MovieTone: July 21-26, 2023
Movies are back - for a limited time only.
Welcome to another week of MovieTone! It’s like MovieFone but for Y2K.
Every week I’ll give the rundown on what’s playing across the physical and metaphysical media landscape so that you can choose your own adventure in becoming a movie freak like me. This guide includes a Key and quick navigation links so that you can jump between sections.
Thanks for hanging tight for a couple of weeks while I attend to some life things (boo, right?) But this week we’re back, and I wouldn’t miss this week for the world…
That’s right, it’s Barbenheimer Week, baby!
For the uninitiated, Barbenheimer is the shorthand for the buzz/memes that have been forming over the duel release dates of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.
I know not everyone plugged into the film world is thrilled with the Barbenheimer saturation. Some are annoyed by the repetitive memes and particular deluge of marketing for Barbie. Others are glad to have a movie event weekend that has nothing to do with superheroes — particularly if the memes have brought Barbie’s wider projected audience to Oppenheimer when they might have otherwise skipped it.
Not to be forgotten, though, are the ongoing WGA strike and the recent addition of the SAG-AFTRA strike. It’s a critical period for Hollywood: Superhero movies are starting to lose excitement, writers and actors are taking on the studios with a notable focus on streaming residuals and the use of AI, and the landscape has changed even more since COVID. This is a moment where union power could open up opportunities and room for growth and stability within the industry that could take movies in new directions, or capitalism could gut the industry down to its skeleton and sell the scraps off for parts, leaving us with nothing but reality TV and artistically hollow movies.
The unions haven’t called for any boycotts at present. I encourage you to show your allyship for the striking writers and performers in whichever ways you can, and should you choose to go to the movies this weekend, remember that you have the opportunity as an audience-goer to demonstrate the types of work you want to see on screen.
Want to hear me talk more about Barbenheimer? I’ll be on WBEZ Reset this morning (91.5 FM or listen online) to talk about the most talked-about double feature of the year. Tune in!
-Daniella
Key:
Transit —
*Stations/Lines are noted if within 20 minutes or less walking distance
🔴🔵🟤🟢🟠🟣💗🟡 — Near a CTA Station (Color denotes line)
🚇 — Near a Metra Station
Programming —
🏳️🌈 / 🏳️⚧️ — LGBTQ+ stories
🏙️ — Chicago-based
🌍 — Non-English Film
🧸 — Family Film
😱 — Scary or Disturbing!
👓 — 3D Screening
📽️ — 70 MM Screening
Accessibility —
♿/+1 — Wheelchair Seating/Companion Seating
🦻 — Audio Listening Devices
📄 — Closed Captioning (Note: Different than subtitles)
⭕📄 — Open Captioning Screenings (Note: Different than subtitles)
🌐 — Multilingual Screenings
🎧 — Audio Description
🧘 — Sensory Friendly Screenings
Quick Link Navigation —
Movie Theater Guide:
Now Playing:
In Chicago Theaters —
Movie Theater Guide
⛓️Chains Worth Checking Out
ACX Harper Theater 📄🎧*
5238 South Harper Avenue 60615 🚇
*I had a hard time finding accessibility information on their website, but Captions and Audio Description appear in the links to their showtimes, so I am tentatively including those as options.Alamo Drafthouse Wrigleyville
3519 N Clark St, Suite C301 60657 🔴🟤AMC Ford City 14 📄🌐🎧
7601 South Cicero Ave 60652 🚇AMC Galewood Crossings 14 📄🌐🎧🧘
5530 W Homer St 60639 🚇AMC NewCity 14 📄🎧
1500 North Clybourn, Suite C301 60610 🔴🟤🟣AMC River East 21 ⭕/📄🎧
322 East Illinois Street 60611 🔴🚇Cinema Chatham Powered by Emagine 📄🎧
210 W 87th St 60620 🔴🚇Landmark Century Cinema 🦻📄
2828 North Clark Street 60657 🔴🟤🟣Regal City North 📄🎧
2600 N. Western Avenue 60647 🔵 (22-25 minute walk)Regal Webster Place 📄🎧
1471 W. Webster Avenue 60614 🚇🟤🟣
🪪 Memberships —
All memberships include concessions perks.
Alamo Drafthouse Season Pass — $29.99/mo — Good for up to one regularly priced movie per day, Reserve seats up to 7 days in advance.
AMC Stubs A-List — $22.95/mo — Free online reservations anytime for up to 3 movies every week. Additional perks with Premiere and Insider tiers.
Emagine Rewards — $12.75/yr — Reward points, free ticket on your birthday, invitations to special screenings and events.
Regal Unlimited Plus — $21.99/mo — Unlimited movies anytime, early access to new movies with Regal Unlimited Screenings, opportunities to bring a friend for free to select showings.
📽️ Miss Independents
Gene Siskel Film Center 🦻
164 N. State Street 60601 🔴🔵🟤🟢🟠🟣💗🚇The Logan Theatre 📄🎧
2646 North Milwaukee Avenue 60647 🔵Music Box Theatre
3733 N Southport Ave 60613 🔴🟤The New 400 Theater
6746 N Sheridan Road 60626 🔴🚇
🪪 Memberships —
All memberships include concessions perks.
Gene Siskel Film Center Membership — $50/yr (Individual) or $80/yr (Dual) — Half-price admission to movies at the Gene Siskel Film Center, $5 admission to the spring and fall Screening/Lecture series, film magazine & programming guide with upcoming showtimes calendar, $10 discount on an Art Institute of Chicago membership, sneak preview passes to major motion pictures.
The Logan Theatre — Coming soon per its website.
Music Box Theatre Membership — $60/yr (Individual) or $100/yr (Dual) — 1 complimentary ticket for 1 regular-priced screening (theatrical screenings only), discounted ticket prices for all virtual and regular theatrical screenings plus select Special Events, invitations to Free Monthly Member Screenings, advanced notice and purchase for select special screenings, restaurant discounts at our partner restaurants.
What’s Playing July 21-26
💥 Mainstream/Blockbusters
Barbie | PG-13 | 1 hour 54 minutes | English
Alamo Drafthouse Wrigleyville | Special brunch and slumber party screenings.
AMC Ford City 14 | 🌐 English with Spanish subtitles screenings.
AMC Galewood Crossings 14 | 🌐 Spanish Dub screenings and English with Spanish subtitles screenings.
AMC River East 21 | ⭕📄 Open Caption screenings | 🧘 Sensory friendly screenings.
Summary: Barbie suffers a crisis that leads her to question her world and her existence.
Directed by: Greta Gerwig | Written by: Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach
Starring: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, Will Ferrell
🧸 Elemental | PG | 1 hour 42 minutes | English
AMC River East 21 | 👓 3D screenings
Summary: Follows Ember and Wade, in a city where fire-, water-, land- and air-residents live together.
Directed by: Peter Sohn | Written by: John Hoberg, Kat Likkel, Brenda Hsueh
Starring: Leah Lewis, Mahmoudou Athie, Ronnie del Carmen, Shila Ommi, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Catherine O'Hara
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny | PG-13 | 2 hours 22 minutes | English
Summary: Archaeologist Indiana Jones races against time to retrieve a legendary artifact that can change the course of history.
Directed by: James Mangold | Written by: Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, David Koepp, James Mangold, based on characters by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman
Starring: Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, Karen Allen, John Rhys-Davies, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Toby Jones, Thomas Kretschmann, Boyd Holbrook, Mads Mikkelsen.
😱 Insidious: The Red Door | PG-13 | 1 hour 47 minutes | English
Summary: The Lamberts must go deeper into The Further than ever before to put their demons to rest once and for all.
Directed by: Patrick Wilson | Written by: Scott Teems, Story by Scott Teems, Leigh Whannell, Based on Characters by Leigh Whannell
Starring: Ty Simpkins, Patrick Wilson, Sinclair Daniel, Hiam Abbass, Rose Byrne
Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One | PG-13 | 2 hours 43 minutes | English
AMC River East 21 | ⭕📄 Open Caption screenings.
Regal City North | 👓 “4DX” screenings.
Summary: Ethan Hunt and his IMF team must track down a dangerous weapon before it falls into the wrong hands.
Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie | Written by: Christopher McQuarrie, Erik Jendresen, Based on Mission: Impossible by Bruce Geller
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Mariela Garriga, Henry Czerny
Oppenheimer | R | 3 hours | English
AMC Ford City 14 | 🌐 English with Spanish subtitles screenings.
AMC Galewood Crossings 14 | 🌐 Spanish Dub screenings and English with Spanish subtitles screenings.
AMC River East 21 | ⭕📄 Open Caption screenings | 📽️ 70 MM screenings.
Music Box Theatre | 📽️ 70 MM screenings.
Summary: The story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.
Directed by: Christopher Nolan | Written by: Christopher Nolan, Based on American Prometheus by Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh
🧸 Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse | PG | 2 hour 16 minutes | English
Summary: Miles Morales catapults across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. When the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles must redefine what it means to be a hero.
Directed by: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson | Written by: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Dave Callaham
Starring: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Vélez, Jake Johnson, Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Karan Soni, Shea Whigham, Greta Lee, Daniel Kaluuya, Mahershala Ali, Oscar Isaac
❗ Last Chance
Asteroid City | PG-13 | 1 hour 45 minutes | English
Summary: Following a writer on his world famous fictional play about a grieving father who travels with his tech-obsessed family to small rural Asteroid City to compete in a junior stargazing event, only to have his world view disrupted forever.
Directed by: Wes Anderson | Written by: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola
Starring: Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Maya Hawke, and many more…
😱 The Blackening | R | 1 hour 36 minutes | English
Summary: Seven Black friends go away for the weekend and end up trapped in a cabin with a killer who has a vendetta. Will their street smarts and knowledge of horror movies help them stay alive? Probably not.
Directed by: Tim Story | Written by: Tracy Oliver, Dewayne Perkins
Starring: Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg, X Mayo, Dewayne Perkins, Antoinette Robertson, Sinqua Walls, Jay Pharoah
🧸 The Little Mermaid (2023) | PG | 2 hour 15 minutes | English
Summary: A young mermaid makes a deal with a sea witch to trade her beautiful voice for human legs so she can discover the world above water and impress a prince.
Directed by: Rob Marshall | Written by: David Magee, based on Disney’s The Little Mermaid by Ron Clements and Jon Musker, originally based on The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen
Starring: Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King, Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina, Jacob Tremblay, Javier Bardem, Melissa McCarthy
Joy Ride | R | 1 hour 35 minutes | English
Summary: Follows four Chinese-American friends as they bond and discover the truth of what it means to know and love who you are, while they travel through China in search of one of their birth mothers.
Directed by: Adele Lim | Written by: Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, Teresa Hsiao, Story by Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, Teresa Hsiao, Adele Lim
Starring: Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, Sabrina Wu, Ronny Chieng, Meredith Hagner
No Hard Feelings | R | 1 hour 43 minutes | English
Summary: On the brink of losing her home, Maddie finds an intriguing job listing: helicopter parents looking for someone to bring their introverted 19-year-old son out of his shell before college. She has one summer to make him a man or die trying.
Directed by: Gene Stupnitsky | Written by: Gene Stupnitsky, John Phillips
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Laura Benanti, Natalie Morales, Matthew Broderick
🌍 Past Lives | PG-13 | 1 hour 46 minutes | English, Korean
Landmark Century Cinema
Note: No captions or assisted listening devices available for this film.
Summary: Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrest apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. 20 years later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront notions of love and destiny.
Directed by: Celine Song | Written by: Celine Song
Starring: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts | PG-13 | 2 hours 7 minutes | English
AMC Galewood Crossings 14 | 👓 3D screenings
Summary: During the '90s, a new faction of Transformers - the Maximals - join the Autobots as allies in the battle for Earth.
Directed by: Steven Caple Jr. | Written by: Joby Harold, Darnell Metayer, Josh Peters
Starring: Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Luna Lauren Vélez
🎨 Mid-Budget, Indie, and/or Arthouse
Anchorage | NR | 1 hour 22 minutes | English
Summary: Two brothers attempt to drive a trunk full of opioids from Florida to Alaska to cash in big in the Land of Gold. A split-second act of violence somewhere in the California desert derails their trip and sets them on a crash course with tragedy.
Directed by: Scott Monahan | Written by: Dakota Loesch
Starring: Scott Monahan, Dakota Loesch, Christopher Corey Smith
Earth Mama | R | 1 hour 37 minutes | English
Summary: An intimate coming of age story of a pregnant single mother who embraces her Bay Area community as she determines the fate of her family.
Directed by: Savanah Leaf | Written by: Savanah Leaf, Based on The Heart Still Hums by Savanah Leaf, Taylor Russell
Starring: Tia Nomore, Erika Alexander, Doechii, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Keta Price, Olivia Luccardi, Dominic Fike, Bokeem Woodbine
Return to Dust (Yin Ru Chen Yan) | NR | 2 hours 11 minutes | Mandarin Chinese
Summary: The humble, unassuming Ma and timid Cao have been cast off by their families and forced into an arranged marriage. To survive, they have to come together and build a home for themselves.
Directed by: Ruijun Li | Written by: Ruijun Li
Starring: Renlin Wu, Hai-Qing
Theater Camp | PG-13 | 1 hour 34 minutes | English
AMC River East 21 | ⭕📄 Open Caption screenings
Summary: The eccentric staff of a rundown theater camp in upstate New York must band together with the beloved founder's bro-y son to keep the camp afloat.
Directed by: Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman | Written by: Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, Ben Platt
Starring: Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Jimmy Tatro, Patti Harrison, Nathan Lee Graham, Ayo Edebiri, Amy Sedaris, Alan Kim
💾 Repertory Runs
As Tears Go By (Wong Gok Ka Moon) (1988) | NR | 1 hour 42 minutes | Cantonese
Summary: Mid-level gangster Wah falls in love with his beautiful cousin, but must also continue to protect his volatile partner-in-crime and friend, Fly.
Directed by: Wong Kar-wai | Written by: Jeffrey Lau, Wong Kar-wai
Starring: Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, Jacky Cheung
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) | PG | 2 hours 18 minutes | English
Summary: Roy Neary, an Indiana electric lineman, finds his quiet and ordinary daily life turned upside down after a close encounter with a UFO, spurring him to an obsessed cross-country quest for answers as a momentous event approaches.
Directed by: Steven Spielberg | Written by: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, François Truffaut, Bob Balaban
😱 Terrifier (2016) | NR | 1 hour 25 minutes | English
Summary: On Halloween night, Tara Heyes finds herself as the obsession of a sadistic murderer known as Art the Clown.
Directed by: Damien Leone | Written by: Damien Leone
Starring: Jenna Kanell, Samantha Scaffidi, David Howard Thornton, Catherine Corcoran
🧸 Trolls (2016) | PG | 1 hour 32 minutes | English
Summary: After the Bergens invade Troll Village, Poppy, the happiest Troll ever born, and the curmudgeonly Branch set off on a journey to rescue her friends.
Directed by: Mike Mitchell | Written by: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Zooey Deschanel, Russell Brand, James Corden, Gwen Stefani
🍿 Smaller Budget Genre Films
A note: In the previous edition, I had included Sound of Freedom in this category, a movie I was wary of but did not realize was aggressive Q-Anon propaganda. I find no merit in promoting or sharing avenues to watch this film, so I am excluding it from this list.
😱 Cobweb | R | 1 hour 28 minutes | English
Summary: Horror strikes when an eight-year-old boy named Peter tries to investigate the mysterious knocking noises that are coming from inside the walls of his house and a dark secret that his sinister parents kept hidden from him.
Directed by: Samuel Boden | Written by: Chris Thomas Devlin
Starring: Lizzy Caplan, Woody Norman, Cleopatra Coleman, Antony Starr
The Island | NR | 1 hour 30 minutes | English
Summary: When his brother is killed, LAPD officer Mark (Michael J. White) leaves the city to return to the island he grew up on. Seeking answers and ultimately vengeance, he soon finds himself in a bloody battle with the corrupt tycoon who's taken over the island paradise.
Directed by: Shaun Paul Piccinino | Written by: Michael Caissie, Philippe Martinez
Starring: Michael Jai White, Jackson Rathbone, Gillian White, Gabriel 'G-Rod' Rodriguez
Lost in the Stars (Xiao shi de ta) | NR | 2 hours 1 minute | Mandarin (English Subtitles)
Summary: He Fei's wife, Li Muzi, disappears during their anniversary trip. When she reappears, he insists that she is not his wife. As Chen Mai, a top lawyer gets involved in this bizarre case, more mysteries start to emerge.
Directed by: Rui Cui, Xiang Liu | Written by: Sicheng Chen, Shuyi Gu, Based on an original screenplay by Aleksey Korenev, Yixiong Yin
Starring: Yilong Zhu, Ni Ni, Janice Man, Jiang Du, Kay Huang
😱 Natty Knocks | NR | 1 hour 46 minutes | English
Summary: A small-town babysitter and the kids she is looking after struggle to survive a serial killer on Halloween Eve.
Directed by: Dwight H. Little | Written by: Benjamin Olson
Starring: Charlotte Fountain-Jardim, Thomas Robie, Noen Perez
See You on Venus | NR | 1 hour 34 minutes | English
Summary: A dying 18 year-old orphaned girl wants to travel to Europe to track down her biological mother, so when she meets a kind-hearted young man reeling from the guilt of a fatal accident, she convinces him to accompany her on the journey.
Directed by: Joaquín Llamas | Written by: Victoria Vinuesa, Based on the book by Victoria Vinuesa
Starring: Virginia Gardner, Rob Estes, Alex Aiono
🎉 One-off/Special Screenings
ACX Harper Theater
🧸 Puss in Boots: The Last Wish — July 22 — 10:30 am
😱 Jaws — July 26 — 7:00 pm
Alamo Drafthouse Wrigleyville
🧸 Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween — July 21 — 11:30 am
AMC Ford City 14
🧸 The Secret Life of Pets — July 22 — 11:00 am
July 26 — 11:30 am😱 Talk to Me Early Access — July 26 — 7:00 pm
AMC Galewood Crossings 14
🧸 Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken: Sensory friendly screening — July 22 — 11:00 am
🧸 The Secret Life of Pets — July 22 — 12:00 pm
July 26 — 12:30 pm
AMC NewCity 14
🧸 The Secret Life of Pets — July 22 & 26 — 10:30 am
AMC River East 21
🧸 The Secret Life of Pets — July 22 — 11:30 am
July 26 — 12:30 pm🧸 Disney’s Haunted Mansion Early Access — July 26 — 7:00 pm
😱 Talk to Me Early Access — July 26 — 7:00 pm
Gene Siskel Film Center
🌍 Supercop (Ging Chaat Goo Si III: Chiu Kup Ging Chaat) — July 21 — 7:45 pm
Music Box Theatre
🌍😱 Garden Movie: Godzilla vs. Biollante — July 24 — 8:30 pm
🌍 Garden Movie: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah — July 25 — 8:30 pm
🌍 Garden Movie: Godzilla, Mothra, & King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters — July 25 — 8:30 pm
Regal City North
Mystery Movie Monday — July 24 — 7:00 pm
🧸 Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank — July 25 & 26 — 10:15 am
🧸 Sing 2 — July 25 & 26 — 10:15 am
Met Summer Encore: Akhnaten — July 26 — 1:00 pm & 6:30 pm
Regal Webster Place
Mystery Movie Monday — July 24 — 7:00 pm
🧸 Sing 2 — July 25 — 11:30 am
July 26 — 11:35 am
🧸 Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank — July 25 & 26 — 12:00 pm
Met Summer Encore: Akhnaten — July 26 — 1:00 pm & 6:30 pm
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