Reel life: Former Hoffman Estates actor on the big screen this weekend
Film critics notebook:
• Actor and former Hoffman Estates resident Jeff Glover can be seen as a police officer in the crime thriller “Triple 9” opening this weekend at theaters. Here's a photo he sent to us from the set. You can read Glover's “From Suburbs to Showbiz” profile at bit.ly/1HTfoY9.
• Nick Berardini graduated from Lake Forest High School in 2004, but it was as a journalism student at the University of Missouri he discovered his passion for film and facts.
“I still see myself as a filmmaker, not just a documentary filmmaker,” he said. “I was absolutely enthralled with the ways in which documentary could play with form and structure, because the characters are real.”
Berardini's documentary “Killing Them Safely” will have its Chicago premiere at the Midwest Independent Film Festival at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 1, at the Century Centre Cinema, 2828 N. Clark St., Chicago. Go to midwestfilm.com.
The doc, originally titled “Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle,” traces the history and use of the Taser, intended to be an alternative to the deadly force of a gun. But is it?
“I became fascinated by the only company that makes, sells and trains officers on how to use them, Taser International,” Berardini said. “I got one day of access to the company and spent the next five years piecing together a film that evolved into a character study of corporate psychology.”
Being a Chicagoan, Berardini was inspired by legendary local Kartemquin director Steve James of “Hoop Dreams” and “Life Itself” fame.
“He's my Chicago hero,” Berardini said. “We've only met briefly, and I have no idea if he's seen my film, or what he thinks of it, but I deeply admire him and his work.”
• Danger, Darkness & Dames — The World of Film Noir! That's the topic of Dann & Raymond's Movie Club program for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 3, at the Schaumburg Township District Library, 130 S. Roselle Road, Schaumburg.
Clips from noiry classics “Double Indemnity,” “The Big Sleep,” “White Heat” and, of course, “Touch of Evil.” Free admission! Wear your best black-and-white outfits. Go to schaumburglibrary.org.
Why ‘Spotlight' shines
Maybe I'm getting punchy, having seen “Spotlight” for the 10th time Monday night at Chicago's Lake Street Screening Room. The taut screenplay by director Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer will win the Best Original Screenplay Oscar Sunday night. It's that good.
Stay with me here, because I suddenly saw the story — about Boston Globe reporters exposing the Catholic Church's cover-up of sexually abusive clergy — in a religious context I hadn't noticed before.
In “Spotlight,” a Jewish leader with no family of his own arrives in a community fraught with sinners and hypocrites. He wins the alliance of a small band of disciples (Spotlight team) and sets out to change the world (aka “the system”).
One of the Spotlight members realizes he has committed a journalistic sin by missing a key piece of information. He makes a full confession.
Then the leader absolves him saying: “Sometimes it's easy to forget that we spend most of our time stumbling around in the dark. Suddenly a light gets turned on ...”
You don't need to be Catholic to know what the “light” refers to.
So, was this biblical subtext intended by McCarthy and Singer? Or just the ravings of a mad film critic seeing spotlights?
Oscar trivia for Sunday
Here are some fun facts courtesy of WalletHub:
• Two percent of Academy Awards voters are black vs. 13.2 percent of the population
• At 25, Jennifer Lawrence is the youngest person to earn four acting nominations
• $3,500 is the average cost of preparing a Hollywood actress for the red carpet
• $220,000 is the net worth of this year's Oscar swag bag
• It has been 39 years since Sylvester Stallone got his first Oscar nomination for playing Rocky Balboa
• Acceptance speeches are now capped at a brisk 45 seconds. Shout outs will scroll along the bottom of the screen as speeches are made. After 45 seconds, a trap door will drop the speaker into the orchestra pit. (Not really, but, hey, why not?)