Interview

CHICAGO – Coming out as one’s true self is a benefit of our evolving social order. In “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie,” which will stream on Amazon Prime Video on September 17th, the title character is an intuitive teenage drag queen, and fights the last vestiges of prejudice against his destiny. Oh yes, and it’s a musical.

CHICAGO – Meeting Ed Asner is like meeting the grumpy uncle that you still love, because you know despite his curmudgeon nature, his has passion, spunk and delivers all of it in many ways. He was Lou Grant in The Mary Tyler Moore Show most famously in the 1970s, but his other acting pursuits were just as significant.

CHICAGO – Start whistling the theme to “The Andy Griffith Show” and most likely you’ll get someone to whistle along. This is the aura and the premise for the new documentary “The Mayberry Effect,” created and directed by Chris Hudson. Part tribute, part deep dive into nostalgia, the doc is all about the feeling of Mayberry and its legacy.

CHICAGO – September of 2021 is just around the corner, and two major Chicago film festivals have announced their Fall film line-ups … both Season 13 of the Asian Pop-Up Cinema (APUC) and the 39th edition of the REELING LGBTQ+ International Festival.

CHICAGO – When we last checked in with actor and filmmaker Ashton Swinford, she had just completed her hilarious web series ”Miss Information”. She is back with a new short film, equally funny, in the white privilege satire “Basic Witches.”

CHICAGO – Although this former Chicago-based actor has moved on to Los Angeles, she continues as a filmmaker with her excellent second short, “Pick Up.” Clare Cooney wrote, directed and is featured in this poignant journey, as two ex-lovers figure out their current status in the midst of the world pandemic.

CHICAGO – One of the more high profile local film productions this summer was “The Class.” The film essentially reunites Anthony Michael Hall of “The Breakfast Club” with John Hughes-land, and brings him back to high school … this time as the assistant principal. “The Class” was written and directed by Nick Celozzi.

CHICAGO – A cinema treasure, the Gene Siskel Film Center, reopens in-theater screenings on Friday, August 6th, 2021, the first since the pandemic closure in March of 2020. During the closure, they also named a new Director of Programming, Rebecca Fons.

CHICAGO – One of the more fun, crazy and comic-book-like superhero films opening this week (August 6th) is “The Suicide Squad.” A band of imprisoned misfit rogues in the DC comics universe are sent on a suicide mission in South America, and if they accomplish the assignment they’ll be set free. David Dastmalchian portrays one of the rogues, the freakish Polka-Dot Man.

CHICAGO – It’s time again for live theater in Chicago, and The Factory Theater – in anticipation of their 2021-22 Season – is launching “Quiet Please! It’s A Silent Auction,” an online silent auction through the month of August (the 1st-31st). An amazing array of goods and services are available for bidding, and can be accessed by clicking here.