The Chicago Rep-port 3/9-3/15, by Aaron Pinkston
Repertory screenings may not be as abundant in Chicago as they are in LA/NY but when you look around, there are many theatergoing delights. The Chicago Rep-port is a weekly(ish) series highlighting the best and most compelling repertory screenings in the Second City.Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N State St
With March upon us, the focus of the Siskel Film Center shifts almost fully to their annual European Union Film Festival, a fantastic month long event that I’ve enjoyed over the years. Aside from the many great new European films from filmmakers like Michael Haneke, Armando Iannucci, Bruno Dumont, Wim Wenders, among others, the Apocalypse Then: The Vietnam War On Film rages on. This week’s screening is The Killing Fields (Roland Joffe, 1984, 35mm), the bleak drama chronicling the mass killing atrocities that took place in neighboring Cambodia. As a bonus to the Tuesday, March 13 screening, a post-screening discussion will be led by SAIC professor Nora Annesley Taylor.
Music Box Theatre, 3733 N Southport Ave
The second of a three midnight film series on French art-horror director Jean Rollin plays both Friday and Saturday nights this weekend, The Iron Rose (Jean Rollin, 1973, DCP). Following two young lovers who inadvertently get lost while exploring a cemetery at night, this is a dreary and slow-burning film with Rollin’s typical elements of the bizarre and macabre that is also called his most personal work.
This weekend also features two great matinees. On Saturday, as part of the current silent cinema series, is the rare Little Orphant Annie (Colin Campbell, 1918, format unknown) with live organ accompaniment by Dennis Scott. On Sunday, you can see the early 90s queer masterpiece with Shakespearean allusions, My Own Private Idaho (Gus Van Sant, 1991, 35mm).
Doc Films, 1212 E 59th St # 3
The Winter season at Doc Films is wrapping up but not without two final screenings to complete their current series.
Friday, Marriage on the Verge of Collapse: Two for the Road (Stanley Donen, 1967, DCP), Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney rampage across France, examining the infidelities over their long relationship.
Sunday, Phantom Rides: Trains & Cinema: Night Train to Munich (Carol Reed, 1940, 35mm), a Hitchcock-esque thriller from the master of European film noir involving double agents, Nazis, and of course trains.
The Logan Theatre, 2646 N Milwaukee Ave
Late nights at the Logan this March offer up crowd pleasing classics across genre. This week features a post-apocalyptic wasteland and a classic gangster. Mad Max: The Road Warrior (George Miller, 1981, format unknown) plays March 9-11 and White Heat (Raoul Walsh, 1949, format unknown) plays March 13-15.
