Space-age soul power

Music and movies mix in local sci-fi production

04/11/2012

Music motivates and inspires. It makes us run that extra mile, walk with more pep, paint with new hues and kiss with added passion. For Chicago-based underground moviemaker Joseph Lewis, music helped him create another world — one that will be on display when his latest film, Sci-Fi Sol, premieres at the Chicago International Movies and Music Festival this weekend.
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Bang your head darkly

Traveling exhibition explores black metal through art

04/04/2012

When one thinks of heavy metal, thoughts instantly turn to Black Sabbath, Metallica, Slayer or one of many other popular acts. Metal exists beyond those who broke big, though. More than any other musical genre, metal is ripe with tangential subgenres: death, doom, speed, stoner, thrash, power, math, emo, drone and sludge. The varieties are endless.
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A celluloid time capsule of Chicago

Forgotten film about a South Side band's struggles resurfaces at Siskel Center

03/28/2012

When lists are compiled of the best movies filmed in Chicago, the selections are obvious. Call Northside 777, Medium Cool, Cooley High, The Blues Brothers, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and The Dark Knight are always name-checked. Even more obscure flicks such as horror great Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer and Philip Kaufman’s early independent effort Goldstein find slots.
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Welcome to the dollhouse

Documentary highlights local ties to murder investigations' past

03/21/2012

Cold Case. Bones. Criminal Minds. CSIs stretching from New York to Miami. A bajillion incarnations of Law and Order. The list goes on and on.
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Pressing Matters

Chicago's printmaking community in the spotlight

03/14/2012

Technology has made our lives easier. That’s a no-brainer. It runs macro to micro — from being able to zip across the planet at a moment’s notice via jet plane to accessing information, whereabouts — well, practically anything it an instant via mobile devices and smart phones. Ease of use is today’s standard bearer.
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Sending off to Southwest

Hideout's annual fete features local bands looking for the spotlight

03/07/2012

This winter, with temperatures barely dipping below freezing and not one opportunity to call “dibs” on a parking spot, the distinctions between the seasons might be tough for us Chicagoans to recognize. For music fans across the country, though, there’s one unmistakable sign that spring is in the air: the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival in Austin, Texas.
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Go big, go Khan

Field exhibit explores life and times of Mongolian ruler Genghis Khan

02/29/2012

Mongolian military legend Genghis Khan wasn’t the sort of man who half-assed anything. When his brother stole food, Khan didn’t scold him, he killed him. After uniting Mongol clans, he led his army to create an empire that spread more than 11 million square miles. That’s more than the mighty Roman Empire managed during their 400-year reign.
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What would your mummy say?

02/22/2012

There are two severed heads in the case in front of me, and one seems to be looking right back, with a dead stare and dropped jaw, through the glass into my eyes. I can see straight into the mouth of this head, previously attached to an Egyptian teenager, right past the tiny, well-aligned teeth. And although this mummy is thousands of years beyond my age, suddenly I feel old, no longer one of the kids gathered near me with their faces pressed against the glass in fascination of dead things.
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Appetites needed

Restaurant week offers 10 days of dining deals

02/15/2012

Chicago boasts more than 7,000 restaurants — enough to dine at a different spot every night for 20 years. As if that’s not enough to get you out of the house, Chicago Restaurant Week starts this Friday.
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(Almost) dying for a drink

Local comic grabs life in new solo show

02/08/2012

Sean Flannery is indestructible. The Chicago comedian has plummeted from the top of a three story building, rocketed his car off of a highway overpass during a snowstorm, knocked himself unconscious with a live battery during a job interview and beaten cancer. Pushing the envelope even further, he navigated some of his travails while sauced on cheap beer.
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