Strong performance marks drama 'Pariah'
<b>Reel Life mini-review: 'Pariah'</b>
Dee Rees' black teen coming-of-age drama "Pariah" is a heart-rending plea for empathy, compassion and understanding, a work that not only features a blisteringly honest performance by lead actress Adepero Oduye, it nimbly sidesteps the easy clichés of the genre.
Oduye effortlessly slips into 17-year-old Brooklyn high school junior Alike, a shy, insecure student slowly coming to terms with her emerging lesbian self.
Her tough, selfish and perhaps unfaithful cop father suspects Alike might be going that direction, but covers himself with denial.
Alike's homophobic mother (Kim Wayans) is trapped between an insensitive husband and her growing fears about her daughter's sexuality.
"God doesn't make mistakes," she says to Alike early in the story.
Much later, Alike agrees with her, but for different reasons.
"I am not broken," she writes in a poem expressing her liberation. "I am free."
Rees expanded her semi-autobiographical graduate thesis film at NYU to produce this feature with support from Spike Lee. With pensive and penetrating cinematography by Bradford Young (using old-fashioned 35 mm film), Rees has not only created an important, provocative movie, but contributed to the national discussion on tolerance and understanding.
"Pariah" opens at the River East 21 in Chicago and the Century 18 in Evanston. Rated R for language and sexual situations. 84 minutes. ★ ★ ★ ½
<b>Chicago critics awards</b>
It's like a double-bill movie program, only it's two awards shows.
First will be the 23rd annual Chicago Film Critics Awards, then the first Chicago Comedy Awards, both Saturday night at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place in Chicago. The event begins at 6 p.m.
James Earl Jones will be there to accept the film critics' Oscar Micheaux Award for his body of work and for breaking down barriers in the entertainment field.
Jason Segel, actor, writer and producer, will be there to accept the Commedia Extraordinaire Award for his contributions to excellence in film comedy. (He co-wrote, produced and stars in "The Muppets," one of my top 10 movies of 2011.)
Chicago actor (and former cop) Dennis Farina will be there to accept the Commitment to Chicago Award that acknowledges his loyalty to the Windy City and its film industry.
The Second City, celebrating its 50th anniversary of making people laugh their keisters off, will be given the prestigious Big Shoulders Award, bestowed upon Chicago-area organizations that make significant contributions to the local arts and entertainment fields.
And we'll have guest co-hosts Richard Roeper and Roe Conn manning the podium.
Newly re-priced tickets ($90-$200) are available at ticketmaster.com.
<b>Celebrate Woody!</b>
In celebration of Woody Allen's triumphant return to comic form with his 2011 release "Midnight in Paris" (on my top 10 list for the year), Dann & Raymond's Movie Club presents "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Woody - But Weren't Afraid to Ask" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12, at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library, 500 N. Dunton Ave., Arlington Heights.
We'll show clips from the Wood Man's best films, among them "Annie Hall," "Hannah and Her Sisters," "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," "The Purple Rose of Cairo" and others. Free admission! Bring your own popcorn. Go to ahml.info or call (847) 392-0100.
<b>Chicago's own poet</b>
The Chicago premiere of Paul Bonesteel's documentary "The Day Carl Sandburg Died" was last year at Palatine's Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival.
Now, the doc, featuring the late Chicago icon Studs Terkel, is back for two showings at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6, and 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, at the Poetry Foundation, 61 W. Superior St., Chicago. Bonesteel will be present along with Chicago poet Marc Kelly Smith.
This will be the last public showing of the movie before it airs on PBS' "American Masters" program later this year.
"Labor unrest, global wars, socialism, immigration and race issues," Bonesteel said, "this was the subject matter that fueled Sandburg for much of his poetry and writing that shocked the world."
Go to poetryfoundation.com or thedaycarlsandburgdied.com for details about the poet and movie.
<b>'Melancholia' returns</b>
Call it the "anti-Armageddon" movie. Lars von Trier's "Melancholia" begins with a rogue world colliding with the Earth, so there's no holding out hope Bruce Willis can save it.
Kirsten Dunst, Kiefer Sutherland and John Hurt star in this sobering reflection on the end of existence, presented by the After Hours Film Society at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 9, at the Tivoli Theater, 5021 Highland Ave., Downers Grove. General admission costs $9. (630) 968-0219 or go to afterhoursfilmsociety.com. Rated R (nudity, language, sexual situations). 135 minutes. ★ ★ ★ ½
<i>Daily Herald film critic Dann Gire's column runs Fridays in Time out!</i>