In This World

A few years back the film director and enthusiast Michael Winterbottom took on the task of filming the supposedly un-filmable novel TRISTAM SHANDY by Laurence Sterne, a book that is filled with entire pages that are blacked out and enough meta and post-modern babble to line the pages of McSweeney's for a lifetime. Rather than filming the actual novel, Winterbottom made a film about a film crew that is making a film of the book -- Winterbottom affectionately calls his project a COCK AND BULL STORY. Despite the odds set against TRISTAM SHANDY, the film is extremely funny and, true to the ways of Winterbottom, unpredictable, mostly thanks to the talents lent to it by Steve Coogan, an actor who has come to the rescue more than once for Winterbottom (see 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE). Both Coogan and Winterbottom excel in the idea of "winging it", fine tuning the concept of "playing it as it lays," yet by end product the viewer starts to wonder if they had they entire game called before it started. 

IN THIS WORLD, a 2002 film by Winterbottom that we'll be showing to round out our STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND series, is rather serious in its approach of blending both documentary and fictionalized styles, though like the aforementioned films, the viewer is not 100% what they've seen -- so in the end, its a question of whether Winterbottom takes his two Afghani refugee subjects, and the various foreign settings they find themselves in, seriously. It's a fascinating piece of work, and quite possibly the director's foray into greatness -- a perfect blend of timeliness, casting, suffering, sensitivity and technique.  IN THIS WORLD is a film that will remain relevant for some time to come.

The Brother From Another Planet

It's been well over a year since I've browsed the aisles of my local video store. I have to admit -- I miss the place. I yearn for the New Release section, the box art you can hold in your hands, the face to face chatting with other renters and store clerks. The thrill-less duty of returning a rental in person is an ache I can live without, especially when you know the rental is three days late and you never found the time to watch it. But returning a video in person is always an excuse to rent another -- then another, and another. 

Fridays nights were always movie night when I grew up. We would load up in the mini-van and head to one of three locally owned video stores in town. More times than not we hit up OK VIDEO. The other two stores, DISCOUNT VIDEO and POP-N-GO VIDEO, were run by honest people, but neither possessed the creative rental strategy of OK VIDEO. Their strategy, in a roundabout way, worked fairly similar to that of NETFLIX -- the more you rent, the cheaper the price it gets. We would rent, at a minimum, five titles on Friday night, many of which we'd seen countless times. MONTY PYTHON, FOOTLOOSE, POLTERGEIST, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, RED DAWN, CHEECH AND CHONG, R-rated, Pg-13, Disney, John Carpenter -- our VCR knew no boundaries.  Yet every Friday night there were select films that I would study the box art of, and every Friday night I would put the box back. These were films that were way too sexy, or scared the hell out of me. Most notably, there was Mrs. Robinson seductively pulling at her stockinged raised leg as Dustin Hoffman's Ben Braddock looks on with shirt half-way unbuttoned, his hands in pant pockets, feet bare. "Mrs. Robinson, are you trying to seduce me?" 

Then there was THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET. As simple as box art gets -- title of the film at the top of the box, and a nondescript still from the film at the bottom. It was that nondescript image though that totally creeped me out! A freaky dude in a red shirt clutching a spray-painted wall -- he appeared to be out of breath from running, and to me, it was obvious there was no where else for him to run. He had reached the end of the line. 

This act of picking up THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET and then setting it back down lasted until just a few weeks ago. Even when the film came in the mail from NETFLIX, I was scared as hell. The director of the film, John Sayles, is an honest guy, as honest as the owners of DISCOUNT VIDEO and POP-N-GO VIDEO. He's an unsung hero of American independent filmmaking -- his one breakout film was 1996's LONESTAR -- though he's been on the scene for three decades. Like Werner Herzog, John Sayles rarely makes the same film twice -- yet unlike Herzog, he's quite centric to the American landscape. He's explored the world of a West Virginia mining community, the wilderness of Alaska, the states of New Jersey and Florida -- all of which, in their own way, seem to be on the outer boundaries. THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET takes place in New York City during the early 80s. I'm looking forward to finally watching it - if anything, to take me back to the aisles of the local video store. 

Encounters at the End of the World

It's quite easy to admire Werner Herzog from a distance. As a filmmaker and explorer he's often so far removed from everyday life that in the end he comes off as extremely grounded. Yet Werner Herzog is one restless dude. Here's a guy who was one of the last men standing on an island that was near complete volcanic destruction just so he could capture that moment before eruption on film (LA SOUFRIERE). If there's a boat in the middle of a jungle that needs to be drug over a mountain (FITZCARRALDO), look no further than Herzog to get the job done. 

Has hypnotized his actors? (check)

Able to tame the histrionic actor Klaus Kinski? (check)

Has made films in Antarctica, the Kuwaiti Desert, on the Amazon River, in Wisconsin? (check)

Made a movie mostly starring midgets? (check)

Was quoted as saying "Space Travel is unfinished business for me." (check)

What better director to kick off a series titled "STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND" than with Werner Herzog. God Bless the man. You could devote the entire series to any of his films. Herzog never got his full due as documentarian until 2005's acclaimed GRIZZLY MAN, and riding on the coat-tails of that fame, he took his cameras the furthest south they'd ever been for ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD, which we'll be showing on March 25th.  And what a wonderful film it is. In the treasure trove of a book Herzog on Herzog, Werner emphasizes more than once that "If we don't develop adequate images, we will die out like dinosaurs." I can't think of another film of Herzogs' that takes those words any more seriously than ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD. 

For those interested in exploring other work of Herzog's, I would personally recommend the following film titles, books, and documentaries about him:

Films:

AGUIRRE, WRAITH OF GOD

THE GREAT ECSTASY OF WOODCARVER STEINER

STROSZEK

LITTLE DIETER NEEDS TO FLY

Text:

Of Walking in Ice by Werner Herzog

Herzog on Herzog edited by Paul Cronin

Documentary:

BURDEN OF DREAMS by Les Blank 

Swallow Your Cinema is in the news!

Dave and Danielle made the Chicago Tribune:

Creative hosts conjure recession-friendly entertainment

I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With

Our initiatory theme of SWEET HOME CHICAGO has taken us through vintage Cabrini-Green ghettos, let us ride inside a 1960s-era CTA train car, and brought us back to a time when a young and defiant Bill Ayers looked oddly reminiscent to James Franco.  Now we'd like to end our brief cinema tour of the "City of Big Shoulders" with a modern independent film that features iconography that best describes the Chicago we know today: Wrigley Field, hot dogs, improv, and fat guys in general.

Written, co-produced, directed and starring Curb Your Enthusiasm writer and Second City alum Jeff Garlin, I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With is a sweet comedy that's as easy to take in as an afternoon spent at a Cubs game or lolling around Millennium Park.  Like the town it was filmed in, it's not trying to be something that it's not.  The comedy is genuine, the acting is sincere, and the story line is relatable.  Additionally, the film is soaked with Chicago scenery and landmarks:  the Second City Theatre, Wrigley Stadium, the Music Box, and yes, the Bean--it's all there and it's all very familiar, especially to those who live on the north side of the city.

Originally Garlin's live, one-man performance on the Second City stage, the film follows the journeys of an overweight, down-on-his-luck Chicago actor who still lives with his mother (who, incidentally, is played by Mina Kolb, the same actress who plays his mother on Curb Your Enthusiasm) and just lost his job.  "Major hottie" Sarah Silverman co-stars, along with a slew of Second City alumni, making this the perfect finale to our Chicago film series.

European Union Film Festival

The annual European Union Film Festival is set to kickoff in a few days at the Gene Siskel Film Center in downtown Chicago. First off, if you've never been to the Gene Siskel Film Center, you're missing out on one of the finest resources of film viewing in the country - bar none. While they are only a two-screen house, they'll often show up to four different films in one evening - with an emphasis on different. Where else within a 1,000 square miles can you see an animated French film, a Swedish vampire flick and a documentary about the Blood and Crips street gang all in one night? And they have a coffee/tea bar! 

Over the course (and ides) of March, the Gene Siskel will be showcasing 59 films from all 27 European Union Nations - which is quite the feat in itself (sadly, Turkey has yet to join the EU!). Romania, who have been knocking out some of the better films of the last few years (see California Dreamin', The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, and Four Months, Three Weeks, Two Days) will have three films featured. The  great contemporary French director Olivier Assayas will have a new film screening. Finland! Lithuania! Malta! The list goes on - more importantly is the fact that all of these films are brought together for a month long celebration. Here's the lowdown - www.siskelfilmcenter.org

The Weather Underground

On the evening of October 8, 1969, 200 protesters stood milling about Lincoln Park in Chicago. October 8th was to be the first of three "Days of Rage," and while the protesters were close to 24,000 people short of the expected number, those present kicked things off proper by storming through the Gold Coast neighborhood, breaking windows, assaulting cars. The police soon counterattacked, and after two days of simmer down and wound mending, the protesters reformed in the Loop. More than half of the protesters were jailed that day, many of them part of a collective known as the Weatherman. The excellent documentary The Weather Underground chronicles in a meditative, and electrifying manner the Weatherman's short lived, yet defining calls to action in the late 60s and early 70s. Come see where the "palling with terrorists" biz all started - hear Bill Ayers set the record straight. Come see the real reason  why that guy in the picture is wearing a football helmet. And like at our inaugural film Cooley High, there will be free popcorn. 

Thanks, by the way, for all of those who came out last Wednesday in the rainy weather for Cooley High. Everyone left with new information about life in 1960s Chicago, the R&B group Boys II Men, and why you should never go joy riding in a stolen car with unscrupulous friends.