Chicago Sun-Times

Quitting not an option for Morgan Freeman, almost 76

Thu, 23 May 2013 21:06:00 -0500

He will never retire. Get that out of your head. “I’m well beyond retirement age,” says Morgan Freeman, who turns 76 on June 1. “I’m going to borrow a line from my good friend Michael Caine, who said, ‘You don’t retire from the movies. The movies retire you.’ ” And Freeman has never been busier. He just starred in “Oblivion” opposite Tom Cruise, is signed up to act opposite Johnny Depp in the upcoming “Transcendence” and has a leading role in this summer’s magic film “Now You See Me.” If that’s not enough, his paranormal Science Channel series “Through the …

‘Ice Age’ director turns over new leaves

Thu, 23 May 2013 21:02:00 -0500

Man cannot live in an Ice Age forever. That’s why director-writer-producer Chris Wedge abandoned Manny, Sid, Scrat and company (at least for the moment) to take a walk in the woods. “We’ve all been there, but have we ever really seen the woods?” Wedge says. In “Epic” (now in theaters), a teen finds herself jettisoned to the deep forest, where there is a battle between forces of good and evil. Voice talent includes Jason Sudeikis, Steven Tyler, Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Pitbull and Beyonce as — what else? —a queen. 1 What was the inspiration for “Epic”? It’s …

Good battles evil, with the world at stake, in animated ‘Epic’

Fri, 24 May 2013 02:28:10 -0500

RICHARD ROEPER: The latest animated film from Fox’s Blue Sky division, “Epic” depicts good vs. evil forces battling over the fate of the natural realm. Director Chris Wedge (“Ice Age,” “Robots”) gives us lush, often breathtaking visuals of a world within our world — a forest populated by tiny Leaf Men who ride hummingbirds and do battle with equally minuscule army of nasty creatures known as Boggans. An all-star cast provides the voice work, which proves to be distracting. Kids won’t mind but the voices will take adults out of the story.

‘Fast & Furious 6’ turns out to be the best yet in the franchise

Fri, 24 May 2013 02:27:50 -0500

RICHARD ROEPER: Against all odds, the “Fast & Furious” franchise is actually picking up momentum, with “FF6” clocking in as the fastest, funniest and most outlandish chapter yet. Whether we’re seeing stunt work or special effects or a combo platter, director Justin Lin keeps raising the bar, going for intentional laughs and thrilling moments as cars pull off impossible maneuvers and humans keep flying in the air and landing with thuds. “Furious 6” couldn’t be any less plausible if it were animated, but that’s sort of the point.

In the delightful ‘Frances Ha,’ a young adult tries to find her way

Fri, 24 May 2013 02:28:28 -0500

Filled with witty dialogue and natural performances, “Frances Ha” marks a return to form for writer-director Noah Baumbach, who followed “The Squid and the Whale” (2005) with the disappointing “Greenberg” (2010) and “Margot at the Wedding” (2007). While the film also invites comparisons to the HBO series “Girls,” Baumbach and co-writer and star Greta Gerwig manage to find something original to say about female friendships among twentysomethings.

For Greta Gerwig, art imitates her actual life in ‘Frances Ha’

Fri, 24 May 2013 02:28:38 -0500

Greta Gerwig should get ready for some serious self-image booster shots, now that “Frances Ha,” her latest project, is in theaters. It’s a love story between women. “It’s about girl has girl, girl loses girl and girl gets girl back again,” says Gerwig, who co-wrote the script with director Noah Baumbach. “Believe me, in female friendships, we’ve all lived this scenario.”

Man in crisis, heading toward ‘Lux’

Fri, 24 May 2013 02:29:08 -0500

In “Post Tenebras Lux,” writer-director Carlos Reygadas portrays a Mexican family in profound communion with lightning, dogs, mud, cows, waves and falling trees. He may be murky about issues of class and Christianity, but he is divinely lucid when beholding nature. Calling “narrative” a “necessary evil,” Reygadas has told interviewers: “I’m not a storyteller” and “I hate the idea that film is actually telling a story!” Formerly an international law researcher, he won best director honors for “Post Tenebras Lux” at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. Nonetheless, each of his four dramas to date features a married, middle-aged man in …

Julianne Moore corners the market on bad movie moms

Thu, 23 May 2013 02:28:43 -0500

The mother of two plays a rocker neglecting her daughter in the new “What Maisie Knew” and a wacko with a telekinetic teen in the upcoming “Carrie” remake.

‘The Hangover, Part III’ turns out to be another chaser

Wed, 22 May 2013 23:17:26 -0500

RICHARD ROEPER: Director Todd Phillips has delivered a film so different from the first two, one could even ask if this is even supposed to be a comedy. It plays more like a straightforward, real-world thriller with a few laughs than a hard-R slapstick farce. But the big fix might have changed things just a little too much.

Dark ‘Hangover III’ takes series to ‘the next level,’ Bradley Cooper says

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:45:02 -0500

LAS VEGAS — At 9 a.m. Saturday at Caesars Palace, the Wolfpack should be waking up in a trashed hotel room with a tiger in the bathroom and livestock snacking near the mini-bar. At the very least, Doug should be missing. Instead, “The Hangover Part III” stars Bradley Cooper, Zack Galifianakis, Ed Helms and Justin Bartha look relaxed and refreshed. No one even appears to have a hangover, and two of them are glued to their cell phones doing business deals. Last night, Cooper spent time with his dog and his mother, who have accompanied him on this trip. Helms …

‘Erased’ runs through the conventions of a standard chase movie

Fri, 17 May 2013 02:27:45 -0500

RICHARD ROEPER: “Erased” is something of a mash-up of “Taken” and “Unknown,” with Aaron Eckhart in the Neeson role as Ben Logan, a former CIA agent with a stereotypically resentful teenage daughter. When the security company Logan works for wipes him off the grid, he must go to extreme lengths to protect her.

‘Black Rock’ a surprisingly effective thriller

Thu, 16 May 2013 19:46:00 -0500

RICHARD ROEPER: Three young women head for a weekend getaway on Black Rock, a remote and forbidding locale off the coast of Maine. “Black Rock” doesn’t reinvent the genre, nor does it avoid some of the clichés we’ve seen in thrillers with much bigger budgets and much higher body counts. That said, here is a film that doesn’t waste one minute of its running time, delivering the set-up and the conflict and the resolution in refreshingly brisk and often quite brutal fashion.

Family secrets revealed in ‘Stories We Tell’

Fri, 17 May 2013 02:28:39 -0500

Sarah Polley began her career as an actress, but her remarkable success behind the camera in recent years has shown where perhaps her true talent lies. Her best-known directorial efforts, the critically acclaimed “Away From Her” (2006) and “Take This Waltz” (2011), are now joined by an equally stunning project, the documentary “Stories We Tell.”

‘Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s’ blows an air kiss to a temple of high fashion

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:55:28 -0500

Matthew Miele’s documentary is a fawning valentine to Bergdorf Goodman, the elite New York department store that specializes in high fashion.

Kartemquin showcase will provide feedback for filmmakers

Fri, 17 May 2013 02:29:07 -0500

Known for acclaimed documentaries such as “The Interrupters” and “Hoop Dreams,” Kartemquin Films will preview four works in progress during its annual Spring Showcase on Sunday at the Gene Siskel Fim Center. After viewing 10 minutes from each film, the audience will weigh in on what works and what needs work.