MY CHICAGO FILM FEST SCHEDULE - Every year the Chicago International Film Festival kicks off its festivities with an opening night tribute and screening. This year the gala is Friday, October 4 at 8 pm, and CS will be there to soak up all the pretentious film fun. Then again, maybe "pretentious" isn't the appropriate word for this year's event. Last year's honoree was Chicago's own David Mamet, who was showing off his latest film Heist. How cool would it have been to attend that little shindig? Despite my disdain for The Spanish Prisoner and the uneven reaction I had to Heist, Mamet's still one of the most exciting filmmakers around, whether it be as a screenwriter, director, or both. And, of course, he's one of the most important American playwrights...well...ever. So who did this year's organizers decide to honor with their Career Achievment Award? 007 himself, Pierce Brosnan. The movie Brosnan is promoting isn't his latest Bond effort, Die Another Day, but a little Irish movie called Evelyn that sounds halfway decent, if a little too weepy. Directed by Bruce "Driving Miss Daisy" Beresford, Evelyn is based on the true story of a man named Desmond Doyle in 1950s Ireland who lost his wife, his job, and then his kids because of some inane law called the Irish Children Act. The Irish courts and Catholic Church apparently believed it was better for Doyle's three children to be raised in orphanages than to be without a mother. But rather than hit the pub and drown his sorrows in Guiness, Doyle decided to fight the power and try to get the act overturned. It figures to be a real tearjerker with a little bit of courtroom drama thrown in. Hopefully, Beresford can restrain himself and let the story and actors do the work. I'm not counting on it. The supporting cast is solid, though, with Aidan Quinn, Stephen Rea, and Alan Bates, who I had the pleasure of seeing in Ibsen's The Master Builder in London's West End in 1995. Former ER nurse Julianna Marguiles also appears as a "tough but sweet barmaid." As if there was any other kind. Brosnan is no David Mamet, but I suppose I shouldn't complain -- a few years ago they honored Richard Gere.

Below is a list of the other movies I plan to see over the two-week festival, with more likely to be added. I'll have reviews of each movie posted here on CinemaScoped as I see them.

Monday, Oct. 7 -- Bowling For Columbine (Michael Moore)
Tuesday, Oct. 8 -- Punch-Drunk Love (P.T. Anderson)
Wednesday, Oct. 9 -- Bloody Sunday (Paul Greengrass)
Thursday, Oct. 10 -- Roger Dodger (Dylan Kidd)
Saturday, Oct. 12 -- Auto Focus (Paul Schrader)
Wednesday, Oct. 16 -- Rabbit-Proof Fence (Philip Noyce)

Now I'm just waiting for the e-mail from someone wanting to know why, if it's called the Chicago International Film Festival, am I only bothering to see four American movies, one from Australia, and one from Great Britain/Ireland? Maybe by tomorrow when I go into detail on each movie listed above, I'll have a respectable answer.

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