more ravishing than in von Sternberg’s lurid epic on Russia’s Catherine the Great. Drenched in glamor and melodrama, barbarity and splendor — with Dietrich’s Catherine rising from girlhood to majesty, in a court dominated by matriarchs and madmen — it’s a visual/aural feast of baroque decor and sensuous camerawork, scored to Tchaikovsky and Wagner. 8 p.m. Sat.
Block Cinema
Northwestern University
40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
847-491-4000
blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/block-cinema/
*”The Wizard of Oz” **** (U.S.; Victor Fleming-King Vidor, 1939) One of those movies that define the whole medium for many: MGM’s gorgeously colorful, witty, thrilling and melodic adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s opulent fantasy that takes Dorothy Gale of Kansas (Judy Garland) and her three chums — The Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), The Tin Man (Jack Haley Jr.) and The Cowardly Lion ( Bert Lahr) — down the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City, off to meet the Wizard (Frank Morgan), while harassed by the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton). Dusk, Wed.
Doc Films
University of Chicago
Ida Noyes Hall
1212 E. 59th St.
773-702-8575
docfilms.uchicago.edu
*”Chimes at Midnight” **** (France/Spain/Switzerland.; Orson Welles, 1966) Welles’ last major fiction feature is a magnificent Shakespearean adaptation by one of the cinema’s most brilliant filmmaker/actors. Excitingly filmed and beautifully acted by an all-star European cast (including John Gielgud, Jeanne Moreau and Margaret Rutherford), it’s a vibrantly creative picture with a great performance by Welles himself as Sir John Falstaff. 7:00, 9:30 Sat.
Facets Cinematheque
1517 W. Fullerton Ave.
773-281-4114
www.facets.org/cinematheque
(diamond) “Favorite Son” (U.S.; Howard Libov, 2009) A failed minor-league ballplayer returns home and romantically pursues a single mother. When the relationship founders, he attempts to mentor her troubled 12-year-old son and to become a hero off the field. 7, 9 p.m. Fri., 3, 5, 7, 9 p.m. Sat., Sun., 7, 9 p.m. Mon.-Thu.
The Music Box Theatre
3733 N. Southport Ave.
773-871-6604
musicboxtheatre.com
*”Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” *** (U.S.; Steven Spielberg, 1984) The first Jones sequel almost tops its predecessor in thrills, action and spectacle, but also, unfortunately, in xenophobia and sexual and racial stereotyping. Midnight Fri., Sat.
*”42nd Street” **** (U.S.; Lloyd Bacon-Busby Berkeley, 1933) The quintessential ’30s backstage song and dance movie — and one of the most influential and much-copied movie musicals ever. It has a bouncy Harry Warren-Al Dubin score and a cast that includes Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, Dick Powell, Ginger Rogers, George Brent, Guy Kibbee and Ruby Keeler. 11:30 p.m. Sat., Sun.
Northbrook Public Library
1201 Cedar Lane
847-272-6224
northbrook.info/lib(underscore)programs(underscore)films.php
(diamond) “Brother Orchid” (U.S.; Lloyd Bacon, 1940) A racketeer (played by Edward G. Robinson) tries to shake his criminal background and grab a place in society. 1, 7:30 p.m. Wed.
