Interview

CHICAGO – Sure to be one of the best performances of 2012 is John Hawkes as Mark O’Brien, a polio victim who lived on his own and was a poet, despite no movement from his neck down, and confined for most of the day in an iron lung. Ben Lewin wrote the screenplay and directed the extraordinary story of “The Sessions.”

CHICAGO – One of the great nights of the Chicago International Film Festival is the “City & State” Short Film program, as local filmmakers from Chicago and the State of Illinois present their work. Directors Nadav Kurtz (“Paradise”), Fawzia Mirza, Ryan Logan (“Queen of my Dreams”), Benjamin Kegan (“After Christmas”) and Brad Bischoff (“Where the Buffalo Roam”) were part of that program and spoke to HollywoodChicago.com.

CHICAGO – The new film “The Scapegoat” made a premiere splash at the 48th Chicago International Film Festival, with lead actor Matthew Rhys – of TV’s “Brothers & Sisters” – and director Charles Sturridge walking the Red Carpet on Thursday, October 18th. The festival wraps up this week on October 25th.

CHICAGO – You’re going to be reading a lot about “The Sessions” in the coming weeks as it expands from its already-successful art house run and weaves through an awards season in which it will likely be nominated more than once. John Hawkes leads the film as man who lives in an iron lung and longs to feel human contact.

CHICAGO – The recovery of an alcoholic is rarely told honestly in film, and by making it about the relationships, writer/director James Ponsoldt has achieved that truth. It helps that his lead actor is the illustrious Mary Elizabeth Winstead (“Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”).

CHICAGO – One of the most popular cable series of the last three years will begin its third season on Sunday, October 14th. “The Walking Dead” emerges again on the AMC Network (9pm ET/8pm Central), as the “zombie apocalypse” within the show’s universe continues. Steven Yeun will be back as Glenn Rhee, part of a survivor group who are trying to hold their own against the “walkers” (zombies).

CHICAGO – The characteristics of the classic B-movie during the 1970s and ‘80s usually required prisons, women and uniforms designed to easily tear away. The Music Box Theatre in Chicago will highlight that era on Friday, October 12, when they present “Chained Heat.” One of the co-stars of that essential women’s prison movie, Sybil Danning, will be at the theatre in person to introduce the film.

CHICAGO – Playwright Martin McDonagh really broke into the film world in a big way with his Oscar-nominated script for the stellar “In Bruges.” He defies the sophomore slump this week with the release of “Seven Psychopaths,” starring Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, Tom Waits, and Woody Harrelson.

CHICAGO – The Windy City has a new television show set here, and all last summer the cast of “Chicago Fire” have been busy shooting the series for the fall season. One of the main characters, Hallie Thomas, is a major TV role breakout for actress Teri Reeves. “Chicago Fire” makes it’s premiere on Wednesday, October 10th, 2012, on NBC at 10pm ET/9pm Central.

CHICAGO – Ben Affleck is such a nice, likable guy that he asks those interviewing him how they’re doing and expresses how much he loves Chicago before you can even get a question out. He has reason to be happy. He’s riding a wave of incredible praise for his amazing “Argo,” the best film of the year to date and a surefire player at this year’s Oscars (come back Thursday for our full review).