Weekender with Alison Cuddy

Weekender with Alison Cuddy

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These are strange days for the movies. Sure, Hollywood still pretty much owns the world’s box office. But as with other media - books, music, TV - moviegoers want what they want when they want it - cineplex be damned! I love seeing movies in Chicago and think we’ve got some of the best film venues around. But now I’m just as - maybe even more - likely to stream something on my not-very-high end laptop. Works for me.

Fickle consumers, mobile technologies, and professional pirate websites are all changing the way Hollywood produces and distributes movies, whether studios are ready or not. Forget about “straight to video/DVD.” Film flops may be headed “straight to cloud.”

Is it any wonder than that many of the year’s top movies (if for the moment we let the Academy be the judge) are absorbed in the movies themselves? Especially in moments when technological changes had a big impact on movies?

Hugo is about the days of early cinema, when the realist, “scenes of everyday life” approach of the Lumière Brothers won out over the illusionist theatricality of Georges Méliès. The Artist tracks the transition from silent to sound - an audio advancement that totally up-ended the film business as well as the lives of many actors. If you haven’t seen the film, you may remember the fate of poor Lina Lamont from Singing in the Rain. Meanwhile My Week with Marilyn is all about the effect of star power - even a doomed and frail Monroe was able to stand up to the studio system.

All of this has many a silver lining. Small operators can try out risky films and bank on a niche home market to stay afloat. And if the last few years are any indication, the more reluctant Hollywood gets about taking risks the more likely you are to see an increase in local off-the-beaten-path film spaces showing unusual movies.

But this weekend you can actually attend a film festival without leaving home! Local podcast F This Movie! hosts the first ever F this Movie Film Fest! Starting at noon Saturday, no matter where you are, you can watch a line-up of films from 1982, and participate in a real-time discussion of the films via Twitter. Hey what do you know - using the latest technology to travel back in time! That’s just one of my picks this week. The rest require that you get out there - and enjoy.

1. Maxwell Street Klezmer Band

The band brings their crying clarinet and meditative violin to join Cantor Scott Simon in a “Shabbat Shira,” or service in song.

Friday 7pm

Temple Chai

1670 RFD Checker Rd

Long Grove, IL

2. Tiny Fascists

Friday 10pm

A dramatic musical of a camping expedition gone wrong - the entire cast is former Eagle Scouts!

Annoyance Theater   4830 N Broadway

3. F This Movie Film Festival!

Saturday 12pm

Films on Twitter! From the comfort of your live stream watch a selection of 1982 greats, including Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

F This Movie! Blog

4. Sun Ra/El Saturn Commissions

Saturday 7-9pm

Art inspired by Sun Ra recordings - see digital prints, silk screens, and an animated music video.

Experimental Sound Studio: Audible Gallery   5925 N Ravenswood

5. Motion Matinee and Signal Super Bowl Party

Sunday 2pm

A tale of behind the scenes wheeling and dealing at a small-city football franchise.

Signal Ensemble Theatre

1802 W Berenice

6. ICE Present ‘George Lewis and Friends’

Sunday 3pm

George Lewis, a pioneer in jazz and improvised music performs, along with a younger generation of composers influenced by his compositions.

MCA Stage

220 E Chicago Ave

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