As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I’m one of the programmers of the Chicago Critics Film Festival, which is taking place at Chicago’s legendary Music Box Theatre, May 1-7. And I’m so happy and proud of the lineup of films and guests that my fellow critics and I have put together this year, that I want to make sure you see as many of these films as possible. Of course, we’d love for you to buy a few tickets to some of the more than 20 features and three shorts programs we’re offering, but as an added incentive, I’m giving away seats to a select few screenings (one per day, as a matter of fact).
Guests this year include Cobie Smulders (RESULTS and UNEXPECTED), Adam Pally (NIGHT OWLS), James Ponsoldt (THE END OF THE TOUR), Joe Swanberg (DIGGING FOR FIRE), Kris Swanberg (UNEXPECTED), Bobcat Goldthwait & Barry Crimmins (both for CALL ME LUCKY), and many more. The full schedule and all additional information about the Chicago Critics Film Festival can be found at the Official Website. Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Music Box Theatres web site.
However, if you’d like to win tickets to any of the below features (most of which include Q&As), email me at: CCFFcontest@aintitcoolmail.com. READ THIS CAREFULLY: The Subject Line of your email should be simply the name of the film you are trying to win tickets to (each winner can have a CONFIRMED +1), and each film was have a separate email entry. In other words, if you want to try and win tickets to all seven films, I need seven separate emails from you, each with the name of the film in the Subject Line. So if you want tickets to RAIDERS!, the subject line should read: “RAIDERS!” and so on.
In the body of your email, I need the winners’ full name and whether or not you’re bringing a guest (I don’t need the guest’s name). If you ask for two tickets, and you show up only needing one, you will be chastised by a panel of experts. The winners’ names WILL NOT be posted on Ain’t It Cool News, but you will receive a message from me once the winners have been selected, probably early next week. Tickets can be picked up at the Chicago Critics Film Festival table at the Music Box Theatre on the day of the screening only. No tickets for future screenings will be given out until the day of the actual screening.
Also, there are no Ain’t It Cool News reserved rows for these tickets, so get to the Music Box Theatre early for good seats. If there's even the slightest chance you or your guest will have to back out of attending or arrive late if you do win, don't enter. If you have a job that might make you late or unable to attend, or an ill/pregnant relative, or a temperamental significant other, or a scratchy throat, do not enter. If you win and don't show up, the Black List will be your new best friend. No exceptions or excuses.
Here are the list of films for which we’re giving away a limited number of seats. Good luck, everyone!
RAIDERS!—Friday, May 1, 9:30pm In 1982, three 11-year-olds in Mississippi set out to remake their favorite film, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. After seven turbulent years that tested the limits of their friendship and nearly burned down their mother’s house, they had completed every scene except one: the explosive airplane fight. Thirty years later, they attempt to finally complete their childhood dream by building a replica of the 75-foot flying wing from RAIDERS in a mud pit in the backwoods of Mississippi and then blow it up.
CALL ME LUCKY—Saturday, May 2, 9:30pm With director Bobcat Goldthwait and subject Barry Crimmons Q&A An inspiring, triumphant and wickedly funny portrait of one of comedy’s most enigmatic and important figures, CALL ME LUCKY tells the story of Barry Crimmins, a beer-swilling, politically outspoken and whip-smart comic whose efforts in the ’70s and ’80s fostered the talents of the next generation of stand-up comedians. But beneath Crimmins’ gruff, hard-drinking, curmudgeonly persona lay an undercurrent of rage stemming from his long-suppressed and horrific abuse as a child—a rage that eventually found its way out of the comedy clubs and television shows and into the political arena. Featuring intimate interviews with both comedians and activists alike, director Bobcat Goldthwait’s (WORLD’S GREATEST DAD, GOD BLESS AMERCA, WILLOW CREEK) CALL ME LUCKY bravely tells Crimmins’ incredible story of transformation from a rage-fueled funnyman into an acclaimed proponent of justice who personified the healing power of comedy.
BATKID BEGINS, Sunday, May 3, 7:30pm With director Dana Nachman and writer/editor Kurt Kuenne Q&A Five-year old Miles Scott spent half his life battling leukemia. So when Miles wants to transform into Batkid, San Francisco’s Make-a-Wish thinks bigger. Why not turn San Francisco into Gotham City? As the idea goes viral, will it overwhelm Miles, Make-a-Wish, and the city, or will the good of humanity make this a day to remember for millions?
QUITTERS, Monday, May 4, 7pm With director Noah Pritzker Q&A A dark look at affluent, privileged families in San Francisco, where the world of precocious high schooler Clark Rayman (Ben Konigsberg) is crumbling around him. When his mother (Mira Sorvino) checks into rehab and he clashes with his father (Greg Germann), Clark goes in search of affection, convincing the much more stable family of his new girlfriend Natalia (Morgan Turner) to let him move in. As Clark’s presence becomes more intrusive and his father’s efforts to get him back become more violent, Natalia and her family (Saffron Burrows and Scott Lawrence) grow increasingly uncomfortable with the arrangement.
DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD—THE STORY OF THE NATIONAL LAMPOON, Tuesday, May 5, 7pm With director Douglas Tirol Q&A Featuring rare and never-before-seen-footage, this is the mind-boggling story of The National Lampoon from its subversive and electrifying beginnings to its rebirth as an unlikely Hollywood heavyweight, and beyond. A humor empire like no other, the impact of the magazine’s irreverent, often shocking sensibility was nothing short of seismic as the institution’s (drunk, stoned, brilliant) alumni left their fingerprints all over popular culture. Both insanely great and breathtakingly innovative, The National Lampoon set the foundation of modern comic sensibility while setting the bar impossibly high.
NIGHT OWLS, Wednesday, May 6, 10pm With director Charles Hood and star Adam Pally Q&A Workaholic Kevin (Adam Pally) goes home with the beautiful train-wreck Madeline (Rosa Salazar) for a drunken one night stand, but he’s horrified to discover she’s actually his boss’ jilted ex-mistress. After she takes a bottle of sleeping pills, Kevin is forced to keep her awake all night. As Madeline and Kevin banter through the night, they begin to fall for each other.
THE OVERNIGHT, Thursday, May 7, 6pm With writer-director Patrick Brice Q&A Alex (Adam Scott), Emily (Taylor Schilling), and their son, RJ (R.J. Hermes), have recently moved from Seattle to Los Angeles’ Eastside. Feeling lost in a new city and desperate to find new friends, they meet Kurt (Jason Schwartzman) at the neighborhood park and gladly agree to join his family for pizza night at Kurt’s home. But after the kids go to bed, the family “playdate” becomes increasingly more revealing.
