3 things about David Lowell Rich’s MADAME X

Posted on March 21, 2021 by robchristopher

Madame X [1966]

1. Painted on eyebags.
2. Ricardo Montalban plays a character named … Phil Benton. And lives in a fabulous split-level bachelor pad in Manhattan.
3. Spanish Inquisition-themed nightclub.

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3 things about Hal Ashby’s BEING THERE

Posted on March 18, 2021 by robchristopher

Being There [1979]

1. Hal Ashby’s cameo in the newsroom! I’ve seen this film countless times and yet I never noticed it till now.
2. “I’m glad you didn’t open, Eve.”
3. He gently tends to the bent sapling.

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3 things about Nicholas Roeg’s SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH

Posted on March 14, 2021 by robchristopher

Sweet Bird of Youth [1989]

1. She wants him now and she means now, not later.
2. “Don’t call me ‘honey.’ I can’t stand being called ‘honey’ by unknown persons of the same gender.”
“What’s gender, honey?”
3. A nautically themed bar for Black patrons.

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3 things about Paul Verhoeven’s STARSHIP TROOPERS

Posted on March 13, 2021 by robchristopher

Starship Troopers [1997]

1. Rue McClanahan!
2. Cronenbergian orifice.
3. “It’s afraid!”

3 other things.

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3 things about Chloé Zhao’s NOMADLAND

Posted on March 12, 2021 by robchristopher

Nomadland [2020]

1. Jigsaw puzzle in a laundromat.
2. “That one’s on me.”
3.  Maudlin music, a cursed crutch.

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The new poster!

Posted on March 9, 2021 by robchristopher

Doesn’t that new laurel look beautiful?!

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3 things about Otto Preminger’s SUCH GOOD FRIENDS

Posted on March 8, 2021 by robchristopher

Such Good Friends [1971]

1. Truly tasteless joke about slavery.
2. “Tell me what we’re doing is wrong so I can enjoy it.”
3. Corset.

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3 things about Bertrand Tavernier’s THE JUDGE AND THE ASSASSIN

Posted on March 6, 2021 by robchristopher

The Judge and the Assassin [1976]

1. Two bullets in the skull.
2. Her face pressed against a mess of potato peels on the table.
3. Ends with a musical number!

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ROY’S WORLD wins Best Illinois Feature!

Posted on March 4, 2021 by robchristopher

In a virtual ceremony (coincidentally, held exactly one year to the day after the film had its World Premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival) my documentary Roy’s World: Barry Gifford’s Chicago was awarded Best Illinois Feature at the 2021 Beloit International Film Festival. Yours truly and producer Michael Glover Smith were on hand to accept the honor; you can watch the video on Facebook—the big moment is around 13:00 in.

In their citation, the festival says: “The film’s director uses a wide, wide array of visual and sonic devices that whisk the filmgoer back to a time when Chicago, and the US in general, was transitioning through the Beat Generation era. The film uses clever artwork, unique animations, remarkable period photography and 8mm film clips, underpinned with a cool jazz soundtrack to create a smoldering hybrid atmosphere. With narrations by Willem Dafoe, Matt Dillon and Lili Taylor as icing on the cinematic cake, this film is a treasure trove of Windy City lore. It doesn’t get any more Illinois than this.”

Thank you everyone at BIFF for this tremendous recognition!

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3 things about Jack Arnold’s THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN

Posted on March 1, 2021 by robchristopher

The Incredible Shrinking Man [1957]

1. Nuclear fallout as glitter.
2. Sugar shaker.
3. He can now fit through the bars of his prison.

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