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The Chicago Reader

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Columns & Opinion, On Politics Nov 18, 2020
Real Chicago

The scariest thing about our city is how our political system works.
- By Ben Joravsky
- Tags: On Politics, Richard M. Daley, Richard J. Daley, Rahm Emanuel, Steve James, City So Real, Kartemquin Films, Lori Lightfoot, Rickey Hendon, Harold Washington, Jane Byrne

Film, Small Screen Nov 3, 2020
Recommended Video
City So Real is peak Chicago

Steve James’s docuseries authentically captures the people and places that define the city.
- By Josh Flanders
- Tags: Small Screen, City So Real, Steve James, Sundance, Hulu, Hoop Dreams, America to Me, Participant Media, Kartemquin Films, The Interrupters, Life Itself, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Laquan McDonald, Jason Van Dyke, Zak Piper, Jackson James, Recommended, Video

Film, Movie Feature Sep 24, 2020
A Chicago International Film Festival unlike any other

The 56th annual celebration of cinema features nearly 60 films, seven of which are world premieres, online and at the drive-in.
- By Kathleen Sachs
- Tags: Movie Feature, Chicago International Film Festival, ChiTown Movies Drive-In, American Utopia, David Byrne, Spike Lee, Mimi Plauche, R.J. Cutler, Belushi, Bryan Bertino, The Dark and the Wicked, Music Box of Horrors, Bad Hair, Justin Simien, Francis Lee, Ammonite, Kate Winslet, Saoirse Ronan, The Road Up, Greg Jacobs, Jon Siskel, Regina King, One Night in Miami, Nomadland, Chloé Zhao, Mama Gloria, Luchina Fisher, Steve James, City So Real, I'm Your Woman, Rachel Brosnahan, Fall Arts Preview

Music, Music Feature Apr 17, 2019
Video
Natural Information Society make the stage a home—and vice versa

Joshua Abrams and Lisa Alvarado help give this Chicago collective’s transcendent minimalism a family feeling.
- By Bill Meyer
- Tags: Music Feature, Natural Information Society, Joshua Abrams, Mandatory Reality, Simultonality, guimbri, gimbri, guembri, sintir, Gnawa, Lisa Alvarado, Eremite Records, Drag City, Thrill Jockey, Don Cherry, Hamid Drake, Nicole Mitchell, Mike Reed, Prefuse 73, Roots, Dave Rempis, Will Oldham, Steve James, Kartemquin Films, The Interrupters, Life Itself, America to Me, Bridget Donahue, Ari Brown, Monika Cherry, Moki Cherry, Ornette Coleman, Organic Music Society, Bitchin Bajas, Jason Stein, Ben LaMar Gay, Mikel Patrick Avery, Frank Rosaly, Emmett Kelly, Ben Boye, Nick Mazzarella, Fred Anderson, From the River to the Ocean, Bindu, Natural Information, Jason Adasiewicz, Nori Tanaka, harmonium, Represencing, Magnetoception, Jeff Parker, Autoimaginary, Constellation, Finite, Electrical Audio, In Memory’s Prism, Simon Starling, Project for a Rift Valley Crossing, Frieze New York, Video

Film, Movie Feature Feb 22, 2018
Video
An interview with Laura Checkoway, director of the Oscar-nominated Edith+Eddie

The Kartemquin Films release profiles nonagenarian newlyweds who were torn apart.
- By J.R. Jones
- Tags: Movie Feature, Laura Checkoway, Edith+Eddie, Edith and Eddie, Edith & Eddie, Edith Hill, Eddie Harrison, Rebecca Wright, Steve James, Hoop Dreams, The Interrupters, Kartemquin Films, Lucky documentary, Lucky Laura Checkoway, P. Corwin Lamm, elder care, le, Video

Blogs, Bleader Jan 29, 2016
Video
Son of Saul opens at Music Box, plus more new reviews and notable screenings

New reviews and notable screenings in this week's issue
- By J.R. Jones
- Tags: Film, Opening, Laszlo Nemes, Son of Saul, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Anesthesia movie, Kristen Stewart, Sam Waterston, Gretchen Mol, Michael K. Williams, Tim Blake Nelson, The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young, Frozen Head State Park, Cemetery of Splendor, Mekong Hotel, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, The 5th Wave, Chloe Grace Moretz, The Finest Hours, Hou Hsiao-hsien, The Assassin, Ronit Bezalel, 70 Acres in Chicago: Cabrini Green, Carl Reiner, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, Martin Scorsese, Goodfellas, Fred Zinnemann, Julia movie, Charlie Chaplin, The Kid, John Stahl, Leave Her to Heaven, Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, On the Town, Seijun Suzuki, Pistol Opera, Steve James, Stevie movie, movies, Video

Blogs, Bleader Dec 12, 2014
Video
Chris Rock is an auteur now, plus more new reviews and notable screenings

New reviews and notable screenings in this week's issue
- By J.R. Jones
- Tags: Opening, Film, Top Five, Chris Rock, Paramount Pictures, The Theory of Everything, The Imitation Game, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Ridley Scott, Gladiator movie, Once Upon a Time Veronica, Point and Shoot, Sagrada: The Mystery of Creation, Antonio Gaudi, Sagrada Família basilica, Sundance Film Festival, The Two Faces of January, Patricia Highsmith, Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst, Oscar Isaac, Steve James, Hoop Dreams, Gene Siskel Film Center, Frank Capra, It's a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, Music Box Chicago, John McTiernan, Die Hard, Chris Columbus, Home Alone, movies, Video

Blogs, Bleader Jul 11, 2014
Video
Not coming to a theater near you, and the rest of this week's screenings

New reviews and notable screenings in this week's issue
- By J.R. Jones
- Tags: Opening, Film, Ben Sachs, Gambit movie, Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz, Blood Ties, Clive Owen, Billy Crudup, Redbox, As It Is in Heaven, Colette movie, Arnost Lustig, The Girl From Antwerp, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden, A Run for Your Money, Begin Again, John Carney, Once movie, Life Itself, Steve James, Roger Ebert, The New Rijksmuseum, Snowpiercer, Bong Joon-ho, The Host movie, Tammy, Melissa McCarthy, Susan Sarandon, Catherine Breillat, Fat Girl, Chicago Cultural Center, Richard Lester, A Hard Day's Night, Music Box Chicago, Robert Hamer, Kind Hearts and Coronets, Gene Siskel Film Center, George Roy Hill, Slaughterhouse-Five, University of Chicago Doc Films, David Lean, Lawrence of Arabia, Stanley Kubrick, Spartacus, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Son of 70mm Film Festival, film festivals, movies, Video

Blogs, Bleader Jul 4, 2014
Video
The latest from Steve James, and the rest of this week's movies

A roundup of new and notable movies playing in Chicago between July 4 and 10
- By Ben Sachs
- Tags: Opening, Film, 42nd Street, Aliens, James Cameron, An American Werewolf in London, John Landis, Doc Films, Begin Again, John Carney, Deliver Us From Evil, Earth to Echo, Mac and Me, Steve James, Life Itself, Elena, Gene Siskel Film Center, The Front Page, Lewis Milestone, Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia, A Hard Day's Night, John Hubley, Cartoons by John Hubley, Snowpiercer, Bong Joon-Ho, Last Holiday, The Lavender Hill Mob, Alec Guinness, Marketa Lazarova, Frantisek Vlacil, Nothing Bad Can Happen, Tammy, Melissa McCarthy, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Michael Bay, Video

Film, Movie Feature Jul 2, 2014
Reluctant auteur Steve James on life and Life Itself

The man behind Hoop Dreams, The Interrupters, and the new Roger Ebert chronicle Life Itself is one of America's most well-respected documentarians, but you probably couldn't pick Steve James out of a lineup.
- By Ben Sachs
- Tags: Movie Feature, Steve James, film, filmmakers, PBS, Hoop Dreams, CeaseFire, The Interrupters, Stevie, Big Brothers, The New Americans, Life Itself, Roger Ebert, movies, Oak Park, Kartemquin Films, gardening, Rushville, Illinois, work, Judy James, sex offenders, careers, family, Hollywood, narrative film, television, TV, documentaries, Peter Gilbert, Prefontaine, James Madison University, auteurs, Alex Kotlowitz, Frederick Marx, film credits, SIU, Southern Illinois University, Big Muddy Film Festival, Jerry Blumenthal, Gordon Quinn, David Simpson, Leslie Simmer, film criticism, Errol Morris, Jean Renoir, Orson Welles, humor, Flame-O Coby

Music, Music Feature Oct 28, 2013
Video
Listen closely to Jimmy Whispers

Jimmy Whispers’s cryptic street art and almost childlike love songs have a powerful antiviolence subtext—and his Summer in Pain Festival this weekend benefits CeaseFire.
- By Leor Galil
- Tags: Music Feature, Jimmy Whispers, street art, Chic-a-Go-Go, festivals, CeaseFire, Cure VIolence, benefit concerts, Logan Square, Parenthetical Girls, Empty Bottle, Alex Kotlowitz, Steve James, documentaries, zines, gun violence, Patricia Broughton, J.R. Nelson, Gossip Wolf, Advance Base, Plastic Crimewave Syndicate, Cool Memories, J Fernandez, Chandeliers, Yawn, Mines, Ono, Bill Satek, Ratso, scoreboards, iPods, Tastee Freez, corn dogs, t-shirts, Waldheim Cemetery, Forest Park, Video

Blogs, Bleader Oct 21, 2013
Coming Tuesday: The first Good Pitch Chicago, a fund-seeking round table for documentary filmmakers

After success in other American cities, a forum that sits documentary filmmakers down with potential backers comes to the Chicago Cultural Center.
- By Michael Miner
- Tags: Media, Film, News, Good Pitch Chicago, Danny Alpert, Steve Cohen, The Dreamcatchers, Lisa Stevens, The Homestretch, Anne de Mare, Kirsten Kelly, The Message: The (R)evolutionary Power of Climate Change, Avi Lewis, Private Violence, Cynthia Hill, Sister, Rebecca Parrish, Strong Island, Yance Ford, Facing History and Ourselves, Bully, Lee Hirsch, Cynthia Lowen, The Interrupters, Kartemquin Films, Steve James, Alex Kotlowitz, MacArthur Foundation

Blogs, Bleader Jun 2, 2013
Ceasefire Illinois head charged with domestic battery

The Illinois director of CeaseFire is charged after his wife filed a report.
- By Deanna Isaacs
- Tags: Crime, Seriously?, News, Ceasefire Illinois, Tio Hardiman, Hillside Police Department, The Interrupters, Alex Kotlowitz, Steve James, Kartemquin

Blogs, Bleader May 5, 2013
Weekly Top Five: Dream on—the American dream on film

Michael Bay's recent Pain & Gain inspires the latest Weekly Top Five.
- By Drew Hunt
- Tags: Weekly Top Five, Film, Michael Bay, Pain & Gain, American dream, El Norte, Gregory Nava, Thieves' Highway, Jules Dassin, Stroszek, Werner Herzog, California Dreamin', Cristian Nemescu, Hoop Dreams, Steve James, Frederick Marx, Peter Gilbert, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Ben Sachs

Blogs, Bleader Sep 28, 2012
Video
This week's movies, and the rest of this week's movies

New reviews and notable screenings in this week's issue
- By J.R. Jones
- Tags: Film, Can movie, Gene Siskel Film Center, Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel, Vogue, Music Box, Head Games, Steve James, Hoop Dreams, Stevie movie, At the Death House Door, Hotel Transylvania, Adam Sandler, Steve Buscemi, Cee-Lo Green, House at the End of the Street, Elisabeth Shue, Jennifer Lawrence, How I Ended This Summer, Gold Hugo, Chicago International Film Festival, Looper, Rian Johnson, Brick movie, The Brothers Bloom, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Lou Harrison: A World of Music, Love Likes Coincidences, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Logan Lerman, Pitch Perfect, Anna Kendrick, Elizabeth Banks, Rebel Wilson, Snowman's Land, Harold Pinter, The Dumb Waiter, Vulgaria, Bernardo Bertolucci, Before the Revolution, Block Museum of Art, John Carpenter, Dark Star, University of Chicago Doc Films, Michel Gondry, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Facets Cinematheque, James W. Anderson, Northwestern University, Howard Hawks, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Fred Camper, Robert Bresson, Pickpocket, Jack Conway, Red-Headed Woman, Chicago Horror Film Festival, Audre Lord's Cultural Legacy, Audre Lord: The Berlin Years 1984-1992, The Edge of Each Other's Battles: The Vision of Audre Lord, movies, Video

Blogs, Bleader Jun 25, 2012
The Reader's Agenda: Mon 6/25

What's on the Agenda for Monday, June 25, 2012
- By Drew Hunt
- Tags: Do This, Mayne Stage, Elysabeth Alfano, The Dinner Party, Paul Fehribach, Big Jones, Steve James, Regina Taylor, Esperanza Spalding, Ravinia Fest, Miles Raymer, Chandeliers, Empty Bottle, Golden Birthday, Bitchin' Bajas

Columns & Opinion, On Media Mar 20, 2012
Can the virus of violence be filmed?

A gang crimes cop points out what The Interrupters missed
- By Michael Miner
- Tags: Michael Miner on Media, Ceasefire, gang violence, Tio Hardiman, interrupting, Steve James, Alex Kotlowitz, Englewood, Little Village, gangbanging, drug trade

Blogs, Bleader Feb 17, 2012
Video
This week's movie action

New reviews and notable screenings in this week's issue
- By J.R. Jones
- Tags: Film, Milestone Film & Video, On the Bowery, Lionel Rogosin, The Perfect Team, Rampart movie, Oren Moverman, L.A. Confidential, Declaration of War, In Darkness, Agnieszka Holland, Europa Europa, The Secret Garden, London River, Rachid Bouchareb, Days of Glory, Outside the Law, Safe House, Denzel Washington, Tony Scott, The Story of Lover's Rock, This Means War, Charlie's Angels movie, McG, The Vow movie, Channing Tatum, Rachel McAdams, Robert Bresson, L'Argent, The Devil Probably, Sergio Leone, Duck, You Sucker!, Nicholas Ray, In a Lonely Place, Wes Anderson, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, David Lynch, Mulholland Dr., Steve James, Barbara Kopple, Harlan County U.S.A., The Film That Changed My Life, The Interrupters, Bob Hercules, Joffrey Ballet, Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance, Kenneth Lonergan, Margaret movie, Tony Adler, Steve Bogira, Deanna Isaacs, Michael Miner, Sam Worley, movies, Video

Blogs, Bleader Nov 21, 2011
Oscarus interruptus

Steve James's acclaimed documentary The Interrupters is passed over for Oscar consideration.
- By J.R. Jones
- Tags: Film, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Steve James, The Interrupters, Hoop Dreams, Stevie movie, At the Death House Door, CeaseFire Chicago, Deanna Isaacs, Columbia College, Andrea Gronvall, Gene Siskel Film Center, Werner Herzog, Into the Abyss, Errol Morris, Tabloid movie, Asif Kapadia, Senna movie, Buck movie, Battle for Brooklyn, Academy Awards, Oscars, best documentary feature shortlist, documentaries, movies

Blogs, Bleader Nov 18, 2011
Video
This week's movie action

New reviews and notable screenings in this week's issue.
- By J.R. Jones
- Tags: Film, Werner Herzog, Into the Abyss, Michael James Perry, Death Row movie, Investigation Discovery, Kartemquin Films, At the Death House Door, Steve James, Hoop Dreams, Stevie movie, The Interrupters, Peter Gilbert, Fred Camper, University of Chicago Film Studies Center, Gregory J. Markopoulos, Every Song Is About Me, Lope movie, Gene Siskel Film Center, Festival of New Spanish Cinema, 3 movie, Tom Tykwer, Run Lola Run, Jean-Pierre Melville, Army of Shadows, University of Chicago Doc Films, Bernardo Bertolucci, Last Tango in Paris, Gene Siskel Film Center, Steven Spielberg, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Music Box, Jean-Luc Godard, Week-end movie, Chicago Food Film Festival, Kendall College, Intelligentsia Roasting Works, Illinois International Film Festival, Viaduct Theater, Kinky Film Festival, Leather Archives and Museum, film festivals, movies, Video

Film, Movie Review Nov 17, 2011
Death and Texas

Werner Herzog's Into the Abyss and Kartemquin Films' At the Death House Door look at capital punishment in the Lone Star State.
- By J.R. Jones
- Tags: Movie Review, Into the Abyss, At the Death House Door, Werner Herzog, Steve James, Peter Gilbert, Rick Perry, Kartemquin Films, executions, capital punishment, Huntsville, Texas, Carlos De Luna, Michael James Perry

Blogs, Bleader Nov 3, 2011
Video
This week's movie action

New reviews and notable screenings in this week's issue.
- By J.R. Jones
- Tags: Film, Stephen Cone, The Wise Kids, Music Box, Reeling: The Chicago Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival, In Memoriam, Gene Siskel Film Center, Polish Film Festival in America, Rosemont 18, In Darkness, Agnieszka Holland, The Secret Garden, Europa Europa, Facets Cinematheque, Pickwick, Chicago International Film Festival, Le Havre, Aki Kaurismaki, Like Crazy, Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, The Double, Richard Gere, Eames: The Architect and the Painter, Charles Eames, Ray Eames, Tower Heist, Brett Ratner, Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Urbanized, Gary Hustwit, Helvetica, A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, Ray Boulting, John Boulting, Brighton Rock, Graham Greene, Music Box, Sidney Lumet, Dog Day Afternoon, Doc Films; Zhao Dayong, Ghost Town, Ricky Gervais, Frank Tashlin, The Girl Can't Help It, Portage, Northwest Chicago Film Society, Steve James, Hoop Dreams, film festivals, movies, Video

Blogs, Bleader Aug 11, 2011
Video
This Week's Movie Action

New reviews and notable screenings in this week's issue.
- By J.R. Jones
- Tags: Film, Film Noir Foundation, Egyptian Theater, Noir City Chicago 3, Music Box, Brute Force, Burt Lancaster, Sorry Wrong Number, Barbara Stanwyck, Deadline USA, Humphrey Bogart, The Dark Mirror, Olivia De Havilland, The Blue Dahlia, Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Loophole movie, Larceny movie, Andrea Gronvall, The Interrupters, Steve James, Alex Kotlowitz, Gene Siskel Film Center, Black Harvest International Festival of Film and Video, Yelling to the Sky, Gabourey Sidibe, Precious movie, Autumn Execution, Lee Hsing, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Detroit Wild City, The Help movie, Emma Stone, Sissy Spacek, Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life, Sleep Furiously, Wales, 30 Minutes or Less, Reuben Fleischer, Zombieland, Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network, Aziz Ansari, Funny People, The Whistleblower, Rachel Weisz, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Robert Wiene, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, University of Chicago Doc Films, Samuel Fuller, I Shot Jesse James, The Steel Helmet, Portage theater, Northwest Chicago Film Society, F.W. Murnau, Sunrise movie, Sunrise Murnau, Silent Film Society of Chicago, Jay Warren, film festivals, movies, Video

Film, Movie Review Aug 11, 2011
Video
Movie Review: The Interrupters

Filmmaker Steve James and author Alex Kotlowitz team up for a documentary about short-circuiting street violence
- By Andrea Gronvall
- Tags: Movie Review, The Interrupters, Steve James, Rahm Emanuel, Garry McCarthy, Alex Kotlowitz, Hoop Dreams, There Are No Children Here, Video

Film, Movie Feature Jul 7, 2011
The Interrupters: Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz document CeaseFire
- By Deanna Isaacs
- Tags: Movie Feature, Steve James, Alex Kotlowitz, CeaseFire, Tio Hardiman, The Interrupters, Cobe Williams, Eddie Bocanegra, Ameena Matthews, Hoop Dreams

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