Chicago was once a huge player in the world of film. And while we may never come close to reclaiming that title, the city has made big strides in recent years. Big budget films are being made here with comforting – though limited – regularity.
Ever wonder about the line between science and science fiction? Could we ever selectively erase experiences from our memories? Upload information to our brains like a hard drive? Control robotic limbs with our minds?
Very loosely based on Far From the Madding Crowd, Stephen Frears' Tamara Drewe is Thomas Hardy twice-filtered: first through the skeptical-sympathetic eye of the terrific British graphic novelist Posy Simmonds, who specializes in placing a contemporary spin on literary classics --
A suicidal teenager helps heal his fellow mental patients in It's Kind of a Funny Story, an unexpectedly light tale from Half Nelson writer-directors Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden.
On paper, Stone looks like a dream for fans of acting heavyweights facing off against each another. In one corner, there's Robert De Niro, playing Jack, a parole officer just a few weeks short of his retirement.
