Chicago has a fine selection of movie theaters -- but even the so-called art houses show mostly the same films that you'd be able to catch back home (or eventually on cable). But three local movie houses cater to cinema buffs with truly original programming. The new Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St. (tel. 312/846-2600; www.siskelfilmcenter.org; Subway/El: Red Line to Washington or Brown Line to Randolph), named after the well-known Chicago Tribune film critic who died in 1999, is part of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The center hosts an eclectic selection of film series in two theaters, including lectures and discussions with filmmakers. The Film Center often shows foreign films that are not released commercially in the United States.

The Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave. (tel. 773/871-6604; www.musicboxtheatre.com; Subway/El: Brown Line to Southport), is a movie palace on a human scale. Opened in 1929, it was meant to re-create the feeling of an Italian courtyard; stars twinkle on the dark blue ceiling, and a faux-marble loggia and towers cover the walls. The Music Box books an eclectic selection of foreign and independent American films -- everything from Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski's epic Decalogue to a singalong version of The Sound of Music. (I saw the Vincent Price cult favorite House of Wax, complete with 3-D glasses, here.)

Facets Multi-Media, 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. (tel. 773/281-4114; www.facets.org; Subway/El: Red or Brown line to Fullerton), a nonprofit group that screens independent film and video from around the world, is for the die-hard cinematic thrill-seeker. The group also hosts a Children's Film Festival (Oct-Nov) and the Chicago Latino Film Festival (Apr-May) and has an impressive collection of classic, hard-to-find films on video and DVD (which you can rent by mail).