2010 Silent Summer Film Festival

This past Friday the 1925 Harold Lloyd film The Freshman opened the 2010 Silent Summer Film Festival at the Portage Theatre in Chicago (4050 N. Milwaukee Ave). Each classic silent film will be accompanied by live organ as the festival continues the next five Fridays at 8 PM. If you buy tickets in advance the cost is $10 ($9 for students or seniors). Tickets at the door cost $12. For the August 6 special event screening of The Mark of Zorro (1920) the film will be accompanied by The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra ($15 for advance tickets, $14/students, seniors; $17 at the door).

For the complete festival lineup and to buy advance tickets visit The Silent Film Society of Chicago website. This Friday the film is Ben-Hur (1925). Seeing a silent film on the big screen is a fun event that I recommend to any film lover. In June I watched Fritz Lange's classic Metropolis (1927) at the Music Box Theatre and I thought the whole night was an amazing experience.

Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival

Looking for something cool to do this week? Why not attend a film festival? This is the inaugural year of the Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival, which will be held July 21-25 at the Cutting Hall Performing Arts Center in Palatine (150 E. Wood St.). Feature films, shorts, and music videos will be screened during the festival. Music video screenings and a live concert by Mount Prospect musician Chris Petlak kicks off the festival on Wednesday night at the Fred P. Hall Amphitheater (262 E. Palatine Rd., Palatine). The film screenings begin on Thursday night, and after-parties will be held at Emmett's (110 N. Brockway St., Palatine). Here are a few films included in the festival schedule that I think sound intriguing:

Successful Alcoholics, a 2010 Sundance Film Festival Official Selection directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts and starring T.J. Miller (She's Out of My League), Lizzy Caplan (Party Down), and Tony Hale (Arrested Development).

Driver's Ed Mutiny, directed by Schaumburg's Brad Hansen, which Daily Herald film critic Dann Gire calls "delightful" and "a surprisingly touching comedy/drama." Partially filmed in the Northwest suburbs, this John Hughes-ian film won first place in the Pro-Am category at the Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival in Marion, Iowa, back in April (see Daily Herald article here).

Educating Cooper, about a Chicago high school student, directed by Bryan Litt and filmed at several high schools in Chicago.

The Exploding Girl, directed by Bradley Rust Gray, which has its Illinois premiere at the festival.

That's just a small sample of what's screening at the festival. Visit the Blue Whiskey Film Festival website to view the complete festival schedule and buy festival passes.

See something new at the Chicago International Film Festival

The 45th annual Chicago International Film Festival is now in full swing. Motherhood, starring Uma Thurman, opened the festival yesterday. Running through October 22, the festival closes with The Young Victoria, starring Emily Blunt. Films screen at the AMC River East 21in Chicago (322 E. Illinois St.). A complete film schedule is available on the Chicago International Film Festival website; films are also indexed by country and category (very helpful!). You can also find information about tickets and festival passes on the official website.  Individual tickets cost $12 (reduced price of $9 for Cinema/Chicago members, students, and seniors). Japan, Chile, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, India, Romania and South Korea compose a fraction of the countries with submissions. Check out the diversity that the Chicago International Film Festival offers!