Free screening of indie film 'Fate Twisted Simply' in Palatine

Free 'Twisted Fate'CNGM Pictures, a group of former fellow students from Palatine's Fremd High School, will present their indie drama "Fate Twisted Simply" at 8:30 p.m. today at the Fred P. Hall Amphitheater, 262 E. Palatine Road, Palatine. The 80-minute film will be shown free of charge to commemorate Memorial Day weekend.Directed and written by Palatine native Steve Coulter, "Fate" deals with the effects of separation within a suburban family when a son is away at war. Northwest suburban actors Bill Coulter (the director's father) and the effervescent Kate Kuen star respectively as the soldier's dad and girlfriend. For more information, go to www.fatetwistedsimply.com.Reel Life review: "Survival of the Dead"In George Romero's "Survival of the Dead," two feuding Irish families vie for control of their island, and they're not about to let a little thing like reanimated cannibalistic corpses squelch their rivalry.They could be the Hatfields and the McCoys. Or the Israelis and the Palestinians. Or the Capulets and the Montagues. This is Romero's cynical observation about people so intent on hate, they can't redirect their energies toward a common foe to save themselves."Survival" marks the fifth sequel to Romero's (literal) groundbreaking 1968 horror classic "Night of the Living Dead." It's also the weakest, least frightening and minimally involving chapter so far. Here, it's becoming harder to tell which characters are undead and which aren't.One clan leader, Patrick O'Flynn (Kenneth Welsh), declares war against the undead and mows them down at will.The other clan leader, Seamus Muldoon (Richard Fitzpatrick), prefers to chain up the zombies and have them do remedial chores, such as plowing a field. He wants to keep his dead relatives around, in case there's a cure for whatever ailed them.A renegade military squad led by a guy named Sarge (Alan Van Strang, a survivor from both "Diary of the Dead" and "Land of the Dead") arrives on the island, reportedly six days after corpses began to eat the flesh of the living.(Not to be overcritical, but if "Survival" is set six days after "Night of the Living Dead," why don't the characters sport 1968 hairstyles and bad fashion statements?)One nice touch: the haunting image of a young woman, quite undead, riding a stallion through the woods in a perpetual re-enactment of something she once enjoyed in life."Survival" features all the gore and violence an R-rated feature can sustain. The once-terrifying zombies almost evoke pity as they become domesticated creatures slowly evolving back to their once-human selves. Who wants that in a horror movie?"Survival of the Dead" opens today at the Music Box Theatre, Chicago. Rated R for strong violence, language. 90 minutes. #9733;#9733;Reel Life review: "Paper Man"For my money, the greatest movie about writer's block would be Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining."Michele Mulroney and Kieran Mulroney's "Paper Man" is also about writer's block. It doesn't have hallways of blood or deteriorating corpses in a bathtub. Considering how inert this unfulfilling drama of self-discovery is, maybe it should.Richard (Jeff Daniels) has been dropped into a Long Island house by his driven surgeon wife (Lisa Kudrow) to write his second novel undisturbed.Instead, he befriends a local high school girl named Abby (Emma Stone), who agrees to baby-sit for Richard, even after he admits he doesn't have a baby. (Apparently, Abby doesn't see a lot of slasher movies at the local Bijou.)Slowly, the two misfits bond on a platonic level (none of that "Lolita" stuff), which mystifies and annoys both Abby's jerky, pseudo boyfriend (Hunter Parrish) and Christopher (Kieran Culkin), a gothy guy who loves her from not so afar.The clever gimmick in "Paper Man" is Richard's imaginary childhood alter-ego, Captain Excellent (Ryan Reynolds, sporting Superman-colored Spandex and white hair), who appears on the scene to advise Richard on his life choices."Paper Man" fails to exploit the natural comic possibilities with this relationship, turning Captain Excellent into more of a Sergeant Adequate to go along with Daniels' needy, nerdy self-doubting author. That leaves Stone's performance as the sullen, but aware teen the movie's brightest gem."Paper Man" opens today at the Century Theatre in Chicago. Rated R for language and sexual situations. 110 minutes. #9733;#9733;Reel Life review: "The Father of My Children"Not much "happens" in Mia Hansen-Love's domestic drama about a French family lost and confused after a terrible, tragic event almost as unexpected as Janet Leigh's premature demise in Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho." Still, I wished there had been more movie at the end of this movie.In the first half, we meet Gregoire Canvel (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing), a super busy French film producer under a big financial gun. Creditors hound him and his numerous projects are falling behind. He is a master at disguising his stress.Gregoire is the devoted father of three girls (Alice de Lencquesaing, Alice Gautier and Manelle Dris) and wonderful husband to Sylvia (Chiara Caselli), even though he's on the phone incessantly. He carefully insulates his family from the growing turmoil at work. One of his assistants guesses right. "We're sinking, aren't we?" she says.In the second half, the wife and daughters are left to reassemble the shards of their shattered family. Hansen-Love carefully observes her characters, never resorting to clich#233;s or allowing the scenes to become maudlin or syrupy."The Father of My Children" opens today at the Century Centre in Chicago. Not rated, for mature audiences. In French with subtitles. 110 minutes. #9733;#9733;#9733;