The tone of this whimsical Polish show is about as far from its gruesomely clinical title as it can get. Kuba Pierzchalski and Rachel Karafistan of Cosmino Teatr enact the dynamics of male-female relationships in a wordless 45-minute performance piece that begins with the woman alone in a double bed and ends with the man […]
Tag: Vol. 34 No. 15
Issue of Jan. 6 – 12, 2005
Posted inNews & Politics
The Bears Are the Bulls of Football
A new coach, an unfulfilled promise, and the record to prove it.
Posted inNews & Politics
Our Lists, Ourselves
The ubiquity of Sideways on year-end lists says more about critics than about the movie–and so does the backlash against it.
Posted inArts & Culture
Straight-Jacket
Rock Hudson’s sham marriage inspired this diverting comedy set in the 1950s, when Hollywood was being terrorized by politicos in search of perverts, pinkos, and potheads. Secretly gay matinee idol Guy Stone (Matt Letscher) takes the advice of his butch manager (Veronica Cartwright) and weds his producer’s starstruck secretary (Carrie Preston), but his heart lies […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Besides Sideways
This critics’ darling has its virtues, but there were at least 50 better films released in 2004.
Posted inArts & Culture
Sunday Double Header
A dirty puppet is one of the many funny–if not quite original–touches in B.R.A.T. Productions’ sketch-comedy show, Poppy Seed Lane. There are also gay Republicans, a George W. Bush impersonator, an embarrassing secret that’s revealed on an airplane trip, and some hilarious carols, each explaining why the racist singers are looking forward to a white […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Please Stop Writing About Liz
In regard to the recent string of Liz Armstrong letters [November 26, December 24], WHO GIVES A FUCK??? Find something better to write about instead of paragraphs of big words and needless praise. She already has a big enough head. Ted Brogan Chicago
Posted inNews & Politics
Please Stop, Liz
Dear Liz Armstrong, Stop. Your anecdotes are not interesting. Stop. Your stories are not poignant. Stop. The Reader does not need a weekend-party wrap-up. I’ve been reading your “Chicago Antisocial” column for about two months now, and I’m still not sure why it exists. The only thing less fun than reading about a party is […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Virgin
A wild high school senior (Elisabeth Moss of The West Wing) passes out drunk at a school dance, gets raped by a classmate, and decides that her ensuing pregnancy is the result of an immaculate conception, infuriating her parents and their conservative Baptist community. Shot on digital video, this 2003 debut feature by Deborah Kampmeier […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Attention Paid
My reaction to this piece [“Tales From the Vault,” December 10] is, as usual, mixed. Delight–at reading Rosenbaum, a favorite writer on film, as he ventures into horror territory. Puzzlement–that when he talks of the film’s writers he omits George Baxt, the third of the trio adapting Fritz Leiber’s novel Conjure, Wife. Baxt, like associates […]
Posted inNews & Politics
The City That Sometimes Actually Works; Correction
The Park District makes good on its promise to replace the weight room it closed at Union Park.
Posted inNews & Politics
The Moody Reds
Sirs: In his recent letter [December 17] David Prindable was absolutely correct in pointing up that the 49th precinct of Chicago’s 42nd Ward was heavily Republican because of the presence of Moody Bible Institute. As a resident of the adjacent 17th precinct, I well recall the swarms of naive Bible students passing out “Pro-Life” literature […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Made out of Babies
Metal bands all want to have the heaviest riffs, the heaviest drumming, and the heaviest amps, but lots of these guys seem to have forgotten about the power of a great vocalist, opting instead for the usual Cookie Monster gargling and cat-scratch screeching. Brooklyn’s Made out of Babies has a secret weapon in the metal […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Nathaniel Mayer
Detroit soul singer Nathaniel Mayer hit the Top 40 at age 18 with his 1962 single “Village of Love,” but his career languished soon after; Fortune Records, the would-be Motown that signed him, failed to capitalize on his early success, and he began a struggle with substance abuse. Aside from the occasional oldies show in […]