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
The Siskel continues to honor Italian horror auteur Mario Bava with its series The Baroque Beauties of Italian Horror with two more classics of pure giallo. First is Blood and Black Lace (Mario Bava, 1964, DCP), a perfectly staged, beautifully shot tale of murder and fetishism. Shown on a digitally restored copy of the camera negative, it is playing Saturday and Tuesday. It is paired with the fantastically titled Kill, Baby…Kill! (Mario Bava, 1966, DCP), a different murder mystery with supernatural underpinnings and a kaleidoscopic visual sense. Kill, Baby…Kill! plays Saturday and Monday.
If you want to catch both Blood and Black Lace and Kill, Baby…Kill! on Saturday, August 19 (and why wouldn’t you?), you can buy a double-bill ticket at a discounted rate!
Music Box Theatre, 3733 N Southport Ave
This weekend, the Music Box kicks off a new matinee series focused on one of classic Hollywood’s most beloved icons, James Stewart. Jimmy Through the Years begins with one of the actor’s most underrated performances in Harvey (Henry Koster, 1950, 35mm). The fantastical ride runs both Saturday and Sunday at 11:30 am. Future weekends feature films like Rear Window and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, so make sure you keep an eye on my weekly updates.
Playing midnight on Friday and Saturday is futuristic camp classic Demolition Man (Marco Brambilla, 1993, 35mm). Sylvester Stallone stars as the 21st Century’s best cop on the hunt for the world’s best criminal. Also, every restaurant is Taco Bell. Demolition Man is truly the trashy, brightly colored pinnacle of 90s era macho action and it’ll be raucously fun with an audience with the midnight treatment.
Doc Films, 1212 E 59th St # 3
Doc Films’ summer weekend programming features a Friday showing of Swing High, Swing Low (Mitchell Leisen, 1937, 35mm). Featuring a young Fred MacMurray and Carole Lombard, the film is a charming romantic comedy set in Panama.
On Thursday, August 24, Doc Films presents one of the greatest sci-fi films ever made, Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927, 16mm). If you’ve never seen Metropolis, seeing it on a big screen (especially on 16mm!) is an absolute treat. With beautiful art direction, fantastic future ideas, and a legacy that has inspired hundreds of films since, Metropolis is a tried-and-true masterpiece.
The Logan Theatre, 2646 N Milwaukee Ave
From August 18-21, the August Late Nights series pairs Chicago-set madcap comedy The Blues Brothers (John Landis, 1980, format unknown) and WWII drama masterpiece From Here to Eternity (Fred Zinnemann, 1953, format unknown). For something totally different, the indescribable Napoleon Dynamite (Jared Hess, 2004, format unknown) follows on August 22-24.
Cinemark Theaters, various Chicagoland locations
The Cinemark Classic this week is one of the defining films of the screwball era, It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934, format unknown). Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert sparkle on screen in the classic love-hate relationship simmering with pre-code sexual tension. You can see It Happened One Night on the big screen on Sunday and Wednesday.
Chicago Park District Movies in the Park, various Chicago locations
And finally, here are this week’s highlights for Movies in the Park: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Alfonso Cuarón, 2004, format unknown) at Walsh Park (1722 N. Ashland Ave.) on 8/19; Top Hat (Mark Sandrich, 1935, format unknown) at Lincoln Park (500-5700 N. Lake Shore Drive) on 8/21; City Slickers (Ron Underwood, 1991, format unknown) at Lincoln Park (500-5700 N. Lake Shore Drive) on 8/22; WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008, format unknown) at Cotton Tail Park (44 W. 15th St.) on 8/23; and Field of Dreams (Phil Alden Robinson, 1989, format unknown) at Norwood Park (5801 N. Natoma Ave.) on 8/24.
There might be fetishism on the part of the director himself, but Blood & Black Lace is lacking the sort of psychological twist of similar films, boiling down to some more standard murder mystery motivations.
There might be fetishism on the part of the director himself, but Blood & Black Lace is lacking the sort of psychological twist of similar films, boiling down to some more standard murder mystery motivations.