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Review: In Wells and Welles, Lucid Theater Portrays the Day in 1940 When the Two Prodigies Meet
Being considered a “boy genius” probably heightened Orson Welles’ substantial ego. In October 1940, his chutzpah enabled him to knock on the hotel room door of a man long recognized as a genius: H.G. Wells, the creator of science fiction, a futurist and social critic, and the author of 50 novels and many nonfiction works. Wells, 75, wrote utopian works and foresaw the development of 20th century inventions such as aircraft, space travel, nuclear weapons, satellite TV and even something like the world wide web. And indeed, Welles, 25 years old, was already known for his work as an actor, director and radio host. He came to be known as a genius and recognized as one of the most influential filmmakers of all time.
Pitchfork Music Festival 2024: Day Two in Review
Day Two at Pitchfork Music Festival went off with put a hitch. Not a raindrop in sight and the occasionally clouds blocking the sometimes too hot sun were perks on top of all the amazing bands that performed across al three stages. Saturday this year was for made for dancing and the back to back to back lineup of Jessie Ware, Carly Rae Jepsen and Jamie XX dominated the Green and Red Stages.
Review: RIP World Premiere in Milwaukee Takes Gallows Humor to Extreme
If you agree that the only certainties in life are death and taxes, you could say that the world premiere of RIP—A Musical Comedy of Life & Death is certainly funnier than calculating your annual income taxes. But not by much. The new musical opened July 17 in a small thrust-theater space in Milwaukee’s Third Ward, located just south of downtown.
Pitchfork Music Festival 2024: Day One in Review
Pitchfork Music Festival is back for another year of excellent sounds and vibes at Union Park. Clear skies and actually enjoyable temps reigned supreme on the first day of the festival and looks like that will be the case the whole weekend. Which is a welcome surprise as rain is typically on the forecast for this fantastic festival.
On the Road: Letter from New York—Culture Hopping in the City of Islands
New York is a city of islands or near-islands. In all, there are more than three dozen of them, inhabited and uninhabited. Some are historic (Liberty Island, Ellis Island). You can take the tram to one of them, Roosevelt Island (it’s a fast four-minute journey over the East River and highly recommended). Roosevelt has its share of historic sites, including the neo-gothic ruin of a former smallpox hospital. Staten Island is the most suburban of the five boroughs. Since Queens and Brooklyn are both on the western end of Long Island, only the Bronx is actually attached to the American mainland.
Review: Grant Park Orchestra Gives an Inspired Performance of Ravel, Rachmaninoff, and Hindemith
Under another beautiful evening and sunset, the Grant Park Orchestra continued its excellent season at Jay Pritzker Pavilion on Wednesday evening. Conductor Eric Jacobsen called the program “inspired” because the composers Maurice Ravel, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Paul Hindemith based their works on the inspiration of other composers. Headlining...
The Best Films of 2024…So Far
In a year where it feels like the movies are finally coming back (post-pandemic, post-strike), 2024 is only half over and we've already seen some of the best films of the year. Included here is a list of what's been my favorites, as well as a few I've already seen that are films to look forward to later this year.
Review: Haley Bennett Stars as Widow Cliquot in a Biopic of an Unsung Hero of Everyone’s Favorite Champagne
Though her IMDb filmography dates back to 2007, Haley Bennett first made a name for herself in 2019's psychological thriller Swallow, Carlo Mirabella-Davis' unsettling and striking drama about a woman pulled toward ever-more-destructive behavior. Since then, Bennett has appeared in several higher-profile films that, through no fault of her own, never seemed to catch on with audiences (poor thing is apparently in the doomed Magazine Dreams, which may never see the light of day...). And yet, I find myself drawn to projects she chooses and always eager to see who she can transform into for her latest roles. In Widow Cliquot, she is Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin-Cliquot, widow of François (Tom Sturridge in flashbacks) and heir to the family's now-storied champagne vines and cellars.
Review: A Creature Feature Where Mother Nature is the Monster, Twisters Leans into Nostalgia With a Charismatic Cast
The only real through-line between 1996's summer blockbuster Twister and this week's "stand alone sequel" (whatever that is), cleverly titled Twisters, is that in a dramatic prologue that sets up our main character's redemption journey, we see that she and her team are working with "Dorothy," the bucket of flying sensors that storm trackers sent into the middle of a tornado in Jan de Bont's original adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel.
Who We’re Excited to See at Pitchfork Music Festival 2024!
It's one of our favorite weekends of the year as the prime summer treat that is Pitchfork Music Festival makes its way back to Union Park. This is your chance to check out a nice highlight of local acts, diverse sounds and just a well curated lineup of 42 bands/artist/performers. Now that number may sound daunting, that's why we're here with who we're interested in seeing this Pitchfork Music Festival weekend!
Your Chicago Curated Weekend: 7/18 and Beyond
We just had another July week that started off with an intense storm! Hopefully it wasn't too intense in your area and you're ready for the very busy weekend, There are so many amazing things to do this weekend from concerts at our favorite venues, great movies throughout the city, markets, art exhibitions, and much more just waiting for you! Don't let these fantastic events pass you by; start planning your perfect weekend in Chicago!
Review: Not Just Pretty Flowers—Georgia O’Keeffe: My New Yorks at the Art Institute Through September 22
Some think that painter Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) was a sleepy Southwesterner who primarily depicted labial flora. But the Art Institute’s exhibit chronicles a more complete origin story with the energetic exhibit My New Yorks, a title she gave to her architectural depictions of the city she lived in during the 1920s and beyond.
TCR Mixtape No. 44: Pitchfork Music Festival 2024
The rain and thunder came early this year and it's looking like clear skies (knock on wood) for Pitchfork Music Festival! Once again the Union Park celebration of indie music is back for another year of fantastic artists. This year's lineup has excited with the likes of Black Pumas, Alanis Morissette, and Jamie XX headlining!
Review: Romeo and Juliet Simmers With Young Love and Tragedy in Midsommer Flight’s Theater in the Park
Is there anything as lovely as theater in the park on a warm summer evening? That’s the concept behind Midsommer Flight’s annual summer series of Shakespeare in the park. This summer, they are performing Romeo and Juliet in six city parks on the north and south sides. We spent Friday evening in Lincoln Park to see Romeo and Juliet, skillfully directed by Beth Wolf. Ebby Offord and Faiz Siddique play the lovers, who meet cute, fall in love at first sight, and decide to marry immediately to avoid the animosity of their warring families, the Capulets and the Montagues.
Review: Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus Offers Stephenson, Beethoven, and a Beautiful Requiem by Maurice Duruflé
On yet another lovely evening, the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus gave an equally lovely performance on Friday at Jay Pritzker Pavilion. Leading the orchestra and chorus was Giancarlo Guerrero in a program that started with a world premiere of You Have Reached the City Limit by Chicago composer James Stephenson. It ended with the beautiful Requiem by 20th century French composer Maurice Duruflé.
Review: Theatre L’Acadie’s The Swan Is a Surreal Concoction of Magical Realism and Mythology
Theatre L'Acadie describes The Swan as a psychosexual fever dream. It is that, but there is more simmering beneath the murky surface. Playwright Elizabeth Egloff's play takes place in Nebraska adding another level of weirdness to the mix. Dora Hand is played with a charming quirkiness by Brandi Champagne. Dora is a nurse who has been through three husbands, hates her job and is depressed about life in general.
Review: Sun-Drenched French Family Drama Last Summer is as Sexy as it is Complicated
Writer/director Catherine Breillat returns to cinemas this week with her first film in a decade, and what a return it is. Last Summer is so quintessentially French, so perfectly seductive, both literally and figuratively, that it almost makes such a long wait worth it. An intimate, surprisingly fierce family drama about an older woman who has an affair with her stepson, the film is an adaptation of 2019's Danish film Queen of Hearts. That simple logline might be enough to turn off many a prude American film-goer, but it would be their loss. Starring Léa Drucker as Anne, a successful children's advocate raising two adopted school-age girls with her husband, Pierre (the great Olivier Rabourdin), Last Summer is not an endorsement of the depicted behavior at all; it's also not exactly an indictment, though, and living in that in-between, where we're forced to confront our own taboos and biases, is something Breillat revels in.
Review: Guy Pearce Stars as a Historical Figure Inserted Into Indigenous Affairs in Smart, Beautifully-Rendered The Convert
New Zealand-born director Lee Tamahori has a proven track record for character-driven action films (The Edge, Once Were Warriors)—he even made a Bond movie (Die Another Day). With The Convert, he returns to his homeland to make this 19th-century historical piece about Thomas Munro (Guy Pearce), a British preacher who arrives in the island nation in 1830 only to find himself in the middle of a bloody tribal dispute between two Māori tribes that has been going on for decades. The ruling British government doesn’t necessarily want to see peace between the tribes because war keeps things unstable and makes it easier for them to stay in control.
Review: Documentary Sorry/Not Sorry Recounts Comedian Louis C.K. Scandal, Cancel Culture and Its Repercussions for Perpetrators and Victims
The stories that led to the downfall of beloved and admired comedian Louis C.K. are unique for many reasons. Chief among them is that, when confronted with the allegations, C.K. admitted that the stories of him exposing himself and masturbating in front of multiple women (many of his fellow comics) were true. Some found his admission refreshing in this age of denial, denial, denial, but with the help of a front-page 2017 New York Times investigative piece (co-written by one of the same reporters who broke the Harvey Weinstein case) that gathered allegations from five different women, C.K. lost his successful TV series, comedy specials, and a feature film that he wrote and directed that was days away from being released. But C.K.’s “cancellation” was something of a litmus test in measuring how long a person must face repercussions before they’re allowed back in the spotlight, even if on a smaller stage.
Review: Memories, Missed Connections and What Could Have Been in Touch, a Moving, Emotional Story of Searching
Why anyone would release an awards-worthy drama like writer/director Baltasar Kormákur’s Touch in the heart of the summer is a mystery to me, but don’t let this deeply moving film slip between the cracks of the blockbusters surrounding it. Kormákur is a Icelandic-born filmmaker making mostly English-language, action-based movies (The Beast, 2 Guns, Contraband) for the past decade or more. But Touch feels more personal, even though it’s based on a novel by co-writer Olaf Olafsson. In it, an elderly Icelandic gentleman named Kristofer (Egill Ólafsson) sets out in search of an old acquaintance back in London, where he went to university and ended up working in a Japanese restaurant. His ill-timed search takes place just as the world begins shutting down thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, but his journey also triggers memories of his time as as much younger man some 50 years earlier (young Kristofer is played by Pálmi Kormákur), and a great deal of the film is flashbacks to the early 1970s.
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