Great Movies
Place to sit: Sit twice as far back as the screen is wide. Try to choose the side of the theater farthest from the main entrance door; more people will choose the other side, lessening your chance of having someone sit in front of you.
Theater: A toss-up between the 900 N. Michigan theaters and the big screen at McClurg Court. Movie-going experience At the Music Box on N. Southport, where you get the sense that both the staff and your fellow audience members have a serious love of movies.
Popcorn: Not to be found in a movie theater. Go to one of the Garrett's outlets in the Loop.
Creative programming: The Film Center of the Art Institute, which presents directors, genres and whole national cinemas. Get on their mailing list.
Way to attend advance screenings of major movies: Become a member of the Chicago Film Festival and/or the Film Center of the Art Institute. Both have sneak previews more or less monthly for their members, often with the directors or stars in attendance.
Offbeat video store: Facets Multimedia, both in its original location at 1517 W. Fullerton and in its new video store in Bookseller's Row at 1520 N. Milwaukee, specializes in classic, art, foreign, documentary and experimental films. Tens of thousands of titles, including 6500 foreign movies, most of which are subtitled.
Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.
