GireWire

Illinois native Karen Allen appears in person for fans of her biggest hit, “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” The film will be screened at 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Friday (Sept. 25) and Saturday (Sept. 26) at Ted Bulthaup’s brand-spanking-new Hollywood Palms Cinema at 352 S. Route 59, Naperville.

Sunday (Sept. 27), Allen will also appear at 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. for “Raiders” screenings at Bulthaup’s nearby Hollywood Blvd. theater, 1001 W. 75th St., Woodridge.

Speaking of Karen Allen, she’ll also be part of the closing night attractions at the second annual Naperville Independent Film Festival on Saturday (Sept. 26) around 7:45 p.m. in the exquisitely detailed Mayan auditorium at the Hollywood Palms theater. Chicago film critic Roger Ebert will join Allen after his book signing from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Call (630) 514-4204 or go to naperfilmfest.org for details. (Read more…)

More than 50 entries will compete for cash prizes during the very first Elgin Short Film Fest Saturday, Sept. 26. WGN’s Dean Richards, broadcast’s hardest-working entertainment reporter, serves as master of ceremonies. (Read more…)

Go to hemmens.org/filmfest for details.

Cost $5.00

Saturday, Sept. 26 at 7:00 p.m.
Hemmens Cultural Center
45 Symphony Way
Elgin

“Like a movie.”

That’s how a West Chicago woman described the scene when escaped fugitive Robert Maday’s carjacked automobile raced past her in a desperate attempt to escape pursuing police cars last week.

“Like a movie.”

That’s also how many New Yorkers described the nightmare scenes of 9/11 eight years ago.

“Like a movie.”

In fact, a great many witnesses to calamities and violence often fall back on this simile, which has, at least in press circles, become somewhat predictable. Like when reporters ask people to describe the psycho killers revealed to be living next door to them, and they all say the same thing:

“He was quiet and kept to himself.”

It’s actually a compliment to the film industry that people compare real disasters and violence to movie scenes. Filmmakers spend lots of money and time and effort so their movies project the look and feel of real life. (Read more…)

A familiar fish-out-of-water plot gets a poignant, anti-prejudice treatment by Nebraska-born director/writer Cherien Dabis, who whisks a single mother Muna (Nisreen Faour) and her teen son Fadi (Melkar Muallem) from their desolate West Bank home into America’s heartland, Smalltown, Illinois. (OK, it was filmed in Canada, too.)

Muna is qualified to be a banker, but can only get work at a local White Castle. Fadi’s teen rebellion phase kicks in, and Muna has her hands full dealing with him, her lack of money, living with her patient relatives and a group of racist hooligans at Fadi’s school. Rated: PG-13 (language, drug use). 96 minutes. (Read more…)

Now playing at the Century Centre Cinema in Chicago and the Renaissance Place in Highland Park.

Famous environmental blogger Colin Beavan might be the star of Laura Gabbert’s and Justin Schein’s new doc “No Impact Man,” but the real story is all about his wife, Michelle, whose slow conversion from a meat-eating, disposable consumer to a recycling vegetarian supplies the humanizing dramatic arc.

Beaven, his wife and daughter spent a year trying to live in New York City without a negative impact on the planet. No cars, movies, disposable items, commercially produced electricity (he has a solar panel for that) or regular grocery shopping that leaves a carbon footprint. Not Rated. 90 minutes. (Read more…)

Now playing at the Music Box Theater in Chicago.
Special Note: Beavan is scheduled to appear at the opening of his movie today (Sept. 19) at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave., Chicago.

Chicago filmmaker Darryl Roberts’ “America the Beautiful” – a doc examining Americans’ unhealthy obsession with lookin’ good at all costs – will be shown at 7:00 p.m. Monday as a fundraiser for Arabella House, a program at Linden Oaks Hospital in Naperville, dedicated to helping women recover from eating disorders. You can catch the movie, plus a Q & A with Roberts afterwords. (Read more…)

Go to classiccinemas.com for details.

Cost $20.00 (Donation)
Monday, Sept. 21 at 7:00 p.m
Tivoli Theater
5021 Highland Ave.
Downers Grove

Special light-and-sound-adjusted showings of “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” designed for autistic children will be presented at 10 a.m. Saturday at AMC theaters in South Barrington, Warrenville and Northbrook. (Read more…)

Go to amctheaters.com for details.

Saturday, Sept. 19 at 10:00 a.m
AMC Theater – South Barrington, Warrenville and Northbrook

Oscar-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss drops by to host four of his best movies today and Saturday at Ted Bulthaup’s spectacular new Naperville movie complex, the Hollywood Palms. Dreyfuss will field questions before “Jaws” at 8 p.m. today, and “What About Bob?” at 10 p.m. Saturday, he’ll introduce “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” at 8 p.m. followed by “Down and Out in Beverly Hills at 10 p.m.” (Read more…)

Go to hollywoodpalmscinema.com for details and tickets.

Friday, Sept. 18 at 8:00 p.m. & 10:00 p.m
Saturday, Sept. 19 at 8:00 p.m. & 10:00 p.m
Hollywood Palms
352 S. Route 59
Naperville

CNMG Films, a group of cool, independent filmmakers who got together while attending Fremd High School in Palatine several years ago, have four movies being screened at the second annual Naperville Independent Film Festival that begins Saturday, Sept. 19 and runs through Sept. 26.

“Gnome Man’s Land,” “The Past and Pending,” “Off-Loop” and “The Girl in the Other Room” will be screened every night next week, according to director/writer/actor/cinematographer Mike Noens.

Also at the fest will be the Chicago-made sports mockumentary “Handicapped,” all about a golf tournament for bad players. The short, shot at the Royal Melbourne Country Club in Long Grove, screens at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Ogden 6 Cinema. John F. Barmon Jr., who played Spalding in “Caddyshack,” guest-stars. (Read more…)

Go to Naperville Independent Film Festival.

Saturday, Sept. 19 – Saturday, Sept. 26
Various times and locations.

A high school hottie (Megan Fox) becomes a cannibalistic, bisexual demon in Diablo Cody’s scripted horror tale “Jennifer’s Body.”

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You’d think a movie titled “Jennifer’s Body” would have Jennifer’s body in it.

You know, all of Jennifer’s body?

Nope. This high school horror film shows quick shots of Jennifer’s arms, legs, backside, cleavage and face, and that’s about it.

“Jennifer’s Body Parts” would be a more accurate title, but probably not as marketable, I’m guessing.

There are two reasons that America’s moviegoers have been waiting to see “Jennifer’s Body.”

One is the much-touted lesbian kissing scene between Amanda Seyfried and hottie star Megan Fox, fresh off her hit action film “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” where she spent a lot of time bouncing around in slow motion and moistening her pneumatic lips.

The second is screenwriter and Lemont native Diablo Cody, whose first movie, the wonderful and witty “Juno,” deservedly earned the Oscar for best screenplay. (Read more…)