Chicago – The names “Tj & Dave” are legion in the Chicago entertainment scene. The improvisation duo – T.J. Jagodowski and David Pasquesi – are improv performers who heighten the status of the city as a comedic destination. Now they’re featured in a indie TV pilot that will premiere at SXSW 2024 entitled “Bettendorf Talks.”
The show – produced by Shane Simmons and directed by Jack C. Newell – is a sharp and smart “show within a show” and a workplace comedy regarding the newest (and most unlikely) local talk show to come out of the titular Midwestern Quad City. Hosted by the “has been” comedy duo T.J. Jagodowski and David Pasquesi (who star as caricatures of themselves), the two attempt to mount a hit show in search of a sliver in their former glory. Other featured performers include Tim Kazurinsky, Sadieh Rifal, Brian King. Cassie Kramer, Nnamdi Ngwe, Emma Pope and Ike Reilly.
Men...
The show – produced by Shane Simmons and directed by Jack C. Newell – is a sharp and smart “show within a show” and a workplace comedy regarding the newest (and most unlikely) local talk show to come out of the titular Midwestern Quad City. Hosted by the “has been” comedy duo T.J. Jagodowski and David Pasquesi (who star as caricatures of themselves), the two attempt to mount a hit show in search of a sliver in their former glory. Other featured performers include Tim Kazurinsky, Sadieh Rifal, Brian King. Cassie Kramer, Nnamdi Ngwe, Emma Pope and Ike Reilly.
Men...
- 3/5/2024
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Chicago – Reviving a film from local cinema treasure Michael Glover Smith is always welcome at any time, but especially now. The Gene Siskel Film Center is enhancing their “From Your Sofa” download-from-home film series with Smith’s seminal release, “Mercury in Retrograde” through April 23rd.
The Gangs All Here in a Scene from ‘Mercury in Retrograde’
Photo credit: SiskelFilmCenter.org
The partnership between the film and the Film Center – 50% of the ticket price goes toward the Siskel during the pandemic closure – is a natural one, as Smith’s films have played at the venue frequently in different runs. For more details about the screening, including a live Q&a on April 17th, click here.
“Mercury in Retrograde” involves three Chicago couples, Golda and Jack (Alana Arenas and Jack C. Newell), Richard and Isabelle (Kevin Wehby and Roxane Mesquida ), plus Wyatt and Peggy (Shane Simmons and Najarra Townsend) … they are together...
The Gangs All Here in a Scene from ‘Mercury in Retrograde’
Photo credit: SiskelFilmCenter.org
The partnership between the film and the Film Center – 50% of the ticket price goes toward the Siskel during the pandemic closure – is a natural one, as Smith’s films have played at the venue frequently in different runs. For more details about the screening, including a live Q&a on April 17th, click here.
“Mercury in Retrograde” involves three Chicago couples, Golda and Jack (Alana Arenas and Jack C. Newell), Richard and Isabelle (Kevin Wehby and Roxane Mesquida ), plus Wyatt and Peggy (Shane Simmons and Najarra Townsend) … they are together...
- 4/16/2020
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Biff Review: ‘Rendezvous in Chicago’ Traverses the Tenuous Divisions Between Public and Private Life
There’s a reason the first word in Michael Glover Smith’s triptych Rendezvous in Chicago isn’t pluralized despite consisting of three distinct stories. It stems from the fact that Smith sought to close out his cinematic trilogy about on-screen relationships and communications within (Cool Apocalypse and Mercury in Retrograde are the others) with the three possible stages of a romantic union. Rather than call each chapter a rendezvous, the title is referring to our engagement with them as the beginning, middle, and end of a single passionate affair (complete with the potential for getting back up to try again). The agreed-upon time and place is therefore whenever you sit down to watch the film and its characters’ hometown of Chicago, Illinois. The date is between you and love.
We become an intentional voyeur as these couples traverse the tenuous divisions between public and private life. I say “intentional...
We become an intentional voyeur as these couples traverse the tenuous divisions between public and private life. I say “intentional...
- 10/7/2019
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Chicago – Filmmaking is a collaborative art, the melding of technical skill and creative energy. Proving that collaboration on a very high level is the new film “Rendezvous in Chicago,” written and directed by Michael Glover Smith. This passion project, shot in eight days, brought together a production crew and cast who perfectly meshed to create the “romance-in-the-Windy-City movie the world has been waiting for.” For the rest of the 5-Star review from HollywoodChicago.com, click here.
On Monday, February 11th, 2019, “Rendezvous in Chicago” was screened at the Gene Siskel Film Center on State Street in its hometown. Patrick McDonald of this outlet was the moderator for an audience Q&A afterward. with a cast member (represented by Rashaad Hall) and the production crew, producer Layne Marie Williams, cinematographer Alex Halstead, production designer Haley McCormick, editor Eric Marsh and writer/director Michael Glover Smith. The main feature was preceded by the short film “Dancer,...
On Monday, February 11th, 2019, “Rendezvous in Chicago” was screened at the Gene Siskel Film Center on State Street in its hometown. Patrick McDonald of this outlet was the moderator for an audience Q&A afterward. with a cast member (represented by Rashaad Hall) and the production crew, producer Layne Marie Williams, cinematographer Alex Halstead, production designer Haley McCormick, editor Eric Marsh and writer/director Michael Glover Smith. The main feature was preceded by the short film “Dancer,...
- 2/13/2019
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Chicago – In the 30 odd years I’ve lived in Chicago, and in the 10 years I’ve done the Chicago Film Tour, I know Chicago movies. The problem was that most of them didn’t understand the Windy City vibe, especially in the relationships that develop here. Well, writer/director Michael Glover Smith gets it exquisitely right, in his three story anthology called “Rendezvous in Chicago.”
Rating: 5.0/5.0
The first one is set in a typical Chi-town tavern, the second is in a walk to the Lake Michigan shores and the third is a remarkable existential monologue in a classic city apartment, plus they are all about the relationships contained within. The main cast is sensational, virtually all of them stand outs, and the settings are longingly authentic. Those who have moved from the Chi will revel in their youth again, as the characters are living in the land of surprise connections.
Rating: 5.0/5.0
The first one is set in a typical Chi-town tavern, the second is in a walk to the Lake Michigan shores and the third is a remarkable existential monologue in a classic city apartment, plus they are all about the relationships contained within. The main cast is sensational, virtually all of them stand outs, and the settings are longingly authentic. Those who have moved from the Chi will revel in their youth again, as the characters are living in the land of surprise connections.
- 2/7/2019
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
In today’s film news roundup, Coldplay documentary “A Head Full of Dreams” performs well, Jon Heder’s “When Jeff Tried to Save the World” gets distribution and shooting has begun on transgender drama “Gossamer Folds.”
Box Office
Trafalgar Releasing has reported more than $3.5 million in box office revenue in one day for the Coldplay documentary “A Head Full of Dreams” from director Mat Whitecross.
Trafalgar said the film sold more than 300,000 tickets in over 70 countries worldwide and across 2,650 movie theaters on Nov. 14. It was the no. 1 title in the Netherlands, no. 2 in the UK, Australia and Italy and no. 5 in the Us.
The release was in collaboration with Coldplay’s management team at Warner Music, Parlophone and Dave Holmes Management. The film showcases live performances and backstage footage from the global stadium tour A Head Full of Dreams, alongside archive material captured over 20 years.
Coldplay manager Dave Holmes said,...
Box Office
Trafalgar Releasing has reported more than $3.5 million in box office revenue in one day for the Coldplay documentary “A Head Full of Dreams” from director Mat Whitecross.
Trafalgar said the film sold more than 300,000 tickets in over 70 countries worldwide and across 2,650 movie theaters on Nov. 14. It was the no. 1 title in the Netherlands, no. 2 in the UK, Australia and Italy and no. 5 in the Us.
The release was in collaboration with Coldplay’s management team at Warner Music, Parlophone and Dave Holmes Management. The film showcases live performances and backstage footage from the global stadium tour A Head Full of Dreams, alongside archive material captured over 20 years.
Coldplay manager Dave Holmes said,...
- 11/16/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
While Chicago is known to host large Hollywood productions, if one peers deeper into its filmmaking scene, there is no shortage of independent riches. We recently named Stephen Cone’s Princess Cyd one of 2017’s best films, and now another promising drama from the area is around the corner. Michael Glover Smith’s Mercury in Retrograde tells the story of a trio of couples who venture out of Chicago for a weekend getaway in remote Michigan cabin. Ahead of a theatrical premiere at the Siskel Center starting February 16, we’re pleased to premiere the trailer, which previews these relationships in flux and shows off the striking cinematography by Jason Chiu (Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party).
“In Mercury in Retrograde, I wanted to explore how men and women communicate (and miscommunicate) with each other in the modern world,” says the director. “In this respect, it continues and deepens the themes of my previous feature Cool Apocalypse,...
“In Mercury in Retrograde, I wanted to explore how men and women communicate (and miscommunicate) with each other in the modern world,” says the director. “In this respect, it continues and deepens the themes of my previous feature Cool Apocalypse,...
- 1/9/2018
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
2011 - 92 mins. - Rated R
D: Omar Naim
C: Nick Stahl, Rose McGowan, Amy Smart, Ben Marten, Kim Grimaldi, Brian Lynner, Justin Marxen, James Serpento, Jack Mishler, Shane Simmons
A funeral home employee fakes his own death to see if anyone would attend. Two people show up - a junkie and his old high school sweetheart. However, it turns out he may very well indeed be dead and is stuck in between the world of the living and the dead.
Dead Awake is slow to start as it lays the basic foundation for the film's plot. Once that happens, Dead Awake leaves a variety of open ended questions that will be solved throughout the film. The search for those answers is what gives Dead Awake an intriguing quality to it. The balance between the supernatural, drama and mystery is what keeps things interesting. There also happens to be many vignettes scattered throughout that resonate.
D: Omar Naim
C: Nick Stahl, Rose McGowan, Amy Smart, Ben Marten, Kim Grimaldi, Brian Lynner, Justin Marxen, James Serpento, Jack Mishler, Shane Simmons
A funeral home employee fakes his own death to see if anyone would attend. Two people show up - a junkie and his old high school sweetheart. However, it turns out he may very well indeed be dead and is stuck in between the world of the living and the dead.
Dead Awake is slow to start as it lays the basic foundation for the film's plot. Once that happens, Dead Awake leaves a variety of open ended questions that will be solved throughout the film. The search for those answers is what gives Dead Awake an intriguing quality to it. The balance between the supernatural, drama and mystery is what keeps things interesting. There also happens to be many vignettes scattered throughout that resonate.
- 5/4/2011
- by Big Daddy aka Brandon Sites
- Big Daddy Horror Reviews - Interviews
Omar Naim's ('The Final Cut') latest mystery thriller 'Dead Awake' has wrapped it's shoot. It's 3 main stars, Nick Stahl (who's just signed on to Vincenzo Natali's '388 Areletta Avenue'), Rose McGowan and Amy Smart (below) are in the can and hopefully this baby can be cut in time for it's 3 December Us release date. Ben Marten, Kim Grimaldi, Brian Lynner, Justin Marxen, James Serpento, Jack Mishler, Shane Simmons and Rachel Storey all co-star in 'Dead Awake' which was penned by Johnny Harrington, Justin Urich ('Lake Placid 2 ') and David Boivin. 'Dylan, a young man working at a funeral parlor, is trying to unravel a mystery that shattered his life ten years earlier. After faking his own funeral to see who will show up, he befriends a mysterious street junkie and is reunited with an old love from his past. The...
- 11/8/2010
- Horror Asylum
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