How many of you guys have seen DUEL, the first Spielberg movie?

 

What a great first movie...so much intensity and drama out of a singular situation.

 

A very good made for TV horror/thriller movie, right up there with the original Salem's Lot. Also easily the best thing that Dennis Weaver ever did.

 

Caught this in the trib yesterday:

 

There's probably a fine line between independent filmmaker and masochist. Periodically word trickles out about an indie project or two shooting in town, and you cross your fingers and think, "Maybe!" More often, these are films that never see the light of a movie theater, let alone a DVD player.

 

If you pester enough local filmmakers, no one can really say why a stronger indie film movement hasn't emerged in Chicago, despite a number of reasons why it could.

 

"I don't know that there's any city or go-to place that's a hotbed of independent work," filmmaker Ron Lazzeretti said when we spoke last week.

 

"Chicago is a great place to shoot, and I'm not just saying that as a local booster. We have the crews, we have the actors, we have people coming out of film schools," he said, followed by the inevitable "but": "I don't know if independent filmmakers by nature are real communal. Everybody's doing their own thing."

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There's also a lack of independent filmmakers with national reputations choosing to live and work in Chicago.

 

"The right equation hasn't happened yet," according to 27-year-old Dimitri Moore, a Columbia alumnus who is working to put together a feature-length collection of short films written and directed by Chicagoans. "We need the right person with the right ideas with the right connections to come along."

 

The efforts of a guy such as Mike McNamara, who runs the Midwest Independent Film Festival, are probably the closest approximation to an indie scene around these parts. Instead of programming one large annual event, McNamara focuses on monthly screenings that feature new work by Midwesterners — much of which is of decent quality but would never play in theaters otherwise.

 

Despite the odds, a few Chicago-made indies hit the radar, usually booking a short run at an art house. At the Siskel Film Center this week, Lazzeretti's quartet of locally shot films, collectively called "Something Better Somewhere Else," share an offbeat mood, with performances from familiar Chicago stage actors including improviser David Pasquesi.

 

The strongest chapter portrays the banal but strange interpersonal dynamics at an office. Another centers on a woman's confused fantasy about her relationship to a man who randomly hands her a bouquet of flowers during her morning commute.

 

Shot in bits and pieces over the years for less than $50,000, "Something Better Somewhere Else" is entirely different in ambition and scale than Lazzeretti's script for the 2009 hit-man film "The Merry Gentleman," starring Michael Keaton. That film, also shot in Chicago, had a $5 million budget from local investors. It nabbed a slot at Sundance and a distribution deal with Samuel Goldwyn.

 

Few indies get that far, which puts Lazzeretti, 51, on a modestly higher level than most of his peers in town, although the film grossed just under $348,000 in theaters release. (The DVD came out last fall.)

 

"I'm not somebody who dreams about going to Hollywood," said Lazzeretti, who earns his living as a commercial director. "I feel like I belong here, and I would like to make movies that make money and reach a certain audience." These days, he's working to raise money on two new projects he hopes will do just that.

 

"Something Better Somewhere Else" plays through Thursday at the Siskel Film Center. For more info go to siskelfilmcenter.org.

 

Tribune article

 

Lazzeretti is one of my childhood best friend's dad, and really just a nice, down to earth guy. I saw "The Merry Gentleman" and it was good, but not great. I felt like it was just missing something to make it great, and I feel like that was because Keaton produced it since Ron became sick with appendicitis during the making of it.

 

I would recommend renting it and checking out this locally made movie.

 

He's also done many other nationally recognized projects such as the anti-teen smoking campaign awhile back, and also the Coors Light football coaches commercials (cant say Im a fan of those though haha).

 

Just thought it was pretty cool to see the Tribune give some recognition to some of the talent in Chicago.

Caught this in the trib yesterday:

 

 

 

Tribune article

 

Lazzeretti is one of my childhood best friend's dad, and really just a nice, down to earth guy. I saw "The Merry Gentleman" and it was good, but not great. I felt like it was just missing something to make it great, and I feel like that was because Keaton produced it since Ron became sick with appendicitis during the making of it.

 

I would recommend renting it and checking out this locally made movie.

 

He's also done many other nationally recognized projects such as the anti-teen smoking campaign awhile back, and also the Coors Light football coaches commercials (cant say Im a fan of those though haha).

 

Just thought it was pretty cool to see the Tribune give some recognition to some of the talent in Chicago.

 

There were only four known producers on this project... and keaton was not one of them... he did however direct. This very well might be the reason that you felt something was missing from it.

 

Caught this in the trib yesterday:

 

 

 

Tribune article

 

Lazzeretti is one of my childhood best friend's dad, and really just a nice, down to earth guy. I saw "The Merry Gentleman" and it was good, but not great. I felt like it was just missing something to make it great, and I feel like that was because Keaton produced it since Ron became sick with appendicitis during the making of it.

 

I would recommend renting it and checking out this locally made movie.

 

He's also done many other nationally recognized projects such as the anti-teen smoking campaign awhile back, and also the Coors Light football coaches commercials (cant say Im a fan of those though haha).

 

Just thought it was pretty cool to see the Tribune give some recognition to some of the talent in Chicago.

 

Wait. You know Tony Lazzeretti?

 

Inception: good.

There were only four known producers on this project... and keaton was not one of them... he did however direct. This very well might be the reason that you felt something was missing from it.

Good catch, and yes I mean direct it.

 

Wait. You know Tony Lazzeretti?

Yea, grew up on the same block as him, was best friends with him until I moved.

Inception: good.

100% agreed.

Saw Hot Tub Time Machine on DVD last night. Pretty funny, and much better than I expected.

Saw Up last night. It was really, really good, but it was nowhere near as funny as I expected.

Saw Up last night. It was really, really good, but it was nowhere near as funny as I expected.

 

But did you cry?

Headed to see Inception. Haven't been this excited to see a movie in theaters since The Dark Knight.

But did you cry?

 

I also didn't think it was as sad as everyone said. I came much closer to crying when Wall-E almost died.

definitely caught more with the second viewing of Inception. Great movie period.

Headed to see Inception. Haven't been this excited to see a movie in theaters since The Dark Knight.

f***ing fantastic.

I also didn't think it was as sad as everyone said. I came much closer to crying when Wall-E almost died.

 

Wow, I thought the Up opening scene with the wife dying was much more sad than Wall-E almost dying. i agree it wasnt as funny as expected, but I still thought it was well done

Me and my fiancee got in an argument on the way home from seeing Inception because I didnt understand a God damn thing in it.

 

I love complex movies but I was not in the mood or even have the energy after working all day to stay with this one.

I saw Grown Ups yesterday. Not good. It had a few laughs and a couple good-looking women, but just a very lackluster movie.

Saw Up last night. It was really, really good, but it was nowhere near as funny as I expected.

 

Squirrel!

Watched Brothers last night.

 

That is one f'd up movie.

Watched Brothers last night.

 

That is one f'd up movie.

Overall I thought it was ok. A little too heavy on the melodrama and overkill with the music. Still want to see the original.

Squirrel!

 

Yeah, the dogs and bird were about the only funny parts, but they weren't even that funny.

I saw Grown Ups yesterday. Not good. It had a few laughs and a couple good-looking women, but just a very lackluster movie.

There is absolutely no conflict in that movie. It's just bad.

Wow, I thought the Up opening scene with the wife dying was much more sad than Wall-E almost dying. i agree it wasnt as funny as expected, but I still thought it was well done

 

 

Yep, hard not to get choked up watching that time lapse sequence. I think it was one of Pixar's best, working on lots of levels for me.

Me and my fiancee got in an argument on the way home from seeing Inception because I didnt understand a God damn thing in it.

 

I love complex movies but I was not in the mood or even have the energy after working all day to stay with this one.

 

If you guys are going to argue everytime you don't understand something... well be prepared to fight all of the time.

So our Movie Gallery went out of business last week. We went up there on the last day that it was open and they had all of their movies on sale for 99 cents each. We ended up buying like 15 movies, including a bunch of stuff we had never heard of, but we figured we would check out for that price.

 

One of the movies we picked up was a picture called The Statement, which was one I was really impressed by. It was about this French guy who helped the Nazi's round up jews at the end of WWII, and the guys trying to chase him down. I really enjoyed it.