JUNE 7 - JULY 25, 2019 · The granddaddy of ‘90s ‘hood dramas charts the diverging fates of three friends—includ-ing rapper Ice Cube, making a big impression in his first film—coming

JUNE 7 - JULY 25, 2019

FILM CALENDAR

Chicago’s Year-Round Film Festival

3733 N. Southport Avenue, Chicago www.musicboxtheatre.com 773.871.6607

DO THE RIGHT THING30th Anniversary - On 35mm

Opens June 28

DISNEY’S PINOCCHIOON 35MM

JUNE 9 AT NOON

ECHO IN THE CANYON JAKOB DYLAN

IN PERSONOPENS JUNE 21

THE FILMS OFJOHN SINGLETON

JUNE 25 - JULY 9

STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE

MEMBER’S SCREENINGJULY 16 AT 7PM

SWORD OF TRUST

OPENS JULY 19

3

FEATURE FILMSHALSTONECHO IN THE CANYONIN THE AISLESDO THE RIGHT THINGTONI MORRISON: THE PIECES I AMESCAPE FROM NEW YORKPARIS IS BURNINGJUNIPER TREEHEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCHSWORD OF TRUST

COMMENTARIES

SERIESCLASSIC MATINEES CHICAGO FILM SOCIETYSILENT CINEMASTAGE TO SCREENMIDNIGHTS

SPECIAL EVENTSGALLAGHER WAY MOVIE SERIESDEPAUL PREMIERE FILM FESTIVAL THE FEELING OF BEING WATCHEDDISNEY’S PINOCCHIOMETAL MOVIE NIGHTJOHN SINGLETON TRIBUTEMETROPOLIS JAWS DRINK-A-LONGDECONSTRUCTING THE BEATLESLOONEY TUNES ON 35MMSTAR WARS: EPISODE IVGHOSTBUSTERSBJORK: BIOPHILIA LIVEMUSIC BOX 90TH ANNIVERSARY

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Brian Andreotti, Director of Programming

Ryan Oestreich, General Manager

Buck LePard, Senior Operations Manager

Will Morris, Programming Manager

Claire Alden, Group Sales and Membership Manager

Steve Prokopy, Public Relations Manager

Julian Antos, Technical Director and Assistant Programmer

Kyle Westphal, Programming Associate

Rebecca Lyon, Assistant Technical Director

VOLUME 37 ISSUE 156Copyright 2019 Southport Music Box Corp.

MusicBoxTheatre.com

Published by Newcity Custom PublishingNewcitynetwork.com

For information, email [email protected] or call 312.243.8786

Cover Image from the film DO THE RIGHT THING, opening June 28 at Music Box Theatre.

Music Box Theatre 3733 North Southport musicboxtheatre.com773-871-6604 showtimes 773-871-6607 office

WelcomeTO THE MUSIC BOX THEATRE!

OPENS JUNE 7OPENS JUNE 21OPENS JUNE 21OPENS JUNE 28 OPENS JULY 5JULY 5-11OPENS JULY 12OPENS JULY 12JULY 19-24OPENS JULY 19

MAY - SEPTEMBERJUNE 7JUNE 8-10JUNE 9JUNE 22JUNE 25-JULY 9JUNE 30JULY 3JULY 7 & 10JULY 13 & 14JULY 16JULY 17JULY 18COMING IN AUGUST

4 Features and Special Events 5Music Box Theatre June-July 2019

THE FEELING OF BEING WATCHED

3 Shows Only - June 8-10(Assia Boundaoui, 2018, 87 mins, DCP)

In the Arab-American neighborhood outside of Chicago where journalist and filmmaker Assia Boundaoui grew up, most of her neighbors think they have been under surveillance for over a decade. While investigating their experiences, Assia uncovers tens of thousands of pages of FBI documents that prove her hometown was the subject of one of the largest counter terrorism investigations ever conducted in the U.S. before 9/11, code-named “Operation Vulgar Betrayal.”

THE FEELING OF BEING WATCHED follows Assia as she pieces together this secret FBI operation, while grappling with the effects of a lifetime of surveillance on herself and her family.

“Real-world conspiracy thriller”

–Variety

Director

Assia Boundaoui

in-person

for Q&As

JUNE 8-10 SPECIALEVENT

MUSIC BOX THEATRE MOVIES AT GALLAGHER WAY

MAY 15 - SEPTEMBER 25

Every Other Wednesday, May 15 - September 25 at 7:30pm

Come enjoy Gallagher Way’s free summer movie series with friends and family, brought to you by Chicago’s premier venue for independent and classic films, the Music Box Theatre.

Running every other Wednesday through September, join us as we screen classic films including SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE, CLUELESS, FIELD OF DREAMS, and more. All screenings take place at Gallagher Way, located at 3637 N. Clark Street, Chicago. Visit GallagherWay.com for more information and events.

There is no cost for Music Box Theatre Movies at the Gallagher Way. Join us for free!

SPECIALEVENT

FEATURES AND SPECIAL EVENTS

HALSTON

OPENS JUNE 7 FEATUREFILM

DIRECTED BY: Frédéric Tcheng2019, 105 mins, DCP

HALSTON captures the epic sweep of the life and times of the legendary designer Roy Halston Frowick, the man who set women free with his unstructured designs and strove to “dress all of America.” Framing the story as an investigation featuring actress and writer Tavi Gevinson as a young archivist diving into the Halston company records, acclaimed filmmaker Frédéric Tcheng expertly weaves rare archival footage and intimate interviews with Halston’s family, friends and collaborators including Jacqueline Kennedy, Liza Minnelli , Andy Warhol and Iman. Reaching beyond the glamour and glitz, Tcheng reveals Halston’s profound impact on fashion, culture and business.

“A roller coaster of fabulousness and folly”

–The Hollywood Reporter

READ PETER SOBCZYNSKI’S COMMENTARY ON PAGE 18


IN THE AISLES


DIRECTED BY: Thomas StuberSTARRING: Franz Rogowski, Sandra Hüller, Peter Kurth2018, 125 mins, DCP, In German with English subtitles

When the reclusive Christian (Franz Rogowski, TRANSIT) takes a job working the night shift at a big box store, he becomes enamored by his charming but mysterious co-worker “Sweets Marion” (Sandra Hüller, TONI ERDMANN), with whom he begins to share flirtatious break room coffees and conversations. But Marion has secrets of her own and when she suddenly goes on sick leave, Christian is tempted to fall into habits of his dark past. An affecting and bittersweet glimpse into the shared connections of a motley group of workers, IN THE AISLES quietly celebrates the beauty in the day-to-day and the collective pride we take in our jobs with dark humor and nuance.

“[A] poignant and richly sympathetic film.”

–The Hollywood Reporter

“It will break your heart — a few times — but it will

definitely leave a smile on your face.”

–ScreenAnarchy

A Music

Box Films

Release!

DISNEY’S PINOCCHIO

JUNE 9

Sunday, June 9 at Noon

The second animated film from Walt Disney Studios, the Music Box brings the timeless story of PINOCCHIO back to the big screen with its masterful animation, award-winning music and unforgettable characters! With his faithful friend Jiminy Cricket by his side, Pinocchio embarks on fantastic adventures that test his bravery, loyalty and honesty until he triumphs in his quest for his heart’s desire: to become a real boy.

Winner of 2 Academy Awards, including Best Song for “When You Wish Upon A Star.”

SPECIALEVENT

One Show

Only

Presented on 35mm!


METAL MOVIE NIGHTS: HIGHWAY TO HELL

JUNE 22

Saturday, June 22 at Midnight(Ate de Jong, 1991, 94 mins, Digital)

Featuring Metal Vinyl Weekend | Hosted by Chris Larkin and Gregg ElzingaSponsored by 3 Floyds

Chad Lowe and Kristy Swanson star in this horror-comedy-action-adventure as young lovers Charlie and Rachel eloping to Las Vegas for a secret wedding. Standing in their way is Satan, who has taken a liking to the lovely Rachel, and has sent his Hell Cop to bring her down to Hell where she can satisfy his devilish lust. When Charlie follows, he’s thrust into an unexpected world of living satanic bikers, cannibalistic blondes and a coffee shop where the only thing living is the food.

Event kicks off in the Lounge w/ Metal Vinyl Weekend at 10pm. Screening begins at Midnight. Also featuring the short film BUDFOOT (Dir. Tim Reis & James Sizemore).

ECHO IN THE CANYON


DIRECTED BY: Andrew Slater2019, 90 mins, DCP

ECHO IN THE CANYON celebrates the explosion of popular music that came out of LA’s Laurel Canyon in the mid-‘60s as folk went electric and The Byrds, The Beach Boys and The Mamas and the Papas gave birth to the California Sound. It was a moment when Laurel Canyon emerged as a hotbed of creativity for a new generation of musicians who would put an indelible stamp on the history of American music.

Featuring Jakob Dylan, as he uncovers never-before-heard personal details behind the bands and their songs and how that music continues to inspire today. With candid conversations and performances with Brian Wilson, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Jackson Browne, Tom Petty (in his last film interview), Beck, Fiona Apple, Cat Power and Norah Jones.

“A combination musical documentary and concert film right up there with the all-time greats.”

–FilmThreat

Opening Night - Jakob Dylan in person!

SPECIALEVENT

READ PATRICK MCDONALD’S COMMENTARY ON PAGE 22


THE FILMS OF JOHN SINGLETONJune 25 - July 9

The Music Box pays tribute to the groundbreaking director with a trio of his most powerful, personal films.

SPECIALEVENT

DIRECTED BY: Spike LeeSTARRING: Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, John Turturro, Rosie Perez, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Samuel L. Jackson1989, 120 mins, 35mm

Set on one block of Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy Do or Die neighborhood, at the height of summer, Spike Lee’s 1989 masterpiece confirmed him as a writer and filmmaker of peerless vision and passionate social engagement. Over the course of a single day, the easygoing interactions of a cast of unforgettable characters—Da Mayor, Mother Sister, Mister Señor Love Daddy, Tina, Sweet Dick Willie, Buggin Out, Radio Raheem, Sal, Pino, Vito and Lee’s Mookie among them—give way to heated confrontations as tensions rise along racial fault lines, ultimately exploding into violence.

Punctuated by the anthemic refrain of Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” DO THE RIGHT THING is a landmark in American cinema, as politically and emotionally charged and as relevant now as when it first hit the big screen.

FEATUREFILM

OPENS JUNE 28

“I have been given only a few filmgoing experiences in

my life to equal the first time I saw DO THE RIGHT THING. Most movies remain up there on the screen. Only a few penetrate your soul.”

–Roger Ebert


DO THE RIGHT THING

YOU’LL NEVER BE AS IMPORTANT AS THE OCEAN

BOYZ N THE HOOD(1991, 112 mins, DCP)

Tuesday, June 25 at 7pm

Friday, June 28 & Saturday, June 29 at MidnightThe granddaddy of ‘90s ‘hood dramas charts the diverging fates of three friends—includ-ing rapper Ice Cube, making a big impression

in his first film—coming of age in the urban war zone of South Central L.A. John Singleton became the first black filmmaker ever nominated for a Best Director Oscar, as well as the youngest nominee ever in the category, for his still-potent debut, a landmark look at the devastation of gang violence and the young men caught in its cycle. —BAM

POETIC JUSTICE(1993, 109 mins, DCP)

Friday, July 5 & Saturday, July 6 at MidnightJohn Singleton’s follow-up to BOYZ N THE HOOD casts two of the biggest music su-perstars of the ‘90s—Janet Jackson (sporting now-iconic box braids) and Tupac Shakur (displaying his softer side)—and builds a free-flowing road movie romance around their undeniable chemistry. Peppered with the poetry of Maya Angelou, POETIC JUSTICE is a sensitive, hopeful depiction of black struggle, joy and creativity. —BAM

ROSEWOOD(1997, 140 mins, 35mm)

Tuesday, July 9 at 7pmAmerica is a country obsessed with neatly forgetting its past, and ROSEWOOD is a film eager to force remembrance. In many of his films, but particularly in ROSEWOOD, Single-ton chose to see black people as more than just victims of violence, or capable of carrying

out violence. At its heart, ROSEWOOD is a love story, between Ving Rhames’ Mann and Elise Neal’s Beulah, but also a love story about people who didn’t have much, fighting to keep what they gained. —Hanif Abdurraqib

30th

Anniversary!

On 35mm!


TONI MORRISON: THE PIECES I AM

OPENS JULY 5 FEATUREFILM

DIRECTED BY: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders2019, 120 mins, DCP

An artful and intimate meditation on the life and works of the legendary storyteller and Nobel prize-winner. From her childhood in a steel town in Ohio to ‘70s-era book tours with Muhammad Ali, from the front lines with Angela Davis to her own riverfront writing room, Toni Morrison leads an assembly of her peers, critics and colleagues on an exploration of race, America, and the human condition as seen through the prism of her own literature. Inspired to write because no one took a “little black girl” seriously, Morrison reflects on her lifelong deconstruction of the master narrative. Woven together with a rich collection of art, history and personality, the film includes discussions about her many critically acclaimed works, her role as an editor of iconic African-American literature and her time teaching at Princeton University.

“Rousing! Underscores the

deeply humanistic soul responsible for broadening the literary landscape.”

–Variety

METROPOLISSunday June 30 at 7pm(Fritz Lang, 1927, 148 mins, DCP)

Featuring a Live Original Score performed by David DiDonato

Made in Germany during the Weimar Period, Fritz Lang’s METROPOLIS is an expressionist sci-fi allegory, regarded as one of the first feature-length science fiction movies. Set in a futuristic urban dystopia, METROPOLIS follows the attempts of Freder, the wealthy son of the city master, and Maria, a saintly figure to the workers, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes in their city and bring the workers together with Joh Fredersen, the city master.

JUNE 30 SPECIALEVENT

Presented with Live Score!


ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK

MUSIC BOX DRINK-A-LONG: JAWS DIRECTED BY: John CarpenterSTARRING: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Adrienne Barbeau1981, 99 mins, DCP

When the President crash lands on the island of Manhattan, now a maximum security prison, Snake Plissken is sent in to rescue him...or die trying. John Carpenter crafts a detailed, lived-in post-apocalyptic world, and inhabits it with memorable characters played by previous collaborators (THE FOG’s Adrienne Barbeau, HALLOWEEN’s Donald Pleasence), genre heavyweights (THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY’s Lee Van Cleef, SHAFT’s Isaac Hayes), and reinvents former Disney child star Kurt Russell as one of the ‘80s most badass action heroes. The result is a sci-fi action thriller where the rules are simple: Once you go in, you don’t come out.

Wednesday, July 3 at 7pm

It’s the monthly Music Box Drink-A-Long! This month—grab your floaties and your bad hats, because we’re drinking along to Steven Spielberg’s JAWS! Hosts Brooke and Cody have created a list of drinking rules to accompany the movie, and they’ll be cuing you when to drink (by cheerfully yelling at you in the theater). A specialty cocktail will be on hand, plus the Music Box’s usual selection of beer and wine. And even if drinking isn’t your thing, you can still join us to scream and shout along! You must be at least 21 or older to join in the fun.

JULY 5-11JULY 3

New 4K

Restoration!

FEATUREFILM

SPECIALEVENT


DECONSTRUCTING THE BEATLES’ MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR

Sunday, July 7 at 11:30am & Wednesday, July 10 at 7pm

In 1967, The Beatles embarked on an ambitious project, writing and directing a one-hour film, MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR. The music for that film is some of The Beatles’ psychedelic best. In DECONSTRUCTING THE BEATLES’ MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR, composer/producer/Beatles expert Scott Freiman delves into the creative process behind “The Fool On The Hill,” “Blue Jay Way,” “I Am The Walrus,” and other selections from MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR. Scott will also “deconstruct” other songs from the Magical Mystery Tour album, including “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “Penny Lane” and “All You Need Is Love.”

JULY 7 & 10 SPECIALEVENT

THE JUNIPER TREE


DIRECTED BY: Nietzchka KeeneSTARRING: Björk Guðmundsdóttir, Bryndis Petra Bragadóttir1990, 78 mins

An unsung talent in her lifetime, director Nietzchka Keene’s stark, stunning debut feature THE JUNIPER TREE is loosely based on a Brothers Grimm fairy tale of the same name, and stars Björk in her riveting first on-screen performance.

Set in medieval Iceland, THE JUNIPER TREE follows Margit and her older sister Katla as they flee for safety after their mother is burned to death for witchcraft. Finding shelter with Johan and his resentful young son Jonas, the sisters help form an impromptu family unit that’s soon strained by Katla’s burgeoning sorcery. Photographed on location in the stunning landscapes of Iceland in spectacular black-and-white, THE JUNIPER TREE is a potent allegory for misogyny and its attendant tragedies, and a major rediscovery for art house audiences.

Friday & Saturday in 35mm

FEATURES AND SPECIAL EVENTSFEATURES AND SPECIAL EVENTS

PARIS IS BURNING

OPENS JULY 12

DIRECTED BY: Jennie Livingston1990, 71 mins, DCP

Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City’s African American and Latinx Harlem drag ball scene. Made over seven years, PARIS IS BURNING offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion “houses,” from fierce contests for trophies, to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia and transphobia, racism, AIDS and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens and trans women, PARIS IS BURNING brings it, celebrating the joy of movement, the force of eloquence, and the draw of community.

Digitally remastered by the UCLA Television Archive in conjunction with Sundance Institute and Outfest UCLA. Preservation funded by Sundance Institute, Outfest UCLA and the Andrew J. Kuehn Jr. Foundation.

FEATUREFILM

2K Restoration!

JULY 13 & 14

LOONEY TUNES ON 35MM!

To coincide with the annual Summer on Southport street festival, the Music Box presents classic Warner Bros. cartoons on 35MM. Join Bugs, Daffy and the rest of the gang as we screen some classic cartoons guaranteed to bring out the kid in you.

Catch over 3 hours of cartoons FOR FREE, starting at 11am on Saturday and Sunday. Take a break from the outdoor activities to watch Looney Tunes on the famous Music Box big screen. Come and go as you please!

SPECIALEVENT

A

SUMMER ON

SOUTHPORT

SPECIAL!


STAR WARS: EPISODE IV - A NEW HOPE BJÖRK: BIOPHILIA LIVE

JULY 16 JULY 18

Tuesday, July 16 at 7pm(George Lucas, 1977, 121 mins, DCP)

Nineteen years after the formation of the Empire, Luke Skywalker is thrust into the struggle of the Rebel Alliance when he meets Obi-Wan Kenobi, who has lived for years in seclusion on the desert planet of Tatooine. Obi-Wan begins Luke’s Jedi training as Luke joins him on a daring mission to rescue the beautiful Rebel leader Princess Leia from the clutches of the evil Empire. And after Obi-Wan sacrifices himself in a lightsaber duel with his former apprentice, Darth Vader, Luke proves that the Force is with him by destroying the Empire’s dreaded Death Star.

Special Edition Cut

Thursday, July 18 at 9pm(Peter Strickland & Nick Fenton, 2014, 97 mins, DCP)

BIOPHILIA LIVE is a concert film that captures the human element of Björk’s multi-disciplinary multimedia project: biophilia. recorded live at Björk’s show at London’s Alexandra Palace in 2013.

Featuring Björk and her band performing every song on ‘biophilia’ and more, using a broad variety of instruments—some digital, some traditional and some completely unclassifiable. BIOPHILIA has been hailed as “A captivating record of an artist in full command of her idiosyncratic powers” (Variety) and “An imaginative stand-alone artwork” (The Hollywood Reporter) and is a vital piece of the grand mosaic that is “Biophilia.”

Exclusive

FREE Screening

for Music Box

Members!

SPECIALEVENT

SPECIALEVENT

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCHGHOSTBUSTERS

JULY 19-24JULY 17 FEATUREFILM

DIRECTED BY: John Cameron MitchellSTARRING: John Cameron Mitchell, Miriam Shor, Michael Pitt2001, 95 mins, DCP

With this trailblazing musical, writer-director-star John Cameron Mitchell and composer-lyricist Stephen Trask brought their signature creation from stage to screen for a movie as unclassifiable as its protagonist. Raised a boy in East Berlin, Hedwig (Mitchell) undergoes a traumatic personal transformation in order to emigrate to the U.S., where she reinvents herself as an “internationally ignored” but divinely talented rock diva. The film tells Hedwig’s story through her music, an eclectic assortment of original punk anthems and power ballads by Trask, matching them with a freewheeling cinematic mosaic of music-video fantasies, animated interludes and moments of bracing emotional realism. A hard-charging song cycle and a tender character study, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH is a tribute to the transcendent power of rock and roll.

Co-Presented by The Harold Ramis Film SchoolWednesday, July 17 at 7pm(Ivan Reitman, 1984, 105 mins, DCP)

When ghosts go on a rampage, only four men can save the world! Fired from university research jobs, Drs. Venkman (Bill Murray), Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) and Spengler (Harold Ramis) set up shop as “Ghostbusters,” hiring Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) and together ridding Manhattan of bizarre apparitions. But the spirit exterminators are severely tested when Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) and her nerdy neighbor Louis Tully (Rick Moranis) become possessed by demons living in their building. Soon every spook in the city is loose and our heroes face their supreme challenge. If you want your spirits raised, who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!


New 4K DCP Remaster!

SPECIALEVENT

One Show Only!


SWORD OF TRUST


DIRECTED BY: Lynn SheltonSTARRING: Marc Maron, Jillian Bell, Michaela Watkins, Jon Bass2019, 89 mins, DCP

Mel (Marc Maron) is a cantankerous pawnshop owner in Alabama who spends most of his time swindling customers. When Cynthia (Jillian Bell) and her wife Mary (Michaela Watkins) try to hawk a Civil War-era sword inherited from Cynthia’s recently deceased grandfather, Mel tries to get the better of them. The sword, however, comes with a convoluted report claiming it as proof the South actually won the war. Before long, the coveted “prover item” draws the attention of overzealous conspiracy theorists, and Mel and Cynthia have to join forces in order to sell the sword to the highest bidder. Infused with a lot of heart and laughs, SWORD OF TRUST takes a stab at uncovering emotional truths through moments of hilarity and hits right on the mark.

“Marc Maron is better than ever in Lynn Shelton’s endearing misadventure”

–IndieWire


THE MUSIC BOX THEATRE: 90TH ANNIVERSARY

The Music Box Theatre first opened its doors to Chicago in August 1929. This summer, the Music Box celebrates 90 years of cinema with a weeklong

celebration of films, special events and our history.

Coming in August

BRINGING THE ARTHOUSE TO YOUR HOUSE

Subscription video on demand for $4.99/mo or $49.99/yrJoin free for 7 days | Currently available with Roku

Sign up at www.musicbox.direct

SPECIALEVENT

READ ANDREA GRONVALL’S

COMMENTARY ON PAGE 20

18 Commentary 19Music Box Theatre June-July 2019

The last few years have seen an influx of documentaries revolving around people involved with the

fashion industry ranging from the designers who create the clothing in question to the magazine

editors who elect to highlight these creations in their influential publications. Some of these films

have been entertaining to some degree but in many cases, they have often come across more as

big-screen brand extensions than as comprehensive or incisive examinations of their respective

subjects and their influence on the industry as a whole. Frederic Tcheng’s HALSTON is as much of

an exception to that rule as its subject, fashion designer Roy Halston Frowick, was to the world of

fashion in the way that it charts how Frowick emerged from a conservative upbringing in Iowa to

become one of the top names in fashion during the sixties and seventies—even staging a show at

the Palace of Versailles at one point—only to see it all collapse around him in an equally spectacular

manner in the eighties before his untimely AIDS-related death in 1990. The result is a roller-coaster

combination of haute couture and pure decadence that plays at times like a real-life hybrid of

PHANTOM THREAD and BOOGIE NIGHTS.

It says a lot about the immense influence that Halston had on American culture that even though

the label bearing his name has pretty much only been a shell of its former self for decades now, the

very mention of his name can still conjure up memories of a more glamorous era where his designs

were at the forefront of what was going on. He first became internationally famous as a hat designer

and was responsible for the iconic pillbox hat that Jacqueline Kennedy wore to her husband’s

presidential inauguration in 1961. When the demand for hats began to fade, he shifted into designing

women’s clothing, opening his first boutique in 1968 and introducing his first ready-to-wear line the

next year. His minimalist but chic designs helped to redefine formalwear for American women and

he developed a loyal fan base that included the likes of Bianca Jagger and Liza Minnelli that helped

to make him a household name brand that would go on to create everything from fragrances to

uniforms for Braniff Airways and the 1976 U.S. Olympics Team.

There are two key elements that help to separate HALSTON from many of the recent flood of

fashion-related documentaries. For starters, most films of this sort drop phrases like “innovative”

or “ground-breaking” when describing their subjects without doing much to back up those

assertions—the assumption being that such films are preaching to the converted. Tcheng does

a good job of conveying, via the judicious use of archival videotaped material showing Halston at

work as well as current interviews with former friends, colleagues and co-workers (including Joel

Schumacher, who started off in the fashion industry before become a filmmaker), what it was about

Halston’s approach to his craft that made it stand out from other designers in ways that attracted

both fashionistas and ordinary people alike. You come out of it genuinely feeling as if you have

learned something about the subject at hand. The other is that the Halston story is just more

interesting than most, especially when it shifts to the eighties and his company’s eventual collapse

in the face of a number of bad business dealings, including a controversial billion-dollar deal with

JCPenny that was meant to merge high fashion and mass marketing but ended up causing an industry

backlash from which he never recovered. (Ironically, while this approach proved to be disastrous

for Halston in the short run, it would prove to be eerily prescient in the ways in which the industry

would eventually develop over time.)

Part riveting narrative and part nostalgia machine, HALSTON is a fascinating take on the life and

work of an artist who may have lost everything, even his name, but whose influence on his industry

can still be felt to this day. When it is all over, my guess is that most viewers will go back out into

the world and realize that it could use a little bit of the old Halston touch more than ever.

Peter Sobczynski is a locally based film critic whose work can be seen at RogerEbert.com

and eFilmcritic.com.

COMMENTARY

THE PURE DECADENCE OF HAUTE COUTUREExamining HALSTON’s Influence on American Culture

By Peter Sobczynski

HALSTON OPENS JUNE 7 SEE PAGE 4 FOR DETAILS.


Writer/director/producer/actor Lynn Shelton has a deft touch in peeling back the layers of her

sometimes prickly subjects, whether in the drama OUTSIDE IN, the satirical HUMPDAY, or the

comedy of manners, YOUR SISTER’S SISTER. She’s expert at creating an atmosphere of intimacy

laced with recognizable human behaviors, in part because she favors an improvisational approach

to working with her actors. More broadly humorous and ambling than some of her other work (it

involves a road trip, of sorts), her latest film, SWORD OF TRUST, is tailor-made for the whip-smart

standup comedian Marc Maron, and features an ensemble of performers skilled at improv--such

as Michaela Watkins and Jillian Bell, members of famed Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings—and

physical comedy, like up-and-comer Jon Bass (Broadway’s THE BOOK OF MORMON). Shelton’s

co-writer, Michael Patrick O’Brien, who appears in a cameo at the top of the film, is a veteran of

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE; like many an SNL alumnus, he got his start at The Second City in Chicago.

Shelton and Maron have a seemingly effortless rapport: she and he hit it off immediately when he

interviewed her on his podcast WTF on August 10, 2015, during the happy week he was celebrating

his sixteenth anniversary of living clean and sober. She went on to direct him the next year in two

episodes of his IFC TV series, MARON, which led to helming four episodes of his current Netflix

series, GLOW, and a Netflix comedy special, MARC MARON: TOO REAL. In SWORD OF TRUST he

stars as Mel, a cranky pawn shop owner in a small Alabama town, who relocated there from New

Mexico after a codependent relationship with his addicted lover Deirdre nearly destroyed him.

Deirdre, played by Shelton, has followed him to Alabama to make amends, but early in the movie

when she corners him at work, looking for money she says she needs to repair her broken-down car,

he doesn’t believe her and turns her away with the words, “I can’t do this anymore.”

It’s a serious set-up for the light comedy to come, but it does establish the theme of trust. In whom

and what should we set stock? Bass costars as his assistant Nathaniel, a gullible internet surfer who

never met a conspiracy theory he didn’t like, and Watkins is Mary, an acerbic lesbian who’s suspicious

of almost everyone; she’s come to town with her lover Cynthia, played by Bell, who has inherited her

grandfather’s antique sword, an object of questionable provenance. The sword, with accompanying

documents, is supposedly proof that the South won the Civil War (or, as it’s known in Alabama and

thereabouts, the War of Northern Aggression). Soon the race is on to see who can out-con whom

and soak a secret online society of redneck “provers” for a hefty $40,000.

Maron, who has his share of funny lines, is essentially the straight man for the other characters’

goofiness; this is the most screwball bunch of connivers you would ever want—make that not

want—to be trapped in a truck with. But Maron is also the soul of the picture (and composed the

blues-infused music score). Answering the others’ query about his history with Deirdre, his character

resurrects painful memories of his dark years of addiction. After years of sobriety, it’s not a place

Mel wants to revisit, but anyone who understands anything about recovery knows that a recovering

alcoholic and/or drug addict is just that: someone who may be in recovery, but will always be an

addict because of the consequent long-term neurochemical and functional changes in the brain,

and the danger of relapses that could be triggered by any number of things. The goal is to face the

problem head on, stop using, and stay stopped, but that takes willpower and a certain amount of

faith—and not necessarily faith in a higher power. It requires a belief that life is worth living again.

When you think about it, the delusions under which the crackpot “provers” in SWORD OF TRUST

labor are not that far removed from the layers of denial an addict constructs to maintain his/her

dysfunctional lifestyle and relationships, although the swipes the filmmakers take at Southern Gothic

and the paranoia of modern-day conspiracists’ ideation are fairly gentle. The humor here is not of

the nasty sort, and is far removed from the vitriol of fake news and finger-pointing that peppers our

media daily. It’s the antic gaiety of the movie that encourages the audience not to demonize those

who may be in the grip of a peculiar obsession (and hopefully will eventually snap out of). Many in

the southern U.S. regard the aftermath of the Civil War as the lowest point in their history; for them,

it’s no laughing matter.

But laughter has an amazing power to heal, allowing us to stand outside of ourselves, reflect on the

past, and say, “Whoa! That was truly horrible, but look, we’re still standing. Where do we go from

here?” Is it possible to hit rock bottom, and then pull out of the ensuing well of isolation, and leave

blame and self-recrimination behind? It helps if you can joke about it. If that’s possible for Marc/Mel,

then maybe there’s hope for the rest of us. And we could all use a little more trust.

Andrea Gronvall is a contributor to the Chicago Reader and other publications and web sites, and

has served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Chicago’s Graham School. She holds a

bachelor’s degree in film theory, history and criticism from Northwestern University. After 21+ years

as a producer of a weekly syndicated talk show, she began the long road to recovery from the televi-

sion industry. She’s grateful to have found her way into writing, something she should have been

doing all along. But, hey—better late than never.

COMMENTARY

DELUSION AND DENIAL IN THE AGE OF FAKE NEWSThe Humorous SWORD OF TRUST

By Andrea Gronvall

SWORD OF TRUST OPENS JULY 19. SEE PAGE 16 FOR DETAILS.


The modern interpreters are intriguing in their own way, as the centerpiece meetings regarding the

2015 concert’s songs take place at a groovy California home, and the singers lovingly go over the old

record albums like worshipers handling artifacts. They rightly point out that it’s a treasure trove, mar-

velous in its depth and breadth (the four bands put out an astounding 20 studio albums in total during

the period outlined in the film). But the admiration really comes through during the actual concert

clips, when even stoic senders like Beck had an illumination in his eyes as he performs the holy writ.

It’s an unusual format for a rock doc, and captures more enlightenment than what is standard.

The outliers have their say,

and The Beatles get their

props, for it was their ap-

pearance on The Ed Sullivan

Show in 1964 that lit the

fuse for the California Sound

explosion (and steered The

Beach Boys toward “Pet

Sounds”). Ringo Starr is

especially funny in relating

his and George Harrison’s

attraction toward the L.A.

“hippies” and their habits (and

in turn, The Beatle albums “Rubber Soul” and “Revolver” were directly influenced by their friends

in America). And it is truly heart rending to see Tom Petty’s reminiscence of a Buffalo Springfield

concert in his native Florida in 1968...the old man got to be a kid again, shortly before his shuffle off

the mortal coil.

But it is the music and songs that still sound fresh, even overplayed hits like “California Dreaming”

(Mamas & Papas) and “Turn! Turn! Turn!” (The Byrds), because the documentary gets under the skin

of the Sound’s development. The most reverence seems to be for The Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds,” and

its creator Brian Wilson is almost animated (he must be on new meds) as he describes his use of four

different L.A. studios to get the song “Good Vibrations” just right. Producer Lou Adler (Mamas &

Papas) is also present, representing the background guys, although Stephen Stills of Buffalo Spring-

field points out that many of the old school engineers would get a day rate just by “sitting in,” as the

inventors of the Sound went in their own direction.

And what a direction it was, all pointing to both revolution and evolution. As a second wave admirer

of the era, based in The Beatles but hungry for every other band that got a chance because of them,

I was most impressed with the Laurel Canyon expression being compared to the 1930s Moveable

Feast eon of Hemingway and Paris. Time and place and people, together at a moment that sparks all

of them, then going out into the world, and creating the Sound that continues to inspire our collec-

tive cultural soul. That Canyon Echo, so resilient and clear, still pulsing in the universe. “I’m picking up

good vibrations, she’s giving me exultation …”

Patrick McDonald is an Editor and Film Writer for HollywoodChicago.com, and can be heard weekly

providing film insight on WBGR (Monroe, Wisconsin) and WSSR (Joliet, The Eddie Volkman Show).

So much ink and retrospective media space has been taken up with the British Invasion of America,

starting with The Beatles in 1964. Well, finally there is a documentary that goes back to the good old

USA during that era, to give that folk/rock “California Sound” its due. It begins with the first jingle-

jangle of the 12 string electric guitar from Roger McGuinn and The Byrds in 1965 on “Mr. Tambourine

Man,” and resonates as the ECHO IN THE CANYON.

This folk/rock movement during mid-1960s, primarily based in Laurel Canyon (the Los Angeles neighbor-

hood where many of the rockers lived) is the basis for this documentary overview, directed by Andrew

Slater. The interviews are conducted by Jakob Dylan (yes, he is Bob’s son) and features the inventors and

contemporaries of the Sound, including McGuinn, Brian Wilson, David Crosby, Michelle Phillips, Graham

Nash, Stephen Stills, John Sebastian and even cheeky Ringo Starr himself. The focus is on four influential

groups ... The Byrds, The Mamas & the Papas, Buffalo Springfield and The Beach Boys.

Jakob Dylan has the role of a seeker, as he puts together a modern line-up of fellow troubadours—

Beck, Fiona Apple, Cat Power, Regina Spektor and Norah Jones among them—to emulate the songs,

and coordinate a 50th Anniversary concert in 2015. When he talks to the California Sound originators,

Dylan sits at the feet of the masters like an eager student, and also gets perspective from the icons

influenced by them, like Eric Clapton, Jackson Browne and especially Tom Petty, in his last interview

before his death in 2017.

The film goes back and forth from the interviews, archival footage of the four groups’ histories and

the preparations/performances of the 50th Anniversary Tribute event. It is a righteous journey, even

using MODEL SHOP (1969)—a film set in the Los Angeles of the time—as a mirror to Jakob Dylan’s path

of redemption and remembrance. The now old time rockers have nothing to lose 50 years on, and

their memories are punctuated with refreshing honesty, even in describing themselves... David Crosby

(The Byrds) and Michelle Phillips (The Mamas & the Papas) especially getting points for their candor.

COMMENTARY

Rock Past Reverberates with ECHO IN THE CANYONBy Patrick McDonald

ECHO IN THE CANYON OPENS JUNE 21. SEE PAGE 6 FOR DETAILS.

24 Music Box Theatre June-July 2019 Matinees 25

SATAN MET A LADY(William Dieterle, 1936, 74 mins, 35mm)While investigating the mysterious death of his partner, detective Ted Shane (Warren William) becomes embroiled in a competitive search for the infamous Horn of Roland, desired by a femme fatale (Bette Davis), an Englishman, an old woman and her son. SATAN MET A LADY was the second of three adaptations of the same material that would ultimately culminate in its finest moment with John Huston’s 1941 THE MALTESE FALCON. With its goofy mystery machinations and comedic overtones, SATAN feels more in the vein of THE THIN MAN than the bleak, hard-boiled Huston film that would follow. With lines like “After I’ve cleared up a couple murders, you and I could have lots of fun,” plus Davis chewing it up as the femme fatale, SATAN is an admittedly silly, but oft-delightful curioso mystery film.

35MM preservation print courtesy of UCLA Film & Television Archive

JEZEBEL(William Wyler, 1938, 104 mins, 35mm)Her role in Wyler’s sensitive Antebellum drama garnered Bette Davis the second—and somewhat shockingly, final—Oscar of her burgeoning career, unforgettably playing the careening New Orleans society belle Julie Marsden. Julie is engaged to Preston “Pres” Dillard (Henry Fonda in a particularly headstrong role), a banker in the midst of the biggest deal of his career, who refuses to drop his work obligations at Julie’s beck and call. Julie lashes out and Pres, unwilling to capitulate, fights back—most prominent-ly in an unforgettable, lavish Olympus Ball sequence. But in JEZEBEL, where lovers freely quarrel and North-South politics collide, a yellow fever outbreak looms and the couple’s fighting soon takes a back seat to more substantial concerns—namely, life and death. In the end, Davis steals the show, for JEZEBEL is “a lurid Deep South women’s picture that allows Davis first to scheme then repent: it is lit up by her little girl’s conviction— a trash heap glowing at twilight…Now at last she was in her tortured element.” — David Thomson

ALL ABOUT EVE(Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950, 138 mins, 35mm)“Fasten your seatbelts— it’s going to be a bumpy night.” Jealousy, manipula-tion, and betrayal unfold in this tour de force drama of an ambitious wannabe (Anne Baxter) who sets her sights on stealing the spotlight from legendary stage actor Margo Channing (Bette Davis). Insecurities and designer gowns abound as Margo desperately tries to hold onto her friends and career. Nominated for an unprecedented fourteen Academy Awards (to date, one of only three films to hold this record), ALL ABOUT EVE immortalized Davis’s screen persona. George Sanders, Celeste Holm, and Marilyn Monroe costar.

CONTINUING SERIES

THE INDESTRUCTIBLE

BETTE DAVISThe Music Box Theatre is proud to present THE INDESTRUCTIBLE BETTE DAVIS; a celebration spanning

Davis’ astonishingly varied career of unforgettable performances, indomitable spirit, demand for respect, and bottomless passion for her work and equal treatment in Hollywood.

Bette Davis Matinees will continue in August! Full Schedule at MusicBoxTheatre.com

SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS AT 11:30am

NOW, VOYAGER(Irving Rapper, 1942, 117 mins, 35mm)Dowdy, repressed spinster Charlotte (Bette Davis, with support from her untamed eye-brows) of the patrician Vale family is on the verge of a mental breakdown, thanks largely to her overbearing mother (Gladys Cooper). With the help of avuncular psychiatrist Dr. Jaquith (Claude Rains), Charlotte’s wilting flower begins to blossom, sparking a trajectory of self-improvement that lands her on a pleasure cruise. Onboard, her newfound confidence becomes enmeshed with unhappily married Jeremiah Duvaux Durrance (Paul Henreid). Fondly remembered for suggestive moments of Henreid lighting two cigarettes, one for himself and one for Davis, NOW, VOYAGER could be the Rosetta Stone of the self-sacrificial women’s picture. —UCLA

June 22 & 23

July 20 & 21

July 7

August 3 & 4

26 Music Box Theatre June-July 2019

TRUST(Hal Hartley, 1990, 107 mins, 35mm)

Monday, June 10 at 7pmIf Frank Borzage had survived to see the end of the Reagan Era, hated television and took the gruff-but-gentle romance of Spencer Tracy and Loretta Young in MAN’S CASTLE and set it in suburban, blue collar

Long Island in 1990, he might have made a

movie like TRUST. Adrienne Shelly stars as a high school senior whose mother accuses her of killing her father. When she meets Martin Donovan, an electronics whiz who can’t hold down a job and lives alone with his abusive father, she’s looking for a place to stay,

and the two heroes quickly find they have something the other one needs. TRUST is as moving, subversive and funny as it was in 1990, simply the kind of movie we

have to show to you.

THE FLORIDA PROJECT(Sean Baker, 2017, 112 mins, 35mm)

Monday, July 22 at 7pmAn unvarnished work about people living on the margins and continually flirting with homelessness, incarceration and Child Protective Services, THE FLORIDA PROJECT could fit snugly within a classic “social problem film” framework, but luckily Sean Baker’s celluloid north star is Hal Roach rather than Stanley Kramer. Six-year-old Moonee (Brooklynn Prince) could hold her own with OUR GANG any day of the week, whether she’s spitting on cars over a railing or accidentally setting abandoned buildings ablaze. This unassuming film is so rigorous in maintaining its child’s-eye-view that the eventual rupture is heartbreaking beyond words. Gorgeously photographed in 35mm by Alexis Zabe, THE FLORIDA PROJECT was initially distributed digitally; we are proud to present the Chicago premiere of this unique print.

PRESENTS

The Music Box hosts the Chicago Film Society for monthly all-celluloid screenings of classic and underseen features, short subjects, trailer reels and other analog odds and ends from archives, studio vaults, small distributors and private film collectors.

For more information, visit chicagofilmsociety.org

New

35mm Print

Commissioned

by Chicago Film

Society

Director Sean Baker in Person!

CONTINUING SERIES

exclusively available at Custom Eyes

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exclusively available at Custom Eyes

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SILENT CINEMARare and classic silent films, the way they were meant to be seen! Featuring live musical accompaniment on the famous Music Box organ by Dennis Scott, Music Box House Organist. Programmed and co-presented by the Chicago Film Society.

HOTEL IMPERIAL(Mauritz Stiller, 1927, 85 mins, 35mm)

Saturday, June 8 at 11:30amThe height of Hollywood’s polyglot cos-mopolitanism from Paramount, the most continental of studios, HOTEL IMPERIAL was based on a 1917 play from Hungar-ian writer Lajos Biro, directed by Swed-ish pioneer Mauritz Stiller, produced by German UFA exile Erich Pommer, and built around the peculiar glow of Polish star Pola Negri. The titular hotel stands

as a bygone luxury in war-torn Galicia, with the Russian army advancing on Austro-Hungarian forces. An escaped Hussar (James Hall) finds refuge in the Hotel Imperial and poses as the establishment’s butler with the help of housekeeper Anna (Negri), who must fend off the amorous advances of a Russian general (George Siegmann) and keep her eyes on an infamous spy (Michael Vavitch). Stiller’s only extant American feature, HOTEL IMPERIAL is a rare glimpse of a cinema too fragile to last.

Print courtesy of the Library of Congress

THE SCARLET LETTER(Victor Sjöström, 1926, 100 mins, 35mm)

Saturday, July 6 at 11:30am THE SCARLET LETTER is that rarest of things: a movie adapted from a great work of American literature that doesn’t embarrass the source material. Indeed, this tale of adultery, hypocrisy and mu-tilation purportedly reached the screen only because Lillian Gish’s wholesome bona fides, not Nathaniel Hawthorne’s literary reputation, assuaged church group skepticism. Gish stars as Hester Prynne, the Puritan woman whose affair with pastor Dimmesdale (Lars Hanson) brings an out-of-wedlock birth and the

injunction that the adulterous wife be forced to wear a scarlet ‘A’ affixed to her dress. Discussing the choice to hire Victor Sjöström (THE WIND) to direct this quintessentially American story, Gish explained, “The Swedish people are closer to what our Pilgrims were, or what we consider them to have been, than our present day Americans.”

Print courtesy of UCLA Film & Television Archive


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42ND STREET - THE MUSICALDirected by: Mark BramblePresented by: BY EXPERIENCE

Saturday, June 29 at 11amTuesday, July 2 at 7pm

One of Broadway’s most clas-sic and beloved tales, 42ND STREET, comes to the Music Box in the largest-ever production of the breathtaking musical.

Filmed in 2018 at London’s Theatre Royal, the production is directed by the original author of the show, Mark Bramble. This eye-watering extravaganza is full of crowd-pleasing tap dances, popular musical theatre standards (“Lullaby of Broadway,” “We’re in the Money” (the gold digger’s song), “42nd Street” and more), and show-stopping ensemble production numbers.

The Music Box Theatre proudly presents the greatest in filmed theatrical experiences from around the world!

FROM STAGE TO SCREEN

CONTINUING SERIES

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Midnights 33

HIGHWAY TO HELL (Ate de Jong, 1991, 94 mins, DCP)

BOYZ N THE HOOD (John Singleton, 1991, 112 mins, DCP)

EVER AFTER (Carolina Hellsguard, 2019, 90 mins, DCP)

POETIC JUSTICE (John Singleton, 1993, 109 mins, DCP)

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (George Miller, 2015, 120 mins, 35mm)

BELLY (Hype Williams, 1998, 96 mins, 35mm)

THE ROOM (Tommy Wiseau, 2003, 99 mins, 35mm)

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (Jim Sharman, 1975, 100 mins, 35mm)

June 7 & 8

June 21 & July 19

June 22 & July 20

June 22

June 28 & 29

June 28 & 29

July 5 & 6

July 12 & 13

MIDNIGHTS FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS AT MIDNIGHT

BELLY(Hype Williams, 1998, 96 mins, 35mm)

“Fuck a book,” says star DMX, and indeed this is post-verbal filmmaking, with vital plot points rendered in Jamaican patois. BELLY opens with a blacklight nightclub stickup set to a cappella vocal gymnastics, and director Hype Williams (auteur of shiny-suit-era Bad Boy music videos) doesn’t allow a routine frame past the velvet rope in his one-of-a-kind, Alizé-and-mushrooms swirl of millennial Manhattan and dancehall reggae. —BAM

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD(George Miller, 2015, 120 mins, 35mm)

Years after the collapse of civilization, the tyrannical Immortan Joe enslaves apocalypse survivors inside the desert fortress the Citadel. When the warrior Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) leads the despot’s five wives in a dar-ing escape, she forges an alliance with Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy), a loner and former captive. Fortified in the mas-sive, armored truck the War Rig, they try to outrun the ruthless warlord and his henchmen in a deadly high-speed chase through the Wasteland.

CONTINUING SERIESMusic Box MemberBecoming a member at the Music Box is a great way to support the quality programming at the independently owned and operated historic movie theatre, lounge and garden. This includes our holiday classics, talk backs, film festivals, visits from directors, producers, and actors, as well as our regular midnight, matinee,

and feature presentations.

register online at musicboxtheatre.com or visit our box office!

• Discounted tickets

• Members-only screenings

• Advanced purchase for special screenings

• Restaurant discounts

• Deals on Music Box Films DVD’s

• Bottomless popcorn

• Discounted house wines

j o i n t o d ay

Bonus Screening –

Wednesday, June 12 at 9:30pm

Documents

JUNE 7 - JULY 25, 2019 · The granddaddy of ‘90s ‘hood dramas charts the diverging fates of three friends—includ-ing rapper Ice Cube, making a big impression in his first film—coming