Editor's note: Chuck Koplinski wrote a review for The Visitor on May 30 and the link is embedded in the film's title below.

Area filmgoers are in a for a treat as character actor Richard Jenkins will be appearing at the Normal Theater to introduce the film, The Visitor, a moving film that has garnered well-earned critical acclaim and is a timely examination of the United States’ immigration policy and our country’s place in the world. Jenkins, a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University, will be on hand to discuss the film and take questions afterwards, as will his co-star in the movie, Danai Jekesai Gurira.

The riskiest move where films are concerned these days is to attempt to make a movie that relies on charm or romantic ideals. Swing Vote dared to do this by reviving the formula that made director Frank Capra a household name and withered at the box office. It appears that a similar fate awaits David Koepp’s Ghost Town, an unabashedly sweet work that not only provides a showcase for one of the most talented comedic actors working today but also stands as a throwback to the era of the 30s and 40s, when lighthearted but genuine films of this sort were commonplace.

Some movies come from out of nowhere to surprise and delight you, as well as re-instill a degree of hope for the medium as well. Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges did that for me when I saw it earlier this year in Chicago and I eagerly awaited its release here so that I might spread the word about the discovery I had made. But alas, the film was never released locally, part of a blundering campaign from Universal Studios who obviously didn’t know how to market this existential gem disguised as farce. (When I mentioned the film to a colleague of mine recently she said she thought it looked “slapsticky” from the trailer.) One of the reasons the publicity arm at Universal didn’t know what to do with the film is because it’s uncommonly smart. That’s probably why it bombed in its limited run as well, as it is common knowledge audiences don’t want to think when they go to the movies. Cinema managers hate it as well because then they have to deal with patrons moaning, “Brain hurts!” like the Frankenstein monster as they wander out of the theater.

Since 1998, the American Film Institute has been issuing lists touting a wide variety of “great” features present in homegrown movies. Not content to rest on its laurels with its 100 best American movies, the 100 greatest movie stars, the 100 best comedies, the 100 best thrillers, the 100 best romances, these rosters have often focused on such minutiae as the 100 best quotes and songs, while revisiting its first list of 100 best movies in order to revise it.

While the AFI continues to make a mockery of itself acting like nothing more than Blockbuster Video’s government sponsor, as promotions for the movies on these lists are prominently featured at the chain’s stores, the British Film Institute has quietly embarked on an ambitious, long term project that will ensure the preservation of key films in world cinema. Known as the 360 Classic Feature Films project, this massive undertaking began in 1982 the brainchild of BFI film archivist David Meeker.

Steve Coogan’s road to fame in Hollywood has been a rocky one. But one gets the impression that such a thing doesn’t matter to him, having established himself already as one of the premiere British comics of his generation, having conquered the world of television across the pond, most particularly with his character Alan Partridge, a dimwitted TV personality that the actor invented while mocking a reporter while he was being interviewed.

Click the jump to read Chuck's interview with Steve Coogan.

There is much more than meets the eye in James Marsh’s thrilling new documentary, Man on Wire. On the surface, the film appears to be a recounting of one of the most spectacular stunts of the 20th Century, as it documents Philippe Petit’s daring high wire walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in August of 1974. That feat and the daring, planning and luck that were required to pull it off bests any Hollywood caper film and it is all presented in intricate detail here. However, what makes the film sing is Petit himself who, through archival footage and recent interviews, recounts what the feat meant to him and his colleagues, all of whom were forever changed by this once in a lifetime act.

August has been described as wearing a “golden crown,” has been said to “rush by like desert rainfall” and “create as she slumbers.” Superstition holds that if the first week of the month is a scorcher, the winter will be long and cold. On a personal note, my father used to refer to the month as “a blistering ballbreaker.” For the eighth month of the year 2008, I would describe it as the funniest month of the year, at least as far as movies are concerned. Having been entertained (bludgeoned) by the big budget Hollywood blockbusters, a series of sidesplitting comedies have been released in the past three weeks that have proven to be a welcome respite.

It has been said that in politics, we get the candidates we deserve. The same could be said for movies. Nothing dictates more what you see at the multiplex than what has been successful at the box office and, as such, the rule is that vacuous, low-brow entertainment is what is playing on most screens. There have been some rare exceptions this year (Iron Man, The Dark Knight and Tropic Thunder) but by and large, what has cluttered nation’s screens have been made to distract or bludgeon us, and any movie that has the temerity to try to engage viewer’s minds or hearts has been brushed aside. Case in point: Kevin Costner’s fine, pointed political dramedy, Swing Vote.

It comes as no surprise that the latest, and probably final, chapter of the X-Files saga is failing at the box office. Not only is it going up against the box office juggernaut that is Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight — but it also is based on a television show whose popularity peaked a decade ago and went off the air in 2002. However, I think there’s another element at play here that is keeping away crowds in droves: it’s too damn smart for the average American film goer.

"You Will Believe A Man Can Fly."

That was the promise made by director Richard Donner via the advance advertisements for his ambitious undertaking, Superman: The Movie and it was one that I and thousands of other comic book fans hoped he could deliver on. There were few movies from my youth that I anticipated more than this one. Sure, when the Star Wars and Indiana Jones sequels were being heralded, I too, was jockeying for my place at the front of the line to see them. However, Superman was different, primarily because fans of the last son of Krypton had waited so long for a big careen adaptation that would do their hero justice and the many false starts that preceded Donner’s film made us doubt it would ever get done. Thankfully, it did and surprisingly, it surpassed any of the preconceived notions that the audience might have had.

We’ve all been there — going along in a relationship, thinking everything is hunky dory and then all of the sudden your partner lowers the boom on you.

While you’ve been in a state of bliss, they inform you that they’ve been suffering quietly and they need a change, they need to move on, they need to find themselves. They assure you that it’s not you, it’s them — but that doesn’t help when you’re left with a broken heart that will soon change into a festering heap of resentment and hate…or so I’ve heard.

Walter Vale is coasting. Actually, it’s worse than that — he’s drifting aimlessly without purpose. The widower sleepwalks through the college courses he teaches, goes through the motions of trying to learn the piano, the instrument his wife mastered with great success and has no problem laying authorship to work that is not his own. Making no further emotional connection with the outside world would suit him just fine. However, fate, and the bit-too-neat writing style of also-director Thomas McCarthy, throws him a curve as he finds two illegal aliens living in the Manhattan apartment he rarely uses.

If you like Jack Black’s School of Rock or happened to catch the indie documentary Rock School, chances are you’ll love Young@Heart. While it focuses on the other end of the age spectrum, Stephen Walker’s documentary is a real charmer as it recounts how a chorus composed of senior citizens from New Hampshire, overcome various setbacks to get ready for a concert in their hometown of Northampton. Oh, did I mention they sing nothing but rock classics? This premise may sound like a cheap gimmick that panders for good-natured chuckles, but the singers, whose average age is 81, win us over with their tenacity, good-humor and the vigor with which they perform these songs, some of which take on different shades having been sung by these spry seniors.

Filmgoers probably first became aware of English actor Chiwetel Ejiofor in Love Actually. While his scenes as Keira Knightley’s husband were few, the actor made a definite impression on viewers and filmmakers alike as he has appeared in a series of high-profile films. Lending solid support in Four Brothers, Inside Man, and American Gangster, Ejiofor is now stepping into the spotlight with David Mamet’s Redbelt, a character study in which he portrays Mike Terry, a jujitsu master who’s forced evaluate his moral code when he finds himself plunged into the corrupt worlds of Hollywood and Mixed Martial Arts fighting. While in Chicago, the actor graciously sat down to talk about the film, his career and what is was like to work with playwright David Mamet. After breaking the ice with a discussion about the recent Edward Hopper exhibit at the Art Institute he had seen, Ejiofor gamely answered a question that had been on my mind since I had seen Redbelt.

What does it profit a man to be the last honorable person in a corrupt world? That’s the question at the heart of David Mamet’s Redbelt, a meditation on honor and loyalty set against the backdrop of the world of Mixed Martial Arts and Hollywood. That there’s more than meets the eye comes as no surprise to those who have been following the filmmaker’s work. So often, his plays and movie have dealt with deception and misdirection and while these elements are at play in Redbelt, they don’t take center stage. Instead, Mamet and his star, Chiwetel Ejiofor, concentrate creating an in-depth character study rarely seen in movies today: that of a man who understands and maintains his own moral code while those around him regard him as a fool for doing so.