Forty-five years ago, Jeffrey Sweet wrote a book—the story of Second City, which was then only about a decade old. But Chicago’s preeminent comedy theater had a much longer history, […]
The expedition of discovery Louis Jolliet, a merchant-explorer, and Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit priest, undertook with five other men in 1673, was a pivotal moment in the history of North […]
After what was surely a good ol’ sweaty time at Pitchfork Friday, MJ Lenderman and Co. headed over to Lincoln Hall with their friends in Styrofoam Winos for a sold-out […]
The Australian-born, twin-brother filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou have spent the better part of the last decade making memorable and successful horror short films for YouTube under the collective banner […]
For a select few hundred people (it’s probably more than that), Destroy Fest 2023 at the Metro was the best place to weather the rain-soaked mugginess of last Saturday night. […]
Ron Perlman is a national treasure, and few people know that better than filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, who has placed Perlman in nearly all of his films, including the Hellboy […]
Actor-turned-first-time-filmmaker Sophie Kargman’s Susie Searches had its premiere almost a year ago at the Toronto Film Festival, and it seemed to disappear until recently. The title comes from the name […]
You can add Beanie Babies to the growing list of cultural phenomena of a particular era that are getting a film origin story. Or, in the case of The Beanie […]
Well, a month has gone by, so it’s time for a new Nicolas Cage movie. Sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re bad, sometimes they’re crazy. But usually they’re bad. The latest, […]
When I was a kid, one of the first pieces of vinyl I ever owned was an audio version of Disney’s The Haunted Mansion, containing all the music, voices and […]
Much like with her debut film, The Volunteer, writer/director Vicky Wright chooses to place a woman in an apathetic fog at the center of her sophomore effort, Happiness for Beginners […]
In late 1972, Ed Marciniak, a perennial social critic and justice activist, became president of the Institute of Urban Life, a small program affiliated with Loyola University Chicago. He had just […]
