Banned Books Week: Writers Recall the “Forbidden” Books of Their Youth
It’s Banned Books Week, and while it’s not a week to celebrate, per se, it’s one to faithfully observe. Those who would ban books offer different reasons for their desire […]
Review: Queens of the Stone Age Tone it Down With Spellbinding Chicago Theatre Show
On the opening night of Queens of the Stone Age’s Catacombs Tour at the Chicago Theatre, you could hear crickets chirping…and that was by design. The band’s set began with […]
Review: Porchlight’s New Faces Sing 1960 a Golden Time in the Golden Age
Ah… 1960. Smack-dab in the middle of post-war prosperity and (unknowingly) on the brink of enormous change. Has Broadway ever brimmed with more confidence or more cultural clout? Poised roughly […]
Quick Spins: Tamar Berk, Bobby Conn, Sloan, Rocket, and Ryan Allen
Quick Spins takes a quick look at recently released albums to make certain you’re listening to all the quality music being released these days. And with today being Bandcamp Friday, […]
Review: Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera Star in Paul Greengrass’s The Lost Bus, Recounting Real Life Wildfire Drama
Set during the 2018 Camp Fire, which became the deadliest wildfire in California history and destroyed the community of Paradise, The Lost Bus is based on the true story of […]
Review: Cillian Murphy Leads a Heavy but Human-Centered Steve About a Boarding School on the Brink
Though he’s broken through to the mainstream moviegoer’s radar since his Oscar win for Oppenheimer (and perhaps beforehand for his leading role on the much-loved Netflix series Peaky Blinders), Cillian […]
Review: The Great Daniel Day-Lewis Returns to Acting in Anemone, Co-Written With and Directed by Son Ronan
There’s an interview clip floating around this week where Oscar-winner (and one of our best living actors) Daniel Day-Lewis takes umbrage with having the term “retirement” attached to his recent […]
Review: In Bone Lake, Two Couples Collide on a Weekend Getaway Where Survival isn’t Certain
Clearly, the horror season is upon us (with so much more to come this month), and one of the ickier entries, at least in terms of appropriateness, is director Mercedes […]
Review: Good Boy is a Moving Horror Movie Featuring a Standout Canine Performance
It’s going to sound like a gimmick, but let me assure you, it is not. The new Ben Leonberg-directed/co-written horror film Good Boy has a main character named Indy, who […]
Review: Dwayne Johnson Delivers a Career-Best Performance in Benny Safdie’s Genre-bending Sports Film The Smashing Machine
Based on the 2002 documentary of the same name, The Smashing Machine does something different in the sports-movie genre by simply dropping us in the middle of the life of […]
Review: Panda Bear and Deakin Mesmerize a Delighted Thalia Hall
When you’ve been a part of such a big group as Noah Lennox and Josh Dibb have been, it’s not surprising to have a lot of expectations on your solo […]
Review: Young People’s Theatre Opens New Season with Heart, Fun and Celebration of all Things Elephant and Piggie
I like to think of Mo Willems’ beloved character the Pigeon as the Gordon Ramsay of the children’s literature world. He has a seemingly hard, brutish shell, but he is […]