Your Chicago Curated Weekend: 6/1 and Beyond
It’s the first week of June and it’s looking great! The weather looks like it will be cooperating and there…
Music
Recap: Love & Death (S1 Ep7) — A Droll Finale Makes a Belated, Weak Case for Candy’s Actions
“There has been an American tragedy played out in this courtroom,” lawyer Don Crowder (Tom Pelphrey) says in his closing…
Review: Harriette and Joan Slay Subterranean
Its been a while since I’ve had the pleasure of attending a show at Subterranean, and Texas-born singer-songwriter Harriette alongside…
Review: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Is a Fast-Paced Sequel with Stunning Animation and a Star-Studded Voice Cast
To many, the 2018 animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is the finest of all Spider-Man movies (and there are many…
Interview: Father and Son Sebastian and Salvo Maniscalco on Making About My Father, Meeting “Bob” De Niro and the Chicago Work Ethic
Sometime during 2006, I was asked to moderate a couple Q&A screenings of the documentary Wild West Comedy Show: 30…
Interview: Filmmaker Ric Roman Waugh on Making Kandahar with Gerard Butler, War Movies as Character Studies and a Greenland Sequel
Director Ric Roman Waugh had nearly 50 projects under his belt as a stuntman and stunt coordinator before turning to…
Recap: Succession (S4, Ep9) — Penultimate Episode Explores the Siblings’ Feelings, Sets up the Endgame
When Kendall (Jeremy Strong) gets up to speak at his father’s funeral in “Church and State,” there’s a sense that…
Review: In Reality, Sidney Sweeney Brings a Real-Life Interrogation to Captivating, Suspenseful Film Experience
Coming into the new HBO production Reality, I had virtually no idea what this tense little slice of reality was…
Recap: Barry (S4, Ep7) — The Series’ Penultimate Half Hour Provides One More Comedic Episode
It was only when I finished “a nice meal” that I realized how relentlessly dark the past few episodes of…
Recap: Love & Death (S1 Ep6) — Candy’s Trial Finally Gets Underway on the Season’s Weakest Episode Yet
The real horror of this week’s Love & Death episode occurred when I realized I still had half the episode…
Recap: White House Plumbers (S1 Ep3) — Fun Yet Unfocused Episode Finally Gets Around to Watergate
Will the leading men of White House Plumbers ever catch a break? After two episodes of buildup, the infamous Watergate…
Review: You Weren’t There, but He Was: Kill a Punk for Rock and Roll, by Marty Perez
According to the foreword of Kill a Punk for Rock and Roll, music photographer Marty Perez is a very likable…
Review: Return to Grace Has a Great Premise but No Payoff
I’m a sucker for games that have the player character exploring abandoned sci-fi facilities and derelict spacecraft. I love to…
Review: System Shock Is a Brilliant Remake
GLaDOS is perhaps the most famous rogue AI in video games, but long before I played Portal I was facing…
Review: Family Comedy About My Father Works Best When It Doesn’t Try Quite So Hard to Be Funny
While the new film starring and co-written by stand-up comedian Sebastian Maniscalco, About My Father, is a decidedly average autobiographical…
Review: Kandahar Is Less Action Pic, More a Statement on the Futility of War
The third film from the director-actor combo of Ric Roman Waugh and Gerard Butler (Angel Has Fallen, Greenland) is a…
Review: A New Perspective on Mediterranean at Ema
By Bruce Kong Mediterranean cuisine is known for countless, flavorful dishes that can be enjoyed under the hot summer sun.…
Review: In Its Latest Live-Action Adaptation, Disney Drains The Little Mermaid of All Its Magic, Charm
The 1989 animated feature film The Little Mermaid ushered in a new golden era of Disney’s storied animation legacy. A…
Review: With a Compelling Central Performance, Influencer Makes the Instagram Life a Dangerous Career Choice
In ways that probably won’t make any sense unless you actually see Influencer, the new film by director Kurtis David…
Review: Muna and Nova Twins Get All the Love From a Sold-Out Salt Shed Crowd
Right from the get-go, you can tell Muna loves their fans as much their fans love them. The band made…
