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Home , Chicago Public Media, Damien Molony, Joe Dante, Koichi Sakamoto, Maren Ade, Mervyn LeRoy

FILM CALENDAR DECEMBER 16, 2016-FEBRUARY 9, 2017

Martin Scorsese’s SILENCE, opening January 6

Chicago’s Year-Round Film Festival 3733 N. Southport Avenue, www.musicboxtheatre.com 773.871.6607

FIDDLER ON INDIANA JONES BUSTER KEATON THE ROOF ADVENTURES SHORT FILMS DOUBLE FEATURE OPENS JANUARY 27 DECEMBER 25 DECEMBER 26-29 JANUARY 14 JANUARY 15 AT 2PM AT 11:30AM " IRRESISTIBLE! " DARKLY FUNNY, A TOUCHING, COMIC TRAGIC, AND ULTIMATELY CROWDPLEASER." HEARTWARMING." - VARIETY - ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

BUY YOUR COPY TODAY AT THE MUSIC BOX THEATRE

@musicboxfi lms musicboxfi lms.com Welcome TO THE MUSIC BOX THEATRE!

FEATURE PRESENTATIONS 7 THE BRAND NEW TESTAMENT OPENS DECEMBER 16 8 NERUDA OPENS DECEMBER 30 10 SILENCE OPENS JANUARY 6 12 ONE PIECE FILM: GOLD JANUARY 10-15 15 TONI ERDMANN OPENS JANUARY 27 16 THE RED TURTLE OPENS IN FEBRUARY

18 COMMENTARY

SERIES 24 MATINEES 26 SILENT CINEMA 27 IS IT STILL FUNNY? 28 STAGE TO SCREEN 28 EXHIBITION ON SCREEN 30 MIDNIGHTS

SPECIAL EVENTS 5 ANNUAL MUSIC BOX CHRISTMAS SHOW DECEMBER 10-24 6 MUSIC BOX ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS DECEMBER 12-20 7 FIDDLER ON THE ROOF DECEMBER 25 8 INDIANA JONES ADVENTURES DECEMBER 26-29 9 SERIES DECEMBER 30-JANUARY 5 12 THY FATHER’S CHAIR JANUARY 4 13 ULTRAMAN DOUBLE FEATURE JANUARY 15 13 ODD OBSESSION MOVIES MIDNIGHT SERIES JANUARY 13 & 14 14 CHICAGO FILM SOCIETY PRESENTS JANUARY 23 & FEBRUARY 6 15 SOUND OPINIONS AT THE MOVIES JANUARY 18 16 HARRY POTTER MIDNIGHT’S PARTY FEBRUARY 3 & 4

Brian Andreotti, Director of Programming VOLUME 34 ISSUE 141 Ryan Oestreich, General Manager Copyright 2016 Southport Music Box Corp. MusicBoxTheatre.com Buck LePard, Senior Operations Manager Stephanie Berlin, Public Relations & Special Events Manager Published by Newcity Custom Publishing Newcitynetwork.com Claire Alden, Group Sales and Membership Manager For information, email [email protected] Julian Antos, Technical Director or call 312.243.8786 Cover Image from the film SILENCE, coming to Music Box Theatre January 6.. See page 10 for more information.

Music Box Theatre 3733 North Southport musicboxtheatre.com 773-871-6604 showtimes 773-871-6607 office 3

FEATURES AND SPECIAL EVENTS

DECEMBER 10-24

THE 33RD ANNUAL MUSIC BOX CHRISTMAS DOUBLE FEATURE & SING-A-LONG One of the most popular and beloved Christmas traditions in Chicago is celebrating its 33rd anniversary this year. Come celebrate the holidays with the Music Box!

Each year, holiday revelers are greeted by none other than Santa Claus, live and in person. Santa welcomes the audience and, accompanied by the theater organist, leads them in the singing of the most cherished Christmas carols of all time. The lyrics are projected onto the theater’s screen so no one misses a chance to sing their hearts out. Then the audience sits back and enjoys a Christmas movie classic. Some folks like to keep the music going and opt to see WHITE CHRISTMAS so they can sing the timeless lyrics of Irving Berlin along with , Danny Kay and Rosemary Clooney. Others prefer to cheer for Jimmy Stewart as Bailey and hiss Mr. Potter during a showing of the heart-warming IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. And those truly filled with holiday spirit see BOTH films!

Advance tickets are: Day of tickets (if available) are: Single Feature: $13 Single Feature: $15 Double Feature: $20 Double Feature: $24 Children under 13: $10 or $15 double feature Children under 13: $10 or $15 double feature

Saturday, December 10 Saturday, December 17 Thursday, December 22 12:00pm: It’s A Wonderful Life 12:00pm: White Christmas 12:00pm: White Christmas 3:15pm: White Christmas 3:15pm: It’s A Wonderful Life 3:15pm: It’s A Wonderful Life 6:30pm: It’s A Wonderful Life 6:30pm: White Christmas 6:30pm: White Christmas 9:45pm: White Christmas 9:45pm: It’s A Wonderful Life 9:45pm: It’s A Wonderful Life

Sunday, December 11 Sunday, December 18 Friday, December 23 12:00pm: White Christmas 12:00pm: It’s A Wonderful Life 12:00pm: It’s A Wonderful Life 3:15pm: It’s A Wonderful Life 3:15pm: White Christmas 3:15pm: White Christmas 6:30pm: White Christmas 6:30pm: It’s A Wonderful Life 6:30pm: It’s A Wonderful Life 9:45pm: White Christmas Friday, December 16 Wednesday, December 21 6:30pm: It’s A Wonderful Life 3:15pm: White Christmas Saturday, December 24 9:45pm: White Christmas 6:30pm: It’s A Wonderful Life 12:00pm: White Christmas 9:45pm: White Christmas 3:15pm: It’s A Wonderful Life

Features and Special Events 5 THE MUSIC BOX’S ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS 2016 2 DOUBLE FEATURES!

For over three decades, the Music Box has celebrated the holidays with Jimmy Stewart and Bing Crosby. However, if those guys aren’t your cup of eggnog, the Music Box’s Alternative Christmas Double Feature invites you to spend the holidays with Buddy the Elf, John McClane, Gizmo and every working English actor from the early 2000s. That’s right, this year we’re doubling up with two Alternative Christmas double features! Fall in love and stay young at heart with ELF and (Who knew 2003 would gift us two new holiday classics?). Or if you’re in the mood for some 1980s action, defend Nakatomi Plaza and the small town of Kingston Falls with DIE HARD and !

DOUBLE FEATURE #1: MISTLETOE MAYHEM

DIE HARD (John McTiernan, 1988, 133 mins, 35mm) GREMLINS (Joe Dante, 1984, 106 mins, DCP)

Monday, December 12 Wednesday, December 14 Monday, December 19 4:30pm: Die Hard 5:00pm: Gremlins 4:30pm: Die Hard 7:00pm: Gremlins 7:15pm: Die Hard 7:00pm: Gremlins 9:30pm: Die Hard 9:45pm: Gremlins 9:30pm: Die Hard

DOUBLE FEATURE #2: JOLLY HOLIDAYS

ELF (, 2003, 106 mins, 35mm) LOVE ACTUALLY (Richard Curtis, 2003, 135 mins, DCP)

Tuesday, December 13 Thursday, Dec 15 Tuesday, December 20 5:00pm: Elf 4:45pm: Love Actually 4:45pm: Love Actually 7:00pm: Love Actually 7:30pm: Elf 7:30pm: Elf 9:45pm: Elf 9:30pm: Love Actually 9:30pm: Love Actually

6 Music Box Theatre December-February 2017 FEATURES AND SPECIAL EVENTS

OPENS DECEMBER 16 FEATURE FILM

Golden Globe Nominee! Best Foreign Language Film

THE BRAND NEW TESTAMENT

DIRECTED BY: Irreverent and wildly inventive.” STARRING: Pili Groyne, Benoît Poelvoorde, Catherine Deneuve “–Variety 112 mins In French with English subtitles Irresistibly laugh-out-loud and “feel-good.” God exists, and He’s a jerk. He lives in Brussels and never gets out of –The Hollywood Reporter His pajamas. He takes sadistic delight in dreaming up new “laws” to torment humanity, and He’s a petty tyrant to his ten year-old daughter, Ea. Having had enough of her Father’s abuse, Ea leaks to the entire world—by text message—the only thing He has over them: their inevitable death date. Ea, after escaping and with her Father in pursuit, gathers apostles and writes her own New Testament to fix the mess her Father has made of humanity. Her disciples learn to celebrate life and love, and provide us with Jaco Van Dormael’s dark, witty and eccentric answer to the loaded question: what would you do if you knew exactly how much time you had left to live?

DECEMBER 25 SPECIAL EVENT

Rock The FIDDLER ON THE ROOF Shtetl! Sunday, December 25 at 6pm (, 1971, 181 mins, DCP) Celebrate the first day of Hanukkah with the Academy Award-winning musical about family, faith, pride, love and, yes, tradition! The movie adaptation of the Broadway smash centers on Tevye, a poor milk- man, and his five daughters. With the help of a colorful and tight-knit Jewish community, Tevye tries to protect his daughters and instill them with traditional values in the face of changing social mores and the growing anti-Semitism of Czarist Russia. Rich in detail, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’s universal theme of tradition cuts across barriers of race, class, nationality and religion, leaving audiences crying tears of laughter, joy and sadness. Featuring such beloved musical numbers as “If I Were A Rich Man,” “Sunrise, Sunset” and “Matchmaker, Matchmaker”!

Features and Special Events 7 FEATURES AND SPECIAL EVENTS

DECEMBER 26-29 SPECIAL EVENT

THE ADVENTURES OF INDIANA JONES!

Say goodbye to 2016 with cinema’s most daring & dashing college professor! From & , the Music Box presents the adventures of Indiana Jones, from his unforgettable introduction in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (4K Restoration!) to his descent into darkness in THE TEMPLE OF DOOM to his rollicking father-son escapades in THE LAST CRUSADE. Full Schedule at MusicBoxTheatre.com

OPENS DECEMBER 30 FEATURE FILM

From the READ PAT MCGAVIN’S director of COMMENTARY ON PAGE 18 JACKIE and THE CLUB NERUDA 2016 Official OSCAR Entry – Chile - Best Foreign Language Film DIRECTED BY: Pablo Larrain STARRING: Luis Gnecco, Gael Garcia Bernal A handsomely crafted and boldly “ idiosyncratic contemplation of 108 minutes a great artist” In Spanish & French with English subtitles –The Hollywood Reporter Beloved poet Pablo Neruda (Luis Gnecco) is also the most famous communist in post-WWII Chile. When the political tides shift, he is forced underground, with a tenacious police inspector (Gael García Bernal) hot on his trail. Meanwhile, in Europe, the legend of the poet hounded by grows, and artists led by Pablo Picasso clamor for Neruda’s freedom. Neruda, however, sees the struggle with his police inspector nemesis as an opportunity to reinvent himself. He cunningly plays with the inspector, leaving clues designed to make their game of cat-and-mouse ever more perilous. In this story of a persecuted poet and his obsessive adversary, Neruda recognizes his own heroic possibilities: a chance to become a symbol for liberty, as well as a literary legend.

8 Music Box Theatre December-February 2017 THREE BY MARTY: A MARTIN SCORSESE SERIES

December 30-January 5

In anticipation of Martin Scorsese’s SILENCE (opening at the Music Box on January 6), the Music Box celebrates the career of the iconic director with three often overlooked gems from his extensive filmography, with a film from the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s.

MEAN STREETS (Martin Scorsese, 1973, 112 mins, 35mm) Scorsese broke out with MEAN STREETS, a raucous drama of young men coming to manhood by the code of New York’s Little Italy. The film draws heavily from Scorsese’s personal life and marks his first collaboration with . ON 35MM!

THE KING OF COMEDY (Martin Scorsese, 1982, 109 mins, DCP) In a rare comedy from Scorsese, Robert De Niro gives a mesmerizing performance in this timeless, darkly funny satire as Rupert Pupkin, a deranged comedian who will go to any length to gain the spotlight. Teaming with an equally imbalanced woman (Sandra Bernhard), Pupkin kidnaps his idol, jaded TV talk show host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis). The ransom? Pupkin gets one appearance on Langford’s show.

BRINGING OUT THE DEAD (Martin Scorsese, 1999, 121 mins, 35mm) A spiritual sibling to TAXI DRIVER, Nicolas Cage stars as a paramedic on the brink of madness from too many years of saving and losing lives. One fateful night, he meets Mary Burke (Patricia Arquette), the daughter of a man he tried to save. Together, they confront the ghosts of the past, and must find redemption among the living. ON 35MM! Full Schedule at MusicBoxTheatre.com

Features and Special Events 9 FEATURES AND SPECIAL EVENTS

OPENS JANUARY 6 FEATURE FILM

SILENCE

DIRECTED BY: Martin Scorsese STARRING: Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, , Tadanobu Asano 159 minutes In English & Japanese with English subtitles

10 Music Box Theatre December-February 2017 Martin Scorsese’s SILENCE tells the story of two Christian missionaries (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver), who face the ultimate test of faith when they travel to in search of their missing mentor (Liam Neeson)—at a time when Christianity was outlawed and their presence forbidden. The celebrated director’s 28-year journey to bring Shusaku Endo’s 1966 acclaimed novel to life arrives at the Music Box this January. FEATURES AND SPECIAL EVENTS

JANUARY 4 SPECIAL EVENT

Director in person! THY FATHER’S CHAIR PRESENTED BY THE TRUE/FALSE FILM FEST

Wednesday, January 4 at 7:30pm (Antonio Tibaldi, 2016, 74 mins, DCP) Pre-film music at 7pm by the wide-ranging Mar Caribe Join the nonfiction showcase True/False for one night, just two months before its annual March festival. As with all of T/F’s film events, the stage is set with a band. Then stay for one of 2016’s best documentaries THY FATHER’S CHAIR followed by a post-film conversation. A chamber piece par excellence, THY FATHER’S CHAIR profiles aging twins Abraham and Shraga, forced to open their derelict Brooklyn apartment to professional cleaners. The crew turn out to be counselors of the higher order who seek to rescue the brothers from themselves. Both wry and warm-hearted, THY FATHER’S CHAIR has a clear-eyed appreciation for life’s contradictions.

OPENS JANUARY 10 FEATURE FILM

ONE PIECE FILM: GOLD DIRECTED BY: Hiroaki Miyamoto January 10 & 11 at 7pm 120 mins Presented in English dub January 14 & 15 at 11am A new standalone film sets sail from the original creator, Eiichiro Oda! Enjoy this standalone film without having to watch the entire ONE PIECE series. The Straw Hat pirates are hitting the big screen once again in an all-new high-flying adventure! The popular series that has captivated fans all over the world unfolds a new saga in the highly anticipated movie, ONE PIECE FILM: GOLD. The glittering Gran Tesoro, a city of entertainment beyond the laws of the government, is a sanctuary for the world’s most infamous pirates, Marines, and filthy rich millionaires. Drawn by dreams of hitting the jackpot, Captain Luffy and his crew sail straight for the gold. But behind the gilded curtains lies a powerful king whose deep pockets and deeper ambitions spell disaster for the Straw Hats and the New World alike.

12 Music Box Theatre December-February 2017 FEATURES AND SPECIAL EVENTS

JANUARY 15 SPECIAL EVENT

ULTRAMAN 50TH ANNIVERSARY DOUBLE FEATURE Sunday, January 15 at 2PM

Celebrate five decades of iconic superhero character ULTRAMAN with a Double Feature of his latest adventures! In ULTRAMAN X THE MOVIE (Kiyotaka Taguchi, 2016, 70 mins, DCP), famous superheroes Ultraman X, Ultraman Tiga, and the one and only original Ultraman must stop a worldwide monster war as an army of giant battle for a mystical gem. Then, in ULTRAMAN GINGA S THE MOVIE (Koichi Sakamoto, 2014, 63 mins, DCP), a sinister space warrior forces a beautiful young alien princess to use her magical mirror to trap every Ultraman hero in the Galaxy! Two brave young men must transform into new Ultra-heroes, Ultraman Ginga and Ultraman Victory, and defeat an army of villainous space warriors!

JANUARY 13 & 14 SPECIAL EVENT

ODD OBSESSION MOVIES PRESENTS BOARDINGHOUSE January 13 & 14 at Midnight Pre-show party starting at 11pm in the Music Box Lounge Co-presented by the Chicago Film Society (John Wintergate, 1982, 98 mins, 35mm) A decade after a series of unexplained deaths occurred on the property, new age meditation specialist and psychic warrior Jim Royce has inherited the ominous Hoffman house and opened it as a residence for “unattached and beautiful” women. Soon enough, people begin dying in gruesome and mysterious ways and it’s up to Jim and one of his psychically gifted tenants to go to battle with the dark forces attached to the house. The first to be shot on oh-so-‘80s analog video, BOARDINGHOUSE is an essential piece of lunatic cinema, complete with requisite high levels of gore and camp and presented in an archival 35mm print!

Features and Special Events 13 FEATURES AND SPECIAL EVENTS

JANUARY 23 & FEBURARY 6 SPECIAL EVENT

THE CHICAGO FILM SOCIETY PRESENTS The Chicago Film Society presents two special 35MM programs, including classic features, short subjects, trailer reels and an introduction.

THE FRONT PAGE (Lewis Milestone, 1931, 98 mins, 35mm) Monday, January 23 at 7pm Chicago Restoration Premiere Set in Prohibition-era Chicago, THE FRONT PAGE chronicles ace reporter Hildy Johnson’s fitful efforts to get married, settle down, and leave his profession behind. Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s 1928 play would be adapted for the screen another half-dozen times, but Milestone’s 1931 version with Pat O’Brien and Adolph Menjou comes closest to matching Hecht and MacArthur’s devil-may-care immediacy. Restored to the original American release version for the first time in decades, THE FRONT PAGE is a pre-Code marvel with a machine-gun stride. Restored in 2016 by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation. Restoration funding provided by the George Lucas Family Foundation. Elements for this restoration provided by The Howard Hughes Corporation, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas College of Fine Arts, Department of Film and its Howard Hughes Collection at the Academy Film Archive. The Caddo Company • 35mm from Academy Film Archive

CANDY MOUNTAIN (Robert Frank & Rudy Wurlitzer, 1987, 91 mins, 35mm) Monday, February 6 at 7pm Mediocre musician and all-around jackass Julius (Kevin J. O’Connor) insinuates himself into a deal to track down legendary and reclusive guitar maker Elmore Silk, an oblique figure who has left a trail of disgruntled family members and forlorn ex-lovers in his wake. Julius finds that nothing about his assignment is easy as he loses vehicle after vehicle, drinks himself into a stupor, and meets innumerable deranged personalities (including Tom Waits as a yuppie, Joe Strummer and Arto Lindsay as the world’s worst no wave band, and Dr. John as a wheelchair-bound psychopath) whom he invariably leaves frustrated, confused, or enraged. The cult rock ‘n’ roll weirdo road movie of your dreams, the wildly underseen and very funny CANDY MOUNTAIN somehow managed to be both a lark and a creative and thematic apotheosis for both of its co-directors. Xanadu Films / Les Films Plain-Chant / les Films Vision 4, Inc. • 35mm from the Museum of FIne Arts, Houston Includes Short Film: ENERGY AND HOW TO GET IT (Robert Frank, Rudy Wurlitzer, & Gary Hill, 1981, 28 mins, 16mm)

14 Music Box Theatre December-February 2017 JANUARY 18 SPECIAL EVENT

SOUND OPINIONS AT THE MOVIES: MCCABE & MRS. MILLER

(, 1971, 120 mins, DCP) Wednesday, January 18 at 7PM Rock critics Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot, the hosts of Sound Opinions from WBEZ, host a special screening of Robert Altman’s revisionist western MCCABE & MRS. MILLER, starring and .

Sound Opinions is co-hosted by noted music writers Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune and Jim DeRogatis of WBEZ and reaches more than 400,000 tastemakers each week through national radio broadcasts and a popular podcast. Chicago Public Media creates award-winning content for people curious about the issues and ideas that affect our community, our nation, and our world. Chicago Public Media is also the home of , , Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me! (a co-production with NPR), The Morning Shift, and Worldview. In addition to WBEZ 91.5 FM, Chicago Public Media also operates Vocalo 91.1 FM, a next generation service that seeks to expand the reach of public media. For more information, visit www.soundopinions.org.

OPENS JANUARY 27 FEATURE FILM

READ RAY PRIDE’S 2016 Official COMMENTARY ON PAGE 20 OSCAR Entry – Germany - Best Foreign Language TONI ERDMANN Film Sensational. A work of great “ beauty, great feeling and great cinema.” DIRECTED BY: Maren Ade –The New York Times STARRING: Peter Simonischek, Sandra Hüller Spectacular. A knockout. A 162 mins “generous, hysterically funny but In German & English with English subtitles deeply touching father-daughter story.” Winfried doesn’t see much of his working daughter Ines. When the –The Wrap suddenly student-less music teacher decides to surprise her with a visit, he disrupts serious career woman Ines’ work on an important project as a corporate strategist in Bucharest. Not appreciating her father’s practical jokes, Ines sends Winfried home to Germany. Enter flashy “Toni Erdmann,” Winfried’s smooth-talking alter ego. Disguised in a tacky suit, weird wig and even weirder fake teeth, Toni barges into Ines’ professional life, claiming to be her CEO’s life coach. As Toni, Winfried is bolder and doesn’t hold back, but Ines meets the challenge. The harder they push, the closer they become. In all the madness, Ines begins to understand that her eccentric father might deserve some place in her life after all.

Features and Special Events 15 FEATURES AND SPECIAL EVENTS

FEBRUARY 3 & 4 SPECIAL EVENT

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN

(Alfonso Cuaron, 2004, 142 mins, 35mm) Friday and Saturday, February 3 & 4 at 11pm Something wicked this way comes… Attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (at the Music Box) and repel some Boggarts before our midnight presentation of Alfonso Cuarón’s HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF THE AZKABAN! Following The Sorting Ceremony, compete for the House Cup in a challenging Marauder’s Map Trivia Tournament, become an Azkaban fugitive, and partake of Butterbeer and Divination. Hippogriffs and House Elfs are welcome. The film will screen at Midnight each night.

OPENS IN FEBRUARY FEATURE FILM

READ STEVE PROKOPY’S COMMENTARY ON PAGE 22

A Studio THE RED TURTLE Ghibli A quiet little masterpiece of im- Release “ages, each one rich with meaning, DIRECTED BY: Michael Dudok De Wit that collectively speak to a universal process.” 80 mins –Indiewire From Studio Ghibli, the studio behind timeless animated hits including A visually stunning poetic fable” SPIRITED AWAY and PRINCESS MONONOKE comes THE RED TURTLE. “–Los Angeles Times Through the story of a man shipwrecked on a tropical island inhabited by turtles, crabs and birds, THE RED TURTLE recounts the milestones in the life of a human being. As Studio Ghibli’s first external co-production, THE RED TURTLE was made in France and directed by Dutch-born, London-based animator Michael Dudok de Wit, whose wordless Oscar-winning short FATHER AND DAUGHTER had become a favorite at Ghibli.

16 Music Box Theatre December-February 2017

H EST TC AT A E B W L I L N A E

M R

S Y

• O • P K E E N E 7 DAYS A W

DABLON VINEYARDS Winery & Tasting Room

111 W. Shawnee Rd. • Baroda, MI • 49101

269-422-2846 • DABLON.COM NERUDA OPENS DECEMBER 30. SEE PAGE 8 FOR DETAILS.

A POLITICAL FANTASIA Going Underground in NERUDA By Patrick Z. McGavin

During a crucial moment in NERUDA, the intrepid police investigator Peluchonneau (Gael García Bernal) tracking the Chilean poet confronts his upper class Argentinian wife Delia (Mercedes Morán) at the couple’s beautiful country estate. “We all revolve around the protagonist,” she says. In this enthralling new work by Chile’s greatest director, Pablo Larrain, the movie undermines and upends the very nature of art, manner and meaning. The title notwithstanding, the movie is a kind of political fantasia about Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), the pen name, or as he calls it, “war name,” of the activist writer, politician, diplomat and communist who went underground in 1948 after the country’s president, Gabriel Gonzalez Videla (Alfredo Castro), declared a war against the party. The movie plays out like a detective thriller as the bohemian and poet—aided by Delia and other sympathetic collaborators—seeks to stay a step ahead of his unflappable and fastidious pursuer—Peluchonneau. The movie is constructed as a labyrinth, both digressive and sublime, as the two dance around each other. The movie’s rhythm of chase and pursuit is engrossing, the cop laying a series of traps, the nervy poet always one step ahead. NERUDA is also a meditation on the act of storytelling, intertwining together noir, psychological portrait, political thriller and by its fantastic conclusion, in

18 Music Box Theatre December-February 2017 the vast and terrifyingly rugged expanse of the Andes, a gripping western. The script, by Guillermo Calderón, the author of Larrain’s previous work, THE CLUB, allows little if any background about the writer and poet, making the viewer intuit. “To write well, one must learn how to erase,” Neruda says, and it is exactly that bending and erasing that gives the movie a vitality, edge and sense of surprise. The filmmaking is, quite frankly, astonishing. Larraín made his international reputation with his loose trilogy (TONY MANERO, POST MORTEM, NO) about the cultural and social identity of Chile during the brutally regressive reign of dictator Auguste Pinochet (who makes a cameo in the new film). The Club was more sorrowful and painful. NERUDA is bracing, elegantly beautiful and majestic, from the gorgeously expressive widescreen framing of its cinematographer and artfully evoked period detail. The movie is about being hidden, or living in shadows. The stylization of the image is eerie, beautiful and highly suggestive, with intimidations of death or pure adventure. In these privileged moments, with either Neruda or Peluchonneau moving through the eerie landscape, Larraín moves toward the abstractly beautiful, conjuring images feeling both velvety and dreamlike, as if suspended in the air. The images and style work so well because they are tethered to the emotional states of the characters. Larraín fuses it all together beautifully. Played by Gnecco with the perfect combination of bravado, wit and outrage, the central figure is a sensualist and aesthete with a dramatic sense of timing and elan. The tension works as well as it does because his adversary is equally dynamic and psychologically interesting. García Bernal, who starred in NO, is especially great as the man escaping his own tormented past and conflicting identity and scrupulously relies on his intuition, knowledge and the moral rectitude that what he is doing is just and right. Morán is also fantastic as one of the many drawn around the emphatic and wondrous man. Awarded the Nobel prize in 1971, Neruda died less than two weeks after Pinochet seized power in a CIA-backed coup. Larraín’s version of the man is romantic and stylized but never hagiographic. The artist called by Gabriel García Márquez the greatest poet of the 20th century receives the intelligent, bracing and thrilling portrait he was due.

Patrick Z. McGavin is a Chicago writer and film critic. His reviews, essays, interviews and film festival reports appear at RogerEbert.com. He also publishes original and archival work at his website, www.patrickzmcgavin.com.

Commentaries 19 TONI ERDMANN JANUARY 27 SEE PAGE 15 FOR DETAILS.

THE GREATEST LOVE Tenderness and Family Terror in TONI ERDMANN By Ray Pride At the top of French film journal Cahiers du Cinema’s 2016 top 10, Maren Ade’s TONI ERDMANN is bittersweet and berserk, realist yet surrealist, with its own top ten of the most indelible laughs of any movie released in 2016. (It’s also German’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film.) Beyond the gift for scalding observation of uneasy relationships demonstrated in two earlier features, THE FOREST FOR THE TREES (2003) and (2009), the 39-year-old German filmmaker spends ages mulling over her subjects to find a proper tone. But talking to Canada’s magazine, Ade quickly lets the cat out of the bag in regard to the inspired, loving but lunatic drama and comedy in her new movie: “I spent a lot of time with on the internet, because it took four weeks to Google everything about Andy Kaufman.” Her outrageous story has a set-up you could dub “Oedipus Wrecks”: Winfried, a shaggy middle-aged divorcee and music teacher (Peter Simonischek), a dad- humor trickster, is left high and dry when he loses his last music student and by the death of his dog. He decides to prank his workaholic daughter, Ines (Sandra Hüller) who works as a corporate strategist to foreign businesses in Bucharest that hope to engulf and devour inefficient Romanian companies. Ines doesn’t appreciate his corny jokes and eccentric humor, and after mortifying run-ins during her daily life of meetings and meet-ups in hotel bars, she ships him back to the homeland. Winfried vamooses but not entirely. Enter “Toni Erdmann,” his

20 Music Box Theatre December-February 2017 alter ego, with a ridiculous Three Stooges-like wig and gnarled buck-teeth. Toni presents himself as a “consultant and life coach” to her CEO and despite his ridiculous countenance, moves in on her life. Ines is shocked, and Hüller, a pale blonde with ice-clear blue eyes, can express any instant between horror and humiliation with farcical exactitude. Simonischek, on the other hand, captures both the intelligence and casual cruelty of Toni with the gentleness of Peter Sellers’ Chauncey Gardiner in BEING THERE as well as many a random brainwave of Andy Kaufman’s Tony Clifton. Working in a superficially realist style, with eruptions of strange behavior and unforeseen insights, Ade also approaches the stratosphere of surrealist provocations by Luis Buñuel, not limited to his double-Oscar-winning THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE (1972). In the spirit of Buñuel, Ade offers up her own nightmarish dinner party, a slow-motion nervous breakdown that will not end; a raft of symbols that fairly shout but don’t lurch toward needful interpretation; and a blunt sex-and-food consensual act that goes way beyond not giving a damn. I cried, I laughed, my eyes crossed at least once.

But the grace of Ade’s filmmaking across its glorious, necessary 162-minute running time, is that Ines at one barely perceptible moment decides the game is on. Whatever fresh horror Toni launches into her lap, she absorbs and attempts to counter. There are many comic setpieces, from family terror to absurd yet emotionally fluent reactions that any contemporary comic filmmaker should envy. And one particular turn, that involves Ines and Toni and an ecstatic performance of Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love,” is awe-inspiring for its entire delicious, delirious five or six or seven minutes. That’s the scene where the tender but never soft TONI ERDMANN takes a flying leap from idiosyncratic to indelible, and there’s still at least half-an-hour of delight left. EVERYONE ELSE convinced me of Ade’s massive talent. TONI ERDMANN is going to convince many, many more.

Ray Pride is film critic of Newcity, editor of Movie City News and a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine. Find more reviews at newcityfilm.com Commentaries 21 THE YOUNG MAN AND SEA THE RED TURTLE, A Modern Myth By Steve “Capone” Prokopy The natural inclination after watching the timeless, slightly surrealistic THE RED TURTLE is to wonder what centuries-old mythology serves as its source material. In truth, this wordless story of a castaway on a deserted island came from the mind of the director, Michael Dudok de Wit, who won an Oscar for his charcoal- drawn, 2000 animated short FATHER AND DAUGHTER. Turned into a screenplay by Pacale Ferran, THE RED TURTLE (Dudok de Wit’s first feature) has the feel of a plainly told, ancient fable that combines very human feelings of isolation, love and despair with more fantastical elements, including one involving a massive red turtle that turns into a female companion for our unnamed protagonist. Since there is no dialogue, the story gives us almost no background on how this man ended up on the sea in the first place, or who he was and what sort of life he lived before that. We’re shown a small handful of nightmarish sequences involving things he may have seen on his vessel, but we have no way of knowing if these are memories or warped distortions of a life that he will likely never see again. Dudok de Wit manages to find wonderful drama and humor in the island’s smallest details, including interactions with small hermit crabs, birds, coconut trees, and most significantly, in the man’s building of a series of rafts and his repeated failed attempts to get off the island. With each trip beyond the sand bars surrounding the island, something under

THE RED TURTLE OPENS IN FEBRUARY. SEE PAGE 16 FOR DETAILS.

22 Music Box Theatre December-February 2017 the water attacks his raft, destroying it and forcing him to swim back to the island. Eventually he discovers that the cause of his anguish is the titular animal, and he takes his frustrations out on the creature by flipping it onto its back and beating it with a stick. Instantly regretting this, the man attempts to revive the turtle, which leads to its shell cracking, and eventually it transforms into a woman (as all giant red turtles do?). THE RED TURTLE is the first non-Japanese work to be co-produced by legendary animation house Studio Ghibli, and while this film pushes the limits of the studio’s mostly kid-friendly offerings, it’s still safe for most ages as long as you aren’t easily offended or confused by the implications of (who used to be a turtle) having a child. But the tale’s more far-reaching implications are infinitely more interesting. Is this Dudok de Wit’s reworking of the Adam and Eve story? In the end, it doesn’t actually matter because, in its current form, it allows audiences to interpret this modern myth however they choose, using whatever baggage and beliefs they bring to the table. This could be a religious allegory, or a tribute to the endless possibilities of nature, or fantasy for fantasy’s sake. Knowing the director to be an expert craftsman and sublime storyteller, it’s likely a little of each…or none of the above. The animation style of THE RED TURTLE clearly wishes to emphasize the natural world over the humans present in it. The character designs are so simple as to reduce their faces to two dots for eyes, a V-shaped nose, and a simple line for a mouth. While the surroundings—the sky, ocean, plant life, even the sand— are given depth and brought to life with warm colors. The artistry at work is undeniable, and never more spectacular than during a world-leveling tsunami sequence in the final third of the film. Dudok de Wit and his small army of European-based animators make utter destruction look as awe-inspiring as it is devastating. THE RED TURTLE’s deliberate pacing might test the limits of restless younger children, but with a brisk 80-minute running time, it’s unlikely anyone’s patience will be tested. If anything, the film’s lack of concrete explanations for some of its stranger elements may result in a barrage of questions from younger viewers (after the film, preferably), to which any right-thinking adult should respond “Well, what do you think it meant?” Dudok de Wit is an intelligent enough filmmaker to understand that by giving viewers as little information as possible about how and why his story unfolds, he’s encouraging people (in particular, families) to engage, question, project upon, and converse about this magnificently realized work.

Steve Prokopy is the Chicago Editor for Ain’t It Cool News (www.aintitcool.com), where he has contributed film reviews and filmmaker & actor interviews under the name “Capone” since 1998. He is also chief film critic for the Chicago-based arts outlet Third Coast Review (www.ThirdCoastReview.com).

Commentaries 23 CONTINUING SERIES CLASSIC MATINEES SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS AT 11:30AM

PRE-CODE HOLLYWOOD The fascination with pre-Code films often comes from how openly suggestive and fun the majority of films that compromised those seven years are. Sex, drugs, miscegenation, portrayals of homosexuality, and a host of other issues that would be banned from public consumption for

several decades are indulged in and exploited All on frequently by then-big Hollywood studios. Pre- Code Films could be exploitative and lurid or 35MM! sophisticated and adult.

December 31 & January 1

GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 (Mervyn LeRoy, 1933, 97 mins) Things get tough for Carol () and her showgirl pals when the kicks in and all the Broadway shows close down. Wealthy songwriter Brad () saves the day by funding a new Depression-themed musical for the girls to star in, but when his stuffy high-society brother finds out and threatens to disown Brad, Carol and her gold-digging scheme to keep the show going, hooking a couple of millionaires along the way.

January 7 & 8

FREAKS (Tod Browning, 1932, 64 mins) One of the most controversial and weird movies ever made is about a troupe of circus freaks and how they react when one of their own is humiliated by a beautiful acrobat. Freaky, fascinating stuff.

24 Music Box Theatre December-February 2017 CONTINUING SERIES

January 21 & 22

BABY FACE (Alfred E. Green,1933, 70 mins) stars as a woman who has spent her entire life being sexually exploited by her father as a means to further his own end. After he dies in a fire (which her character, Lily, watches with a barely-contained smirk), she decides it’s time to exploit her sex for her own monetary gain. She works her way up the corporate ladder, one bathroom rendezvous at a time.

January 28 & 29

LITTLE CAESAR (Mervyn LeRoy, 1931, 80 mins) In a critically acclaimed performance, Edward G. Robinson plays Rico Bandello, a petty crook who ultimately schemes his way to the top of a Chicago mob. Mervyn LeRoy’s LITTLE CAESAR is often called the grandfather of the modern crime film, with its quintessential portrayal of an underworld character that rebelliously challenged traditional values.

February 4 & 5

NIGHT NURSE (William A. Wellman, 1931, 73 mins) The title alone suggests something lurid and pulpy. NIGHT NURSE is one of the most wildly silly movies of the early ‘30s, representing a moral looseness that’s just as fun as the brazen ways the filmmakers invent to get stars Joan Blondell and Barbara Stanwyck to constantly undress.

25 MIDNIGHTSCONTINUING SERIES SILENT CINEMA Classic silent films the way they were meant to be seen! Featuring a live musical score on the famous Music Box organ by Dennis Scott, Music Box House Organist.

Buster Keaton Shorts Saturday, January 14 at 11:30am The Music Box celebrates Buster Keaton with a collection of short films! Join us for comedy on the big screen from one of the masters of silent slapstick.

THE GOAT (Buster Keaton & Malcolm St. Clair, 1921, 21 mins, DCP)

A series of adventures begins when Buster is mistaken for the famous outlaw Dead Shot Dan.

COPS (Buster Keaton & Edward Cline, 1922, 18 mins, DCP)

Buster Keaton gets involved in a series of misunderstandings involving a horse and cart. Eventually he infuriates every cop in the city when he accidentally interrupts a police parade.

THE BELL BOY (Roscoe Arbuckle, 1918, 33 mins, DCP)

At the Elk’s Hotel, bellhops torment the lobby, each other and guests. The elevator is powered by a stubborn horse, a sham robbery turns into a real one, and a runaway trolley leads to a chase through downtown.

THE PLAYHOUSE (Buster Keaton & Edward Cline, 1921, 22 mins, DCP)

After waking up from his wacky dream, a theater stagehand inadvertently causes havoc everywhere he works.

CHARACTER STUDIES (1925, 6 mins, DCP)

An amusing, technically impressive curio featuring some of the greatest male movie stars of the silent era. On a -type stage, Carter DeHaven, a popular comedian at the time, announces a series of ‘impressions’ of several of the biggest film stars of the 1920s. Also featuring Harold Lloyd, Fatty Arbuckle, and Rudolph Valentino.

26 Music Box Theatre December-February 2017 CONTINUINGCONTINUING SERIES SERIES IS IT STILL FUNNY?

Chicago film/entertainment writer Mark Caro puts supposedly timeless comedies to the test and dares ask the question “Is It Still Funny?”

TOOTSIE (Sydney Pollack, 1982, 116 mins, DCP) Tuesday, January 3 at 7pm This had all the makings of a disaster given the revolving door of writers and directors involved in its many years of development. Yet with in a dress and Sydney Pollack behind the camera, TOOTSIE became a comedy classic, garnering 10 Oscar nominations (including a Best Picture nod plus a supporting actress win for Jessica Lange), the No. 2 ranking (after SOME LIKE IT HOT) on the American Film Institute’s all-time top-comedies list and preservation by the . Now that we have 34 more years of gender-role explorations under our belts, how does this tale of an arrogant actor who gets in touch with his female side hold up? Is It Still Funny? The very ‘80s soundtrack may be…

HIS GIRL FRIDAY (, 1940, 92 mins, DCP) Tuesday, February 7 at 7:30pm You could argue that HIS GIRL FRIDAY is the quintessential , vehicle, journalism film, Chicago movie and THE FRONT PAGE version. is pretty awesome in it too. Charles Lederer’s screenplay pulls a gender switch on the original FRONT PAGE, turning Hildy Johnson into a female reporter (Russell) torn between settling down with a bland Ralph Bellamy lookalike (Ralph Bellamy) and chasing a wrongful-execution story for her editor/ex-husband Walter Burns (Grant). With “The Front Page” currently on Broadway — and with political corruption and journalistic ethics still in the headlines — will HIS GIRL FRIDAY seem dated at all? The rapid-fire interplay between Grant and Russell certainly should be a tonic to audiences who associate older comedies with a leisurely pace. Ranked No. 19 on the American Film Institute’s all-time comedies list.

27 CONTINUING SERIES FROM STAGE TO SCREEN The Music Box proudly presents the greatest filmed theatrical productions from around the world! NO MAN’S LAND PRESENTED BY Directed by: Wednesday, January 25 at 7:30pm Following their hit run on Broadway, Ian McKellen and return to the West End stage in ’s NO MAN’S LAND, recorded in Wyndham’s Theatre, London. One summer’s evening, two aging writers, Hirst and Spooner, meet in a Hampstead pub and continue their drinking into the night at Hirst’s stately house nearby. As the pair become increasingly inebriated, and their stories increasingly unbelievable, the lively conversation soon turns into a revealing power game, further complicated by the return home of two sinister younger men. Also starring Owen Teale and Damien Molony, don’t miss this glorious revival of Pinter’s comic classic. EXHIBITION ON SCREEN This groundbreaking project connects major exhibitions from across the world with art-lovers and cinema goers across some 30 countries worldwide.

THE CURIOUS WORLD OF HIERONYMUS BOSCH January 21 & 22 at 11:30am Delve into the vivid imagination of a true visionary. Who was Hieronymus Bosch? Why do his strange and fantastical paintings resonate with art lovers now more than ever? How does he bridge the medieval and Renaissance worlds? Where did his unconventional and timeless creations come from? THE CURIOUS WORLD OF HIERONYMUS BOSCH features the critically acclaimed exhibition “Visions of a Genius” at the Noordbrabants Museum in the southern Netherlands, which brought the majority of Bosch’s paintings and drawings together for the first time to his hometown of ‘s-Hertogenbosch. With his fascinating life revealed plus the details and stories within his works seen like never before, don’t miss this cinematic exploration of a great creative genius.

28 Music Box Theatre December-February 2017 ®

GENE SISKEL FILM CENTER

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! BECOME A MISS HOKUSAI FILM CENTER MEMBER DECEMBER 30 - JANUARY 5 and pay only $6 “A contender for most for tickets to beautiful animated movie of the year.” regular GSFC — Electric Shadows screenings! Visit: www.BTDChicago.com Expires 1-31-15 164 North State • siskelfilmcenter.org

The Music Box Theatre now sells and wine! Enjoy our rotating selection of craft beers and fine wines with a film. CONTINUING SERIES

MIDNIGHTS FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS AT MIDNIGHT

January 6 & 7 TRAIN TO BUSAN January 21 THE ROCKY HORROR (Sang Ho-Yeon, 2016, 118 mins, DCP) PICTURE SHOW (Jim Sharman, 1975, 100 mins, 35mm) Odd Obsession Presents January 13 & 14 BOARDINGHOUSE January 27 & 28 LOST HIGHWAY (John Wintergate, 1982, 98 mins, 35mm) (, 1997, 134 mins, 35mm) * see page 13 for full description February 3 & 4 HARRY POTTER AND THE January 20 THE ROOM PRISONER OF AZKABAN (Tommy Wiseau, 2003, 99 mins, 35mm) (Alfonso Cuaron, 2004, 142 mins, 35mm) * see page 16 for more info

TRAIN TO BUSAN (Sang Ho-Yeon, 2016, 118 mins, DCP) TRAIN TO BUSAN is a harrowing zombie horror-thriller that follows a group of terrified passengers fighting their way through a countrywide viral outbreak while trapped on a suspicion-filled, blood-drenched bullet train ride to Busan, a southern resort city that has managed to hold off the zombie hordes… or so everyone hopes.

LOST HIGHWAY (David Lynch, 1997, 134 mins, 35mm) Visualizing the variations of memory and conscience, David Lynch’s LOST HIGHWAY is a dreamlike journey through a murder mystery. Like dreams, the film’s narrative isn’t linear nor does it apply to the logic of reality. Instead what unfolds is a fluidly bizarre unraveling of a jazz musician’s journey into madness. After a bizarre encounter at a party, he is accused of murdering his wife and inexplicably morphs into a young mechanic; basically avoiding one fate by embracing another. LOST HIGHWAY is a definitive Lynchian adventure not to be missed on the big screen.

THE ROOM (Tommy Wiseau, 2003, 99 mins, 35mm) This electrifying American black comedy about love, passion, betrayal and lies stars (and was directed, written and produced by) the mysterious Tommy Wiseau. A cult favorite at the Music Box, THE ROOM has been delighting and confounding our audiences since 2009. Enter THE ROOM and leave forever changed. Don’t forget your spoons!

30 Music Box Theatre December-February 2017 Music Box Member Becoming a member at the Music Box is a great way to support the quality programming at the independently owned and operated historic movie theatre, lounge and garden. This includes our holiday classics, talk backs, film festivals, visits from directors, producers, and actors, as well as our regular midnight, matinee, and feature presentations. join today • Discounted tickets • Restaurant discounts • Members-only screenings • Deals on Music Box Films DVD’s • Advanced purchase for • Bottomless popcorn special screenings • Discounted house wines

register online at musicboxtheatre.com or visit our box office! PRESENTS...

JANUARY 22 FEBRUARY 19 THE STRANGER UNTOUCHABLES THAN FICTION MARCH 12 APRIL 23 METROPOLIS THE DARK KNIGHT

Sundays at 2pm • ArcLight Cinemas Chicago at 1500 N. Clybourn Ave. For tickets, visit arclightcinemas.com