The Windy City

There has been much talk lately around the Couchville campfire about New York City. My spiritual home and number 1 destination features in dozens of the films that grace my DVD collection. I considered doing a list of my all time favorite NYC films but it’s almost too obvious. I mean do you really want to read my opinions on Woody Allen (Genius) Spike Lee (Auteur) Martin Scorsese (Royalty) or even Hal Hartley (Love of my Life)?

Well maybe you do. But instead I want to turn your attention to another great town

The windy city of Chicago.

It just seems to be the featured city a lot of films I’ve seen recently. I rewatched The Untouchables, While You Were Sleeping and High Fidelity all in the space of a week and there it was in each one.

What do I think of when I think of Chicago? ER, Oprah, gangsters, the blues, snow, firemen, that river, those trains. A tough city. A dirty city. A place that if you aren’t born there you’ll never understand. Here now is my

Top Five Chicago Movies

5. Blues Brothers (1980)
And I quote:
Elwood: I'm gonna quit work first thing in the morning.

Jake: And how are you gonna get to work Mr Lead Foot, Mr Hot Rod, Mr Motor Head? Those cops took your license away. They got your name, your address.

Elwood: No they don't got my address. I falsified my renewal. I put 1060 West Addison.

Jake: 1060 West Addison? That's Wrigley Field!

4. Ordinary People (1980) Cold Chicago. This is actually in my Top 20 all time favourite films so I could bang on about it for a whole blog entry. Mary Tyler Moore gives one of the great ‘ice mother’ performances ever on screen. The film of course is owned by a young and vulnerable Timothy Hutton. great shots of Chicago when Donald Sutherland confesses to his business partner that things aren’t so great on the home front.

3. High Fidelity (2000). I wasn’t one of those anxious Nick Hornby fans terrified that the soul of his book would be destroyed in its transatlantic move. I was one of these anxious John Cusack fans who were worried he was doomed to being in shit films like Pushing Tin. Of course this film also unleashed Jack Black on the world for which I will be forever grateful. I think everyone was happy with the outcome – and let’s face it Hornby is really responsible for the Top 5 becoming the list of choice.

2. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986). Anyone who does not love this film is off my Christmas card list. Really. I mean it. Having watched this again recently I was overcome with nostalgia. I don’t love it the way I did when I was 16, and it’s funny now to think of whole new generations becoming attached to this film. Part of me wants to say ‘hands off! You got American Pie now leave us alone!” but I know in my heart that Ferris would have wanted to share the love with everyone.

1 The Untouchables (1987). Rewatching this last week I was reminded of a time when Kevin Costner was fantastic to watch. When this came out he was being dubbed the new Redford. Alas that was not to be Takeaway the script by David Mamet and the direction of Brian De Palma and all you got left is Costner, not much chop on his own I’m afraid.

The Untouchables is a study in clever filmmaking, fine editing and a perfect musical score along with pitch perfect performances from Connery, Garcia, and Costner. The city at the time was gripped by prohibition and owned by Al Capone and a corrupt and powerless police force. It's an amazing true story of Eliot Ness and his team taking back Chicago in a great David and Goliath tale.
And Costner has come good again with The Upside of Anger.

Other good Chicago films

Hoop Dreams (one of the best sports films ever made)
The Sting (yummo. Redford and Newman in their pinup boy days)
Adventures in Babysitting (for those that haven’t seen this, it’s a great treat)
Backdraft (ok so it’s not a great film, but hey it does have firemen)
Chicago (noisy, lush, full on assault of the senses that couldn’t go unmentioned)