Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in Chicago, plus articles, trailers and more

Traitor

CNN-sploitation redeemed by Don Cheadle.

The Axe in the Attic

Two filmmakers bear witness to Katrina's aftermath.

Two Lives Plus One

A decent showcase for Emmanuelle Devos.

Sixty Six

If Barry Levinson were British.

The Grocer's Son

Angry young man learns to be kind.

Opening this week

Still running

The House Bunny

Anna Faris hops to it.

Hamlet 2

Good title, but that's it.

Death Race

Jason Statham. Iron mask.

The Longshots

Ice Cube can't coach.

Elegy

Uneven Roth adaptation.

Pineapple Express

Way too chill.

The Dark Knight

Operatic in its earnestness.

Critics' choice

In Search Of a Midnight Kiss

Puts most indies to shame.

Tropic Thunder

Ben Stiller's Last Movie.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Woody Allen returns, sort of.

I.O.U.S.A.

$9 ticket. $9 trillion debt.

Transsiberian

Like a Russian doll.

Man on Wire

Philippe Petit walks his walk.

Also opening

Disaster Movie

More pop-culture jokes and crotch kicks from the asshats who brought you Meet the Spartans. No screenings; review coming soon.

Babylon A.D.

Vin Diesel has to transport a woman across a dystopic wasteland without viewers comparing this to Children of Men. No screenings.

College

High schoolers visit a college, discover booze and women. No screenings; Labor Day retains its title as Worst Movie Weekend of the Year.

Under the stars

Open-air screenings

This week: Spider-Man 3, Hairspray, Transformers and Shrek the Third.

Grant Park films

It's showtime next to the skyline.

Film blog

Get your daily dose

Ben brushes up on his French between croissants (and movies) at Cannes.

Q&A

John Malkovich

The star of Burn After Reading (and several Manoel de Oliveira films) is no meanie.

Features

Synecdoche, New York

Fall preview: Charlie Kaufman's mind-bending directorial debut is one of the headiest films of the season.

Alex Hodridge

The director of In Search of A Midnight Kiss used his life as inspiration. And the film isn't self-indulgent. Promise.

Melissa Leo

Frozen River's star talks about good direction, being too method and how to get ahead in indies.

James Marsh

The Man on Wire director turns a wire-walking stunt into high drama.

Black Harvest film festival

Black Harvest reaps the best of black filmmaking, local and international.

The Duplass brothers

The mumblecore mainstays have big plans. Hollywood, beware.

Matthew Goode

The actor springs to the defense of the new Brideshead Revisited like a superhero-in-the-making.

Art house picks

Broken Lullaby (The Man I Killed)

One of Lubitsch's rarest films—and one of the few without laughs—is not to be missed. At Doc Films.

Coming soon

Burn After Reading

(Sept. 12) In the Coen brothers' new comedy, a doofus (Brad Pitt) attempts to blackmail a CIA agent (John Malkovich).