Lollapalooza reaches out to families

Not just for big kids anymore

08/04/2010

The circus is back in town this weekend, folks! One of the country’s premiere, long-running musical circuses, that is. For the sixth year in a row, Lollapalooza will pitch tents in Chicago, bringing more than 100 acts of all shapes, sizes and sounds to Grant Park over the course of three days.
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Black Harvest Film Fest showcases films and docs made in Chicago

Homegrown talent

07/28/2010

Film
The 16th annual Black Harvest International Festival for Film and Video kicks off on Aug. 6. at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State. And the opening night is shaping up to be a star-studded affair.
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Classic movie-to-play offers waves, blood and laughter

Surf's up, Johnny

07/21/2010

Theater
"Point Break Live" comes to Chicago with a built-in buzz, having bowled over audiences in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. It's easy to see why. Far from a traditional stage-play, "Point Break Live" morphs the film into a completely immersive experience, with the action taking place all around, above and often on the audience.
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Forager seeks edible items in Chicago's nooks and crannies

Wild food

07/14/2010

Food Culture
Last September, Dave Odd was on a hike when he stumbled across a patch of wild mushrooms. Less than a year later, Odd now sells foraged foods to more than 20 of the city’s top restaurants. The 33-year-old, a comedian by night, usually spends three to four days a week hunting for produce. He talked on the trail during one recent harvest about where to look for wild food and how to stay safe when eating the food you find.
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The changes to come

Traveling exhibit 'Climate Change' at Field Museum informs, but lacks urgency

07/07/2010

Exhibit
The smallest things matter when thinking through the causes and implications of climate change. That’s made clear from the beginning of a traveling exhibit about one of the globe’s most pressing challenges. The exhibit debuted last month at the Field Museum.
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Smiling through the madness

06/30/2010

A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. It’s a tired cliché, but it holds truth. The harshest realities can become more palatable and understandable when captured and contextualized with lighter airs. Humor, comedy, satire and irony can illuminate and add power to situations in ways that sober documentation cannot.
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From the under ground

At Chicago Underground Film Festival, weird, wild movies

06/23/2010

A celebration of under-the-radar cinema kicks off on Thursday, June 24 when the Chicago Underground Film Festival returns to the Gene Siskel Film Center. Now in its 17th year, CUFF showcases experimental, avant-garde, independent and underground cinema.
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Where the dead mail goes

Despite ripe context and brilliant set, new play doesn’t know what it wants to be

06/16/2010

Theater
How do you reach anyone down here?” asks a character in Philip Dawkins’ slapdash new play, holding up her cell phone and railing against the painful metaphor of a bad mobile connection.
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Our lit picks

Who we like at this year's festival

06/09/2010

Book fair
Every year in the Chicago Journal offices since time immemorial (or at least since the summer of 2001), staffers have gathered to scrutinize the Printers Row Book Fair listings - sorry, it's Printers Row Lit Fest now - and marked a few of the writers and readers that we think deserve extra attention.
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Sound and fury on the lakefront

5 acts you won't want to miss this summer

06/02/2010

Chicago is second to none when it comes to the quality and quantity of its summer music festivals. A weekend doesn’t pass without a street or park being rocked supreme. Our five favorites for this summer make us sweat just thinking about them.
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