Review: Torchlight III Has Great Combat, but With Caveats
I spent a lot of my younger years playing platformers, and then first person shooters. I wasn’t much of a role-playing game fan until I was introduced to Diablo—and from […]
Review: Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix Has Merits, but Isn’t Best in Class
License games have a mixed history, to be kind. Karting games have also seen their fair share of misses over the years. That’s why it’s fair to be skeptical about […]
Interview: Chicago Film Festival’s Mimi Plauché on Transitioning to Virtual Events and Festival Gems to Seek Out at 56th Annual Affair
Needless to say, things for the programmers of the 56th Chicago International Film Festival are a little different in 2020. At the same time, some things never change. Although the […]
Dialogs: 99% Invisible Team Explores Hidden Beauties of Urbanism. Always Read the Plaque
Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt have a new book. It’s a beautiful city field guide with almost 400 pages of stories, history and illustrations on the “hidden world of everyday […]
Fall Museum Guide: What’s Open, How to Stay Safe, and How to Enjoy Chicago’s Museums From Home
UPDATE: Due to the sharply rising number of COVID-19 cases in Cook County, the city of Chicago is returning to Tier 3 mitigation beginning Friday, November 20th. Details of what […]
Interview: Ruby Rose on Doing 99.9% of Her Own Stunts as an Ex-Soldier in The Doorman
In her relatively short career, Australian-borne Ruby Rose has conquered many avenues in entertainment, including modeling, boxing, DJ-ing, and even an MTV VJ in her home country. And then of […]
Kurt Elling’s 25th Anniversary Virtual Tour: Steppin’ Out While Stayin’ In
If all was right with the world, jazz vocalist Kurt Elling would be celebrating the 25th anniversary of Close Your Eyes — his first album on the Blue Note label — before […]
Review: Re:Turn–One Way Trip Is Sufficient Side-Scrolling Horror Fun
It’s October, and the time to play spooky games is upon us. I haven’t really gotten into the spirit too much this year—the rest of the year has been scary […]
Review: The Forty-Year-Old Version Makes Sharp, Funny, Authentic Work of an Artist’s Life
One of the great things about Netflix snapping up some of the best films of the year is how easily the platform can make an incredible film available to millions. […]
Button, Button: This Northside Activist Is Making Tiny Political Works of Art
Kimberly Walz’s first political activism was campaigning for the bluegill to be Illinois’ state fish in 1986. She was a fifth grader in Freeport, Illinois, when she realized she could […]
Review: Beautifully Humanizing Time Chronicles One Woman’s Lifelong Pursuit of Justice
There’s no shortage of true crime documentaries on streaming services lately, films and mini-series that chronicle the ins and outs of murders and heists and frauds that audiences eat up […]
Review: In Major Arcana, Momentary Beauty Is Lost in Clunky, Poorly Acted Independent Drama
As blockbuster after blockbuster gets bumped to 2021—or in some cases, all the way to 2022—film fans have the opportunity to discover movies that in other years might’ve been overshadowed […]