Lists and Suggestions

Sunday dinner at Mother Joe's is a mouth-watering, 40-year tradition. As seen through the eyes of her grandson Ahmad, love and laughs are always on the menu, despite the usual rivalries simmering between his mom Maxine and her sisters Teri and Bird. But when serious bickering starts to tear the family apart, the good times suddenly stop. Now it's up to Ahmad to get everyone back together and teach them the true meaning of soul food.

For decades, the housing projects of Chicago's Cabrini-Green were terrorized by a ghost story about a supernatural, hook handed killer. In present day, an artist begins to explore the macabre history of Candyman, not knowing it would unravel his sanity and unleash a terrifying wave of violence that puts him on a collision course with destiny.

The story of the infamous 1919 Chicago White Sox scandal. The young, idealistic White Sox players who, despite being pennant winners, are treated with disdain by their penny-pinching owner/manager. Ripe for a money-making scheme, the demoralized team agrees to throw the World Series. But when they're defeated, a couple of sports writers smell a fix and a national scandal explodes.

James is a struggling actor, living with his widowed mother in Chicago, who wants three things in life: someone to love, a great part, and to lose weight. Unfortunately, he is 0 for 3. His girlfriend dumps him, he loses a title acting role, and he sneaks out of an Overeaters Anonymous meeting only to wind up at an ice cream parlor. There, he meets Beth who quickly wins his heart, but will this cause James more problems than it solves? Or has he finally found someone to eat cheese with?

In the year 2035, robots are a common, trusted part of life. But that trust is broken when a scientist is found dead, and a skeptical Chicago police detective investigating the murder believes that a robot is responsible. It seems impossible for a robot to break the Three Laws of Robotics, for if that were to happen there would be nothing to stop them from taking over the world. Aiding the detective in his investigation is a psychologist who specializes in the psyches of robots. Will technology ultimately lead to mankind's salvation or annihilation?

Members of an African American family living in a cramped Chicago apartment, in this deeply resonant tale of dreams deferred. Following the death of their patriarch, the Youngers await a life insurance check they hope will change their circumstances, but tensions arise over how best to use the money.

Kay Eiffel is an author writing her latest novel. Her story revolves around an isolated man named Harold Crick. What she doesn't know is that her fictionalized character is real. Harold is an IRS agent who has lived a dull existence. One day he begins to hear Karen's voice as she narrates what she is putting down on paper. Harold enlists the help of a literary professor to find out what is happening and ends up changing things about his life.

Michael Sullivan works as an enforcer for his adopted father, Irish gangster John Rooney. When Sullivan's son, Mike Jr., witnesses one of his father's killings on Rooney's behalf, the gangster decides that his ward and his family are liabilities that must be removed. Sullivan tries to safeguard his son and get even with the man who betrayed him, while his son focuses on bonding with his emotionally distant father.

X and his friends rule their local 1970s roller-rink, that is until they are shocked to discover that their home base is going out of business. Heading over to the Sweetwater Roller Rink, they find their modest talents are, at first, no competition for their trick skaters and pretty girls who follow their every move. Now Xavier and his crew must pull together as a team to try and win big money at a rival rink's Roller Jam skate-off.

Clare has been in love with Henry her entire life. She believes they are destined to be together, even though she never knows when they will be separated: Henry is a time traveler, cursed with a rare genetic anomaly that causes him to live his life on a shifting timeline, skipping back and forth through his lifespan with no control. Despite the fact that Henry's travels force them apart with no warning, Clare desperately tries to build a life with her one true love.

Four women do not share anything in common, apart from the debts their dead husbands left behind. They all take fate into their own hands concerning all the criminal activities their husbands were involved in. The four women become close friends and find a way that will give them a secure and a conducive environment. They end up working together and conspires to collaborate a future on their rapports to avoid being involved in the crimes committed by their husbands.

At a time when crimes of passion result in celebrity headlines, nightclub sensation Velma Kelly and spotlight-seeking Roxie Hart both find themselves on Chicago's famed Murderess Row. They also share Billy Flynn, the town's slickest lawyer with a talent for turning notorious defendants into local legends.

After drinks at a favorite Chicago hang-out, Danny Martin and Debbie Sullivan head to Danny's place to indulge in the single's quest--the one-night-stand. Danny and Debbie wind up living together and amidst the daily drudge of domestic life, they begin to realize that making love is easy, saying "I love you" more difficult, and being in love the hardest of all.

Eager to escape life with her depressive single father, 16-year-old athlete Cyd Loughlin visits her novelist aunt in Chicago over the summer. While there, she falls for Katie, a girl in the neighborhood, even as she and her aunt gently challenge each other in the realms of sex and spirit.

After Jake Blues is released from prison, he and brother Elwood go to visit the old home where they were raised by nuns. The only way to keep the place open is if the $5000 tax on the property is paid within the next 11 days. The brothers want to help and decide to put their blues band back together and raise the money by staging a big show. As they set off on their "mission from God" they seem to make more enemies than friends along the way.

Chi-Raq is a modern day adaptation of the ancient Greek play 'Lysistrata' by Aristophanes. After the murder of a child by a stray bullet, a group of women led by Lysistrata organize against the on-going violence in Chicago's Southside creating a movement that challenges the nature of race, sex and violence in America and around the world.

No one could stop Dillinger and his gang. No jail could hold him. His charm and audacious jailbreaks endeared him to almost everyone, from his girlfriend Billie Frechette to an American public who had no sympathy for the banks that had plunged the country into the Depression. But while the adventures of Dillinger's gang thrilled many, Hoover made Dillinger America's first Public Enemy Number One.

A lonely young woman saves the life of a handsome stranger she has fallen in love with from afar. His family mistakes her for his fiancee, and she goes along because she likes his offbeat family so much. Matters take a hilarious turn when she meets and falls in love with her make-believe lover's brother.

Calvin never wanted to take over the family business, a barbershop on the south side of Chicago. One morning he decides to sell the shop to a shady loan shark named Lester. Calvin spends the day cutting heads at the shop, and starts to understand the importance of the legacy left to him. Calvin learns to appreciate his barber friends, and discovers that the place where they work is more than just a place to get a haircut. Calvin gradually changes his mind about selling the shop, but it may be too late.

The riveting story of a father's effort to rescue his son from the government agency which is using him in their secret mind-control experiments. During his search, he encounters a young girl whose frightening psychic powers help precipitate the final confrontation between pursued and pursuers.

From the director of Drinking Buddies comes a comedy about an irresponsible 20-something, Jenny, who arrives in Chicago to live with her older brother Jeff and his novelist wife, Kelly, after a breakup. Jenny's arrival shakes up their quiet domesticity as she and her friend Carson instigate an evolution in Kelly's life and career.