Chi Film Fest: "Undine"

Coverage from the 56th annual Chicago Film Festival

by Nick Taylor

Undine opens immediately after the titular character (Paula Beer) has been told by her boyfriend Johannes (Jacob Matschenz) that he’s leaving her for another woman. Seated at an outdoor café, Beer’s expression remains piquant and internalized as Johannes explains himself, half listening to him talk and half deciding how to respond. When she makes up her mind, she informs Johannes they’re still in love, and if he’s not at the café when she gets back from work in half an hour she’ll kill him. He’s not there, obviously. But after hearing an unexpected figure call out her name, she meets a man named Christoph (Franz Rogowski). The two are instantly captivated by each other, and their meet-cute is so strange, heartfelt, and semi-chaotic I’d hate to spoil it. It might be the best scene in the film...

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Which film will be Germany's Oscar submission?

Germany will reportedly decide between these ten films for their Oscar submission this year which they'll announce near the end of this month. If you've seen any of these pictures, do share your opinion!

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Centennial: The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920)

by Tony Ruggio

1920... Eerily and surprisingly, wasn't so different from 2020. A new generation had upended social norms, a deadly pandemic had spread throughout the world, and a major western democracy was in the throes of a post-war identity crisis. A country in search of a tyrant, Germany was a mere decade away from learning the name Adolf Hitler, and the nation’s artistic output reflected as such. 

It’s astonishing to realize that feature films have been around for more than a hundred years, that our grandest medium of pop art has endured for so long. The cinema has persevered through war, competing technology, and economic calamity. Such questions of perseverance are ripe for discussion again in the midst of our current pandemic, one that has shuttered movie theaters around the world. A film like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,  currently streaming on Criterion and now 100 years young, makes clear to us that movie-making will never go the way of the dinosaurs...

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Fassbinder Double Feature: "Ali" & "Maria Braun"

by Cláudio Alves 

In these days of "social distancing" and delayed releases, the cinephiles among us must satiate our hunger for cinema in the privacy of their own homes. Streaming services are saviors during such trying times, offering a respite from the chaos. Among them, The Criterion Channel continues to shine brightest as a paragon for the promotion of the seventh art's best triumphs. Just this month, two of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's most beloved and accessible masterpieces were made available for streaming. We're talking about 1974's Ali: Fear Eats the Soul and 1979's The Marriage of Maria Braun.

Join us as we peruse the glamor and doom, fear and fury of these singular films…

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Streaming Roulette, August: Serenity, Red Sea Diving Resort, and two major 1981 classics

As is our practice we've selected a handful of titles and frozen the films at utterly random moments without cheating (whatever comes up comes up!). It's our way of previewing new titles streaming each month. So what should you queue up for AUGUST 2019 ?(★ means we recommend catching them.) Please do let us know if you're dying to discuss any of the films and maybe we'll write about one or two of 'em  You rarely tell us but we'll try if you do.

[COUGHING]

Jackie Brown (1997) ★  on Netflix
Is De Niro coughing to distract you from Once Upon a Time ...  in Hollywood for a minute? He's got a new trailer out and that would like a little attention, too. On the couch is Bridget Fonda giving what is easily one of her top two performances (the other one is in a little seen 80s movie called Scandal). We should probably see this particular Quentin Tarantino flick again. Beyond Fonda's perpetually baked surfer girl I don't personally remember much about it except for that  Rashomon inspired scene in the mall, and Pam Grier and Robert Forster being a fine match in the two central roles.

[HEAVY BREATHING]

Body Heat (1981) ★  on HBO
Nice wedding ring shot. That ain't her husband...

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