The Foons’ New Single “Shapes” Delivers Gripping Synth Heavy Sounds
A long time ago (last year) in a galaxy far, far, away (Ukrainian Village), I saw the Foons perform the opening set at the Empty Bottle. It feels like a […]
Holiday Season Shows, Streaming to Your Living Room
Hit ‘em on the Blackside Congo Square Theatre Company’s new sketch comedy show Free on demand December 19 through March 2021 No subject is off-limits in Congo Square Theatre Company’s […]
Review: Video Game-Turned-Movie Monster Hunter Is Another Unoriginal, Staggeringly Familiar Action Adaptation
On paper, the latest video game (by Capcom, I’m told) turned feature film, Monster Hunter, has elements that should at least make it tolerable for me, despite the fact that […]
Review: Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman Bring Energy, Urgency to August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
If you asked me who my favorite playwright of all time is, I wouldn’t hesitate to answer August Wilson. I was living in New York City in 1990 when I […]
Review: Modernist Homes in Midcentury Chicago, Modern in the Middle, by Susan Benjamin and Michelangelo Sabatino
Modern in the Middle: Chicago Houses 1929–75 By Susan Benjamin and Michelangelo Sabatino with a foreword by Pauline Saliga The Monacelli Press Pauline Saliga, executive director of the Society of […]
Your #StaytheFHome Chicago Curated Weekend: 12/17 and Beyond
Things still aren’t fully ok in the world and with Chicago tightening their rules more and more with travel restrictions and being back to tier 3 mitigations; that means you […]
Review: When the Past Was Around Is a Point and Click Love Story Full of Folk Whimsy
Videogames are a medium for interactive storytelling. Some games expand artistic boundaries by telling smaller, more intimate vignettes–personal stories that aim for the heart and are not made to […]
Review: A First-time Filmmaker Discovers Her Truth in Fascinating, Frustrating My First and Last Film
In an attempt to make a documentary about what it means to turn 60, reluctant filmmaker (and retired tech executive) Tracey Thomas ended up making a movie about mortality, grief, […]
Review: The Last Sermon Seeks to Understand how Religion Becomes Radicalized
In April 2003, filmmakers Jack Baxter and Joshua Faudem were shooting a documentary about a blues music bar in Tel Aviv called Mike’s Place, that just happened to be located […]
Review: Monster Sanctuary Brings Back Memories but Lacks Punch
Monster Sanctuary is a new retro RPG that brings the 16-bit nostalgia of the glory days to a modern console generation. It takes bits and bobs of the SNES classics […]
Interview: Luke Ray Debuts EP, “Thank You, Anyone”
The liveliness of music is what moves people. An authentic, simple, yet warming tone is what Luke Ray creates when he picks up his guitar. Ray grew up in a […]
Review: Calico‘s Marshmallow World Delights but Deflates Due to Clunky Controls
I have a lot of good memories growing up of time spent with My Little Ponies and Barbies and Strawberry Shortcake dolls. It wasn’t necessarily about the dolls, all soft […]