Chinatown Seminar on Sunday The Facets Film School Seminar Series continues on September 7th with a screening of Chinatown, followed by a discussion led by film scholar Virginia Wright Wexman. <Read Article>Alex Cox's Neglected Trilogy The Guardian's Andrew Pulver admits, "I remember going to see [Highway Patrolman] when it came out, and basically being a bit baffled as to what the Repo Man guy was up to." Now, Pulver looks back at Alex Cox's "impressive central American trilogy," which also includes Walker and Death & the Compass. <Read Article>A Telluride Tribute to Troell Besides tributes to David Fincher and Jean Simmons at the 35th Telluride Film Festival, a Silver Medallion was presented to Swedish filmmaker Jan Troell (The Emigrants). <Read Article>Euro Exiles in America The Times' literary critic Clive James evaluates a new book by Joseph Horowitz called Artists in Exile. It deals with 20th century European emigres who flourished in music, theater, and film in the U.S., especially Billy Wilder and Ernst Lubitsch. <Read Article>The Buzz on 'Satantango' Facets' long- awaited DVD release of Satantango is receiving stellar marks across the board, from the TCM to The Boston Phoenix. Check out a sampling of the laudatory reviews. <Read Article>
Glut of Films Hits Hollywood News that there are too many movies for too few theater screens is not groundbreaking. But The Wall Street Journal offers a new perspective, explaining how the oversupply is not solely the major studios' fault, and that the problem is far from over. <Read Article>Voice Actor LaFontaine Dies After doing voice-overs for over 5,000 movie trailers and 350,000 commercials, Don LaFontaine has passed away at the age of 68. The New York Times has more. (Registration req.) <Read Article>Library Liberates 16mm Films Before demolition crews arrived, the New York Public Library's collection of 16 mm films was moved from the Donnell Library Center to the Library of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. According to The New York Sun, "the value of the collection also extends outside the city." <Read Article>Venice Prize for UK Film At the Venice Film Festival, British artist Steve McQueen took the Gucci Group award for crossover directors. His film, Hunger, tells the story of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands. The Guardian has more. <Read Article>
Franchise to Be Released from Ecto-Containment Unit According to Variety, Columbia Pictures has approached Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, co-writers of The Office, to pen a script for a new Ghostbusters movie. <Read Article>Red Army, Silver Screen The Guardian calls attention to a pair of films about 70s terrorism that will be released this autumn in Germany. Not be confused with Germany in Autumn—the first homegrown film to explore this chaotic period—the two movies in question are The Baader Meinhof Complex from Uli Edel (Last Exit to Brooklyn) and Long Shadows by Connie Walther. <Read Article>Vive la Comedy Resistance The French film industry's battle with Hollywood hegemony is nothing new, and The Australian reports the success of the French comedy Welcome to the Sticks is keeping the cultural competition healthy. <Read Article>The 25 Best L.A. Movies When it comes to making a list of the top 25 Los Angeles-based movies of the last 25 years, The L.A. Times has a pretty good vantage point. Their selections run the gamut from neo-noir (L.A. Confidential) to retro teen comedy (Valley Girl). <Read Article>
Facets Video Proudly Presents...
A Few Kilos of Dates for a Funeral From one of Iran's most talented young filmmakers comes this darkly comic drama about two lost souls who run a gas station… <Read Article>Design 2 The Bookworm, Concorde, Conica coffeemaker, Leica camera, Eames lounge chair, and Vespa scooter not only reflect the era… <Read Article>Santouri the Music man From veteran Iranian director Dariush Mehrjui comes this contemporary drama about Ali (Bahram Radan), a young musician who… <Read Article>Two Laws "A breakthrough of major significance in ethnographic film" (Film Quarterly), Two Laws is the story of an Aboriginal community from… <Read Article>
The Bill Douglas Trilogy The origins of a homegrown Scottish cinema can be traced back to filmmaker Bill Douglas, who directed this trio of brilliant… <Read Article>Bashing Nominated for the Golden Palm at Cannes in 2005, Masahiro Kobayashi's Bashing is a heartbreaking film based on real-life events… <Read Article>Juan, I Forgot I Don’t Remember Mexican filmmaker Juan Carlos Rulfo expanded his award-winning short El Abuelo Cheno y Otras Historias into this captivating… <Read Article>
Love Conquers All Filmmaker Tan Chui-mui won the Tiger Award at the 2007 Rotterdam Film Festival for directing this Malaysian indie drama… <Read Article>Shadow Before making Night Train and Mother Joan of the Angels, Polish filmmaker Jerzy Kawalerowicz crafted this conspiracy thriller… <Read Article>With Jerzy Grotowski, Nienadowka 1980 Jerzy Grotowski, a leading figure in the avant-garde theatre, invited a film crew to travel with him to the small village of Nienadowka… <Read Article>
Must-See Movies at the Cinematheque (1517 W. Fullerton Ave. Chicago)
For just about everybody, adolescence means having to confront a number of choices and life decisions, but rarely any as monumental as the one facing 15 year-old Alex, who was born an intersex child.
"An intimate, atmospheric character study with a lingering erotic charge, Lucía Puenzo's XXY is one of the year's most impressive directing debuts" (Salon.com). <Read Article>
New at the 'Theque Head to the Videotheque to find Facets' picks for this week's best new and upcoming DVD releases, including a Criterion Collection edition of a controversial Pasolini film, an animated look at turbulent Chicago in the '60s, famed operas down under, a doc on an enigmatic director, David Mamet's latest, and more! <Read Article>The Top 10 Which films fill this month's top spots? Head to the Videotheque and check out Facets' picks for the top 10 DVD releases for August to find out. <Read Article>99 Cent Cinema Build your home video library for less than a dollar per title!
Essential world cinema favorites by Fassbinder, Disney, Chereau, Techine, Woo, Panahi and more--all available on VHS for only $.99 each!! <Read Article>
Robots, Cyborgs & Androids! Oh My! Each month, the Facets Rentals staff pays tribute to a genre, actor, director, or whatever tickles their cinematic fancy. This month, they're all about ROBOTS!!
Head to the Rentals Dept. for more! <Read Article>Facets Video Blow-Out Sale! Own essential Facets Video releases from accclaimed directors like Godard, Tarkovsky, Rivette, Kiarostami, Rosi, Kieslowski, Tavernier, Olmi, Fotopoulos and more on VHS for only $.99 each!! <Read Article>Search Our Collection Looking for a particular film on DVD and/or VHS? You can find it at Facets. Our entire collection is searchable by genre, director, country of origin, subject matter and more. Head inside for more! <Read Article>
The Big Renters With tons of DVDs streaming in every month, picking the right movie is often tricky.
Head to Facets Rentals and check out the Top 50 most-rented movies at Facets for suggestions. <Read Article>Important Imports Facets searches the world to find the rarest, most hard-to-find films on DVD, many of which are unavailable for domestic purchase in the United States.
Head to the Videotheque to browse our picks of the best and most exciting. <Read Article>
Facets Features
Free Movies!!! Looking for free movies to watch on your computer? Facets has you covered!
Each week, Facets' Free Film Portal spotlights a different set of films, interviews and more available free online--everything from fine arts programs and documentaries to American and foreign-language classics and more, including this week's featured film, Ssaki, an early short by Roman Polanski.
Visit Facets Features for more! <Read Article>Meet the Critics Find cinema's greatest critics, past and present, at Facets Features, everyone from Vincent Canby, Pauline Kael, J. Hoberman and Andrew Sarris to Chicago locals Roger Ebert and Jonathan Rosenbaum. <Read Article>
Film festival news and winners from around the world! Essential movie lists! Celebrity top ten favorites! Exclusive reviews and interviews! Facets' massive catalog category search! And much more! <Read Article>Celebrity Faves What do Werner Herzog, Studs Terkel, John Sayles, Michael Moore, Stephen Sondheim, Guy Maddin, Terry Jones and Camille Paglia all have in common?
They've all given lists of their top ten favorite films to Facets! Find them and more at Facets Features. <Read Article>
Milos on Worldview Facets' Executive Director Milos Stehlik is a frequent contributor to Chicago Public Radio's global affairs program, Worldview. Head to their website for his latest film commentary. <Read Article>
Besides tributes to David Fincher and Jean Simmons at the 35th Telluride Film Festival, a Silver Medallion was presented to Swedish filmmaker Jan Troell (
Facets' long- awaited DVD release of 
At the Venice Film Festival, British artist Steve McQueen took the Gucci Group award for crossover directors. His film, Hunger, tells the story of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands. The Guardian has more.
According to Variety, Columbia Pictures has approached Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, co-writers of 
The French film industry's battle with Hollywood hegemony is nothing new, and The Australian reports the success of the French comedy Welcome to the Sticks is keeping the cultural competition healthy.
From one of Iran's most talented young filmmakers comes this darkly comic drama about two lost souls who run a gas station…
The Bookworm, Concorde, Conica coffeemaker, Leica camera, Eames lounge chair, and Vespa scooter not only reflect the era…
From veteran Iranian director Dariush Mehrjui comes this contemporary drama about Ali (Bahram Radan), a young musician who…
"A breakthrough of major significance in ethnographic film" (Film Quarterly), Two Laws is the story of an Aboriginal community from…
The origins of a homegrown Scottish cinema can be traced back to filmmaker Bill Douglas, who directed this trio of brilliant…
Nominated for the Golden Palm at Cannes in 2005, Masahiro Kobayashi's Bashing is a heartbreaking film based on real-life events…
Mexican filmmaker Juan Carlos Rulfo expanded his award-winning short El Abuelo Cheno y Otras Historias into this captivating…
Filmmaker Tan Chui-mui won the Tiger Award at the 2007 Rotterdam Film Festival for directing this Malaysian indie drama…
Before making Night Train and Mother Joan of the Angels, Polish filmmaker Jerzy Kawalerowicz crafted this conspiracy thriller…
Jerzy Grotowski, a leading figure in the avant-garde theatre, invited a film crew to travel with him to the small village of Nienadowka…
Sept. 5-
Head to the Videotheque to find Facets' picks for this week's best new and upcoming DVD releases, including a Criterion Collection edition of a controversial Pasolini film, an animated look at turbulent Chicago in the '60s, famed operas down under, a doc on an enigmatic director, David Mamet's latest, and more!
Each month, the Facets Rentals staff pays tribute to a genre, actor, director, or whatever tickles their cinematic fancy. This month, they're all about ROBOTS!!
With tons of DVDs streaming in every month, picking the right movie is often tricky.
Find cinema's greatest critics, past and present, at Facets Features, everyone from Vincent Canby, Pauline Kael, J. Hoberman and Andrew Sarris to Chicago locals Roger Ebert and Jonathan Rosenbaum.
What can you find at Facets Features?
What do Werner Herzog, Studs Terkel, John Sayles, Michael Moore, Stephen Sondheim, Guy Maddin, Terry Jones and Camille Paglia all have in common?
Facets' Executive Director Milos Stehlik is a frequent contributor to Chicago Public Radio's global affairs program, Worldview. Head to their 
