Posted inNews & Politics

Field & Street

Our globally warmed climate seems to be giving us winter in short bursts. Between the blizzards we have the sort of weather usually associated with late fall or early spring. This alteration of the seasons seems to be changing some well-established ecological patterns. Reports come in of short-eared owls apparently still flying south in January. […]

Posted inFilm

The Cry of Jazz

The Cry of Jazz Ed Bland’s 35-minute essay, made in Chicago in 1959, argues that jazz is an essential expression of the African-American spirit. That idea may seem like a truism now, but this remains a fascinating and unique sociological document, not to mention one of the strangest films I’ve ever seen. It’s intensely serious […]

Posted inArts & Culture

Sheets

SHEETS, Bailiwick Repertory. David Gaard and M. Sanford Kaplan’s 45-minute “performance drama” is the type of incomprehensible, artsy twaddle that gives performance art a bad name. Sheets–which details the mounting tension during a world-renowned photographer’s final shoot–waffles incessantly between naturalistic confessional monologues and abrupt “dialogues” of non sequiturs. Furthermore, the script’s commentary seems hopelessly facile; […]

Posted inFilm

Park Row

Park Row This neglected feature is one of Samuel Fuller’s most energetic–his own personal favorite, in part because he financed it out of his own pocket and lost every penny (1952). It’s a giddy look at New York journalism in the 1880s that crams together a good many of Fuller’s favorite newspaper stories, legends, and […]

Posted inArts & Culture

Jesse and The Bandit Queen

JESSE AND THE BANDIT QUEEN, Azusa Productions. Outlaws Jesse James and Belle Starr (originally Myra Belle Shirley), born one year apart in the mid-19th century, were both Wild West legends before they were 30. But playwright David Freeman is less concerned with their infamous adventures than he is with demystifying their legends. His James is […]

Posted inArts & Culture

Jose Soto

JOSE SOTO It may be lucky for Jose Soto that the Gypsy Kings’ half-baked version of flamenco is the one most familiar to Americans–it’ll be that much easier for him to blow us away when he makes his U.S. debut this week. The singer and guitarist helped launch a new flamenco movement in his native […]

Posted inNews & Politics

Petty Crime

December 23, 1 PM, 2700 block of North Pine Grove. Theft. Woman was walking home from bank. Two men jumped her and took her purse, which contained $650. Woman got call later that day from man, who asked for $200 to return her purse. She offered $100. Man said that wasn’t enough but arranged meeting […]

Posted inMusic

Stolen Thunder

Creation Making Time Biff Bang Pow! (Retroactive) Pretty Things S.F. Sorrow (Snapper Music) By J.R. Jones Rock historian Pete Frame created a cottage industry for himself in the early 80s by drawing fanatically detailed rock ‘n’ roll “family trees,” most of which were collected into a book in 1993. Printed in his neat little hand, […]

Posted inNews & Politics

Just Their Luck

When juries rule the way we would have, they’re wise. When they don’t, they’re crazy. Last week one Chicago jury declared 15th Ward alderman Virgil Jones guilty of accepting $7,000 in bribes from a government mole, finding it unlikely that Jones would accept thousands of dollars in legitimate campaign contributions inside a rolled-up newspaper. Another […]

Posted inColumns & Opinion

Savage Love

Hey, Faggot: I feel dirty. Not dirt that can be wiped away with a wet nap, but two-cans-of-Ajax kind of dirty. Alas, no matter how hard I scrub, I can’t get the memory of this man off of me. The urge to grab an S.O.S. pad and scrub my nether regions is almost irresistible. Long […]

Posted inMusic

Phil Woods Quintet

PHIL WOODS QUINTET Alto saxist Phil Woods is as remarkable for the longevity of his band as for the breadth of his talent: since the quintet’s formation in 1973, bassist Steve Gilmore and drummer Bill Goodwin have never left, and only three brass players and four pianists have passed through its rarely revolving door. Blistering […]