Steve McQueen

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Liam Neeson portrays Henry in ‘Widows.’

CHICAGO – Liam Neeson “Released the Superstars” on October 13th, 2018, as the all-star cast of the new film “Widows” walked the Red Carpet before a premiere screening at the 54th Chicago International Film Festival. Joining Liam was Oscar winner Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez (“Fast & Furious” series), as well as supporting actors Cynthia Erivo and Brian Tyree Henry, plus author/screenplay adapter Gillian Flynn and director Steve McQueen (“12 Years a Slave”).

CHICAGO – It was star power to the max on Saturday, October 13th, 2018, at the 54th Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) as the cast and director of the new film Widows walked the Red Carpet, including Liam Neeson, Viola Davis and Michelle Rodriguez.

CHICAGO – DAY FOUR of the 54th Chicago International Film Festival on Saturday, October 13th, 2018… to kick off a huge festival weekend… continues with Industry Days from 10am-5pm (click here for details), a CINEYOUTH “Best of the Fest” screening (click) and the a mega-Red Carpet for the film “Widows,” including Liam Neeson.

CHICAGO – Having an international film festival is one of the reasons Chicago became an international city, and the 54th Chicago International Film Festival is about to crank up the projection machines for 11 days of amazing cinema treats, from October 10th through the 21st, 2018. How does an film buff or curious participant navigate the waters of the festival? HollywoodChicago.com is here to guide you.

CHICAGO – The remarkable true-ish story of “Papillon” is difficult to mess up. Henrí Charriére published the “autobiographical novel” in 1969, and the first film version dropped in 1973, with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman as the two leads no less. The latest film has Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek in those leads, as two French prisoners constantly trying to escape.

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OPENING NIGHT: Rosemarie DeWitt of ‘La La Land.’

CHICAGO – The glamor and the action always takes place on the Red Carpet, and the 52nd Chicago International Film Festival had one virtually every night of their two week 2016 run. New and veteran celebrities walked the carpet, representing their films or being honored at the fest, and HollywoodChicago.com was there.

CHICAGO – He may share a name with a notable movie star, but director Steve McQueen has made his own mark in cinema in a very short time. After his debut with “Hunger” (2008), he followed with the shocking “Shame” (2011). As producer, he won the Academy Award for Best Picture for “12 Years a Slave” (2013), a film he also directed.

CHICAGO – A man is chained to the floor in a dark, barren room. He has been ripped from his family and his freedom, and we watch as he’s whipped with amazing brutality. It goes on well past the point that most films with similar human suffering would have cut to a less stressful image.

CHICAGO – Mother’s Day is gone (hope you were nice to mom) and so the studios begin the push for Blu-ray titles perfect for Father’s Day gifts. The coming weeks will see reissues of Clint Eastwood classics, “The Mad Max Trilogy,” and much more, but it started last week with Fox/MGM’s reissue of the super-alpha-male “The Great Escape,” timed to its 50th anniversary. It’s been half-a-century since this mas macho classic became a box office smash and Oscar nominee. It’s held up pretty well even if the Blu-ray release isn’t a great one. Dad will likely just love the movie anyway.

CHICAGO – We’re never going to get the films we deserve from adult filmmakers if the NC-17 continues to operate under the stigma that it does. “Shame” was a perfect film to warrant an NC-17 and yet the rating became the story instead of the film itself, to the point that critics and awards voters didn’t give this excellent work the credit it deserves. When viewers catch up with it over the next few years, they’ll be stunned that the film earned zero Oscar nominations. What Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan do here is nothing short of stunning.