Chicago is My Home

12
Oct

John Cusack, Joyce Piven Walk Chicago Red Carpet For ‘Grace is Gone’

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Celebrity News, Chicago International Film Festival, Film

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After interviewing Chicago’s John Cusack along with Gracie Bednarczyk and Shélan O’Keefe (first-time Chicago actresses) for “Grace is Gone,” I camped out with the hordes of press cameras as they all walked the red carpet on Friday.

John Cusack and Shélan O’Keefe for “Grace is Gone”.
Photo by Adam Fendelman/HollywoodChicago.com

Cusack received a career achievement award from the Chicago International Film Festival. The surprise came with an appearance by Joyce Hiller Piven. She’s the mother of Chicago actor Jeremy Piven.

Click here for full coverage…

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11
Oct

Jeffrey Wright, Mos Def to Walk Red Carpet For Black Perspectives Tribute on Oct. 13

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Celebrity News, Chicago International Film Festival

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Emmy-, Golden Globe- and Tony-winning artist Jeffrey Wright along with special guest artist Mos Def will walk the red carpet as part of a black perspectives tribute within the Chicago International Film Festival.

The event will take place at the Chase Auditorium at 10 S. Dearborn in Chicago on Oct. 13 beginning at 6:30 p.m. Wright will be honored with a Gold Hugo for career achievement.

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11
Oct

Academy Award-Winning Director István Szabó to Speak on Friday in Chicago

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Celebrity News, Chicago International Film Festival, Foreign Film

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Around the same time as the John Cusack red-carpet event on Friday, the Chicago International Film Festival will have an evening with Academy Award-winning director István Szabó at 6:45 p.m. at Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema.

He will speak on the intimacy and insight that can be achieved with the use of the close-up in film.

Szabó says film has “one singular quality that no other art form can supply. The moving picture is capable of showing us a living human face in close-up. This ability is the source of its special energy.”

Szabó uses close-ups to convey what he has called “life’s beautiful changes: the constant movements of the human expression in the most intimate moment – in the moment of its birth.”

Szabó received an Academy Award for best foreign-language film for “Mephisto,” which is one in a trilogy that includes “Colonel Redl” and “Hanussen”. Other directorial credits include “Sunshine” and “Being Julia”.

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11
Oct

Anthony Hopkins to Appear on Chicago Red Carpet For ‘Slipstream’ on Oct. 14

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Celebrity News, Chicago International Film Festival, Film

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Following Wednesday’s appearance of Ben and Casey Affleck and Friday’s John Cusack show, Sunday again at the Music Box Theatre will feature the legendary, 70-year-old Anthony Hopkins for “Slipstream”.

He’s the star, writer and director of “Slipstream,” which is a classic “mess with your head” film. I’ll be on the carpet beginning at 5 p.m. on Sunday to bring you full coverage. Hopkins is scheduled to appear after 6 p.m.

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11
Oct

Film Festival to Unroll Red Carpet For John Cusack in ‘Grace is Gone’ on Friday

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Celebrity News, Chicago International Film Festival, Film

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If you missed Wednesday night’s red-carpet affair with Ben and Casey Affleck for “Gone Baby Gone,” you can still hit up the Music Box Theatre at 3733 N. Southport Ave. in Chicago on Friday night for John Cusack’s turn in the limelight.

Just like Wednesday, press will arrive at 5 p.m. on Friday and Cusack’s red carpet is scheduled for 6 p.m. That means it’ll be more like 30 to 45 minutes from then. The event is part of the Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF).

This time, Cusack’s motivated to show not just for press and fans but because he’ll be receiving a Gold Hugo award for career achievement. “Grace is Gone” will be shown after the red carpet around 7 p.m.

Joining Cusack will be young Chicago first-time actresses Shelan O’Keefe and Gracie Bednarczyk. They play his two daughters in the film about losing his wife in war and what it’s like on his family in the U.S.

If you miss the night’s festivities, I’ll again be on the carpet to bring you full coverage. Also, stay tuned for Sunday night’s appearance by Anthony Hopkins. He’s the writer, director and star in “Slipstream”.

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10
Oct

Chicago Rolls Out ‘Gone Baby Gone’ Red Carpet For Ben, Casey Affleck

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Celebrity News, Chicago International Film Festival, Film

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On a frigid Chicago night, the Chicago International Film Festival on Wednesday rolled out the red carpet for Ben Affleck and brother Casey Affleck to pump Ben’s directorial debut film “Gone Baby Gone”.

Click here for full coverage and more photos…

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09
Oct

‘Slipstream’ Trailer Surfaces; Anthony Hopkins Coming to Chicago on Oct. 14

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Celebrity News, Chicago International Film Festival, Independent Film

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The official trailer to “Slipstream” is here. The film, which stars Anthony Hopkins and Christian Slater, is written and directed by Hopkins.

Immerse yourself in small.
Immerse yourself in medium.
Immerse yourself in big.
Immerse yourself in bigger.

From left to right, Stella Arroyave, Anthony Hopkins,
Lisa Pepper and Camryn Manheim in “Slipstream”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb
“Slipstream” will show as part of the Chicago International Film Festival on Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. at the Music Box Theatre. Hopkins will walk the red carpet. I’ll be there and will be bringing you full coverage.

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08
Oct

Shot in Chicago, ‘Grace is Gone’ Tour Blowing Into Windy City on Oct. 12

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Celebrity News, Chicago International Film Festival, Independent Film

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In screening the independent film “Grace is Gone” today, I learned that it was shot in Chicago and the Chicago suburb of Itasca, Ill. The film, which stars John Cusack, has been through the Sundance Film Festival and Telluride Film Festival.

“Grace is Gone,” which is scheduled to be released in limited theaters on Dec. 7, is sending writer/director James C. Strouse to Chicago on Oct. 12 for a press day.

Cusack may be attending as well. Young actress Gracie Bednarczyk (from River Grove, Ill.) and Shelan O’Keefe (from northwest Chicago) will also be in attendance. Both Bednarczyk and O’Keefe have their debut performances in this film.

Cusack plays a father who – upon hearing his wife was killed in the Iraq war – takes his two daughters on a road trip.

7:14 p.m. update: I was just informed that “Grace is Gone” writer/director James Strouse is no longer joining this press junket.

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08
Oct

‘Rails & Ties’ Director Alison Eastwood to Primarily Shift From Acting to Directing

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Celebrity News, Chicago International Film Festival, Film

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Stay tuned for a detail-packed report stemming from my 30-minute interview on Monday with Alison Eastwood – the daughter of the legendary Clint Eastwood – on the topic of her directorial debut film “Rails & Ties”.

As a teaser to the report, she said her foray into directing feels much more gratifying than acting as a “hired gun” and she’ll be spending most of her time going forward on that side of the camera.Her father, of course, came up often in the interview.

We also spoke about a fatal train accident that occurred in the California area prior to shooting. The real-life incident caused various fatalities unrelated to the film. The suicidal gentleman “pussed out,” Eastwood said, and went unscathed.

The film stars Kevin Bacon and Marcia Gay Harden.

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05
Oct

‘Michael Clayton’ is Adult Antidote to Torrent of Monotonous Gobbledygook

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Chicago International Film Festival, Film

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“Michael Clayton” shows on Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. at AMC River East
as part of the 2007 Chicago International Film Festival. This
review was first published on HollywoodChicago.com.

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CHICAGO – Don’t be fooled by its formulaic, Hollywoodspeak tagline.

“The truth can be adjusted” is the “Michael Clayton” way of saying this film has rammed in a whole hell of a lot more than you might first presume and is about to blindside you with everything a picture-perfect Hollywood product should be.

George Clooney in “Michael Clayton”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb

An opulent, all-star cast as in “The Departed” sometimes yields the film of the year. At other times, the failure of that resolve can make financiers suicidal.

In the case of “Michael Clayton,” writer/director Tony Gilroy weaves the commanding George Clooney, flawlessly fanatical (and sometimes streaking) Tom Wilkinson, tautly corporate Tilda Swinton and the always-on-top-of-his-game Sydney Pollack into a film that pays its weight in gold.

Tom Wilkinson in “Michael Clayton”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb

Executive producers Clooney, Steven Soderbergh, James Holt and Anthony Minghella either have it too easy or yet again know when lead is about to be fashioned into a mountain of bullion. Clooney himself carries the show in an exquisitely intricate story that ably pulls off the art of the circular plot.

Much in the same way “Pulp Fiction” starts with the end and circles back once the middle has been teemed in, Clooney in his inextricable role as a “fixer” of all things crooked plunges you into the wildly provocative world of corporate America.

Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb

While I only have love for the hilarity of late from “Superbad,” “Knocked Up” and the like, the gravity of “Michael Clayton” – much like this year’s “Fracture” with Anthony Hopkins – is the adult antidote to a torrent of monotonous gobbledygook devoid of poignant messaging.

A serious film with a serious plot, serious actors and an imperative statement, I thank the film gods it’s wedged into 2007 history because the year would have been lacking without it.

The fictional agrochemical company U/North and its looming calamity is at the heart of the film, which opens limited on Friday and goes wide on Oct. 12. It doesn’t take much fantasizing for U/North to smack of similiar, real-life corporate behemoths.

Sydney Pollack in “Michael Clayton”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb

While you could imagine crisis litigation going much like this through the realization of a potentially deadly byproduct at the expense of silver linings and golden executive parachutes, “Michael Clayton” importantly brings into the limelight the U.S. corporate machine while mercilessly illuminating what happens in back alleys.

Though lawyers certainly get the bad wrap of being blood-sucking money fiends, it’s less realized that in a courtroom their primary role is as a well-studied actor. It’s the side that not only tells the truth but tells the better truth that ultimately wolfs down all the cake.

“I’m the guy you buy!” isn’t just a climatic line Clooney uses to slap Swinton upside her head. It’s actually the catastrophic revelation that high-powered suits can freely and dispassionately ride that train of thinking today and only sometimes get caught along the way.

By Adam Fendelman
Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com

© 2007 Adam Fendelman, HollywoodChicago.com

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