Vertigo (movie)

Tim Burton's 'Frankenweenie': It's alive! Or is it? ★★ 1/2

Before things took off with "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" and "Beetlejuice," Tim Burton made a live-action black-and-white film, in 1984, called "Frankenweenie." You can find it on YouTube. It's really good. Just about everything we now know as...

Tags: John August, Animation (Movie Genre), Frankenstein (movie, 1931), Movies, Frankenweenie (movie)

Music Box festival celebrates 70mm projection

It's how a lot of us got hooked on movies in the first place. When I was 8 or 9 I saw "2001: A Space Odyssey" in 70 mm in Milwaukee with my mother. My memory's fuzzy on the particulars but I recall asking so many questions about the obelisk on the drive...

Tags: Kenneth Branagh, Paul Thomas Anderson, Stanley Kubrick, Lincoln Center, 2001: A Space Odyssey (movie)

Someday prints will come, in pink

"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" was pink. But we'll get to that in a minute. Music Box Theatre general manager Dave Jennings considers himself fortunate to have such a "smart, forgiving audience" for the current and very popular 70mm retrospective. The...

Tags: Movies, ABC (tv network), Entertainment, Academy Awards, Spartacus (tv program)

Legendary director's foibles viewed through a gentle lens in 'Hitchcock': ★ ★½

Despite bringing Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein into the proceedings as a fanciful one-man Greek chorus, haunting Alfred Hitchcock's dreams as he prepares the Gein-inspired "Psycho," the biopic "Hitchcock" presents a gentle and forgiving view of...

Tags: John Gavin, Anthony Perkins, Helen Mirren, Hitchcock (movie), Jessica Biel

Ira Glass and WBEZ Chicago venture into the movie biz

One of the first things you notice during the opening credits of "Sleepwalk with Me" is a producing acknowledgment that reads simply: "In association with WBEZ Chicago's This American Life." Chicago's largest public radio station is in the movie...

Tags: Matt Damon, Bridesmaids (movie), NBC (tv network), Radio, Comedy (genre)

'The Artist' is artful in the way it wins you over -- 3 1/2 stars

Please be silent behind the screen. Backstage at the 1927 Hollywood premiere of his latest screen triumph, film star George Valentin — played with irresistible zest by Jean Dujardin — waits for the crowd's response. Standing in front of...

Tags: Frank Borzage, The Artist (movie), Movies, Comedy (genre), Gene Kelly

'The Artist': Critics speak up to praise silent film

Film Independent at LACMA celebrates 'Valley Girl'

Film Independent at LACMA is holding a 1980s costume contest after the 30th anniversary screening of Martha Coolidge's endearing comedy "Valley Girl" on Thursday evening at the Leo S. Bing Theater. The romantic comedy was inspired by Frank Zappa and his...

Tags: Animation (Movie Genre), The New York Times, Movies, Chicago Sun-Times, Pulitzer Prize Awards

Cannes Film Festival projects cross-cultural cinema

Tags: Sundance Film Festival, Matt Damon, Greenwich Village, Movies, Dining and Drinking

American Cinematheque to celebrate the late Roger Ebert

Thumbs up to the American Cinematheque. The independent, nonprofit cultural organization is paying homage to the Pulitzer Prize-winning movie critic Roger Ebert with a new film series, "The Great Movies: A Tribute to Roger Ebert." The influential...

Tags: Entertainment Events, Citizen Kane (movie), The Tree of Life (movie), Journalism, Chicago Sun-Times

Saul Bass: American flair, Soviet aesthetics, with a Brubeck beat

Google paid animated homage Wednesday to iconic designer and artist Saul Bass with one of its more lively Doodles. To mark what would have been the movie title designer’s 93rd birthday, the Google cartoon recaps several of Bass’ films...

Tags: Stanley Kubrick, North by Northwest (movie), Religion and Belief, Google Inc., Psycho (movie)

Google Doodle Honors Saul Bass

Tags: North by Northwest (movie), Google Inc., Casino (movie), Heroin