Review: Spike Lee’s ‘Da Sweet Blood of Jesus’
By Antoinette Isama Spike Lee takes a stab at horror film with his first Kickstarter funded film, “Da Sweet Blood of Jesus,” which opened this week. A remake of Bill Gunn’s 1973 independent film “Ganja and Hess,” Lee offers an uncanny analysis of religion, art and sexuality through a story of vampirism and uncontrollable addiction […]
Controversy over Lucas Museum continues
by Constantina Kokenes Plans to build the large Lucas Museum of Narrative Art on Chicago’s lakefront near McCormick Place have been controversial since filmmaker George Lucas decided to place his museum in Chicago last June. Though lawsuits have been filed, the museum was not a major issue in this month’s aldermanic campaigns. Candidates for alderman […]
VIDEO: Emanuel meets voters day after election runoff decision
By Adam Banicki Mayor Rahm Emanuel wasted no time getting back out to meet voters on the streets. Tuesday night Emanuel conceded to a runoff with Jesus “Chuy” Garcia for the mayorship of Chicago. It is the first mayoral runoff in Chicago’s history. The two candidates have until April 7th to convince voters they should […]
First Laughs, Second Time Around
By Jessica Gable When Greg Luick submitted his one-act play, Work in Progress, to Piccolo Theatre’s First Laugh One-Act Festival last February, he wasn’t expecting to win. In fact, he hadn’t even expected to finish the play. “It was originally a revue sketch that didn’t really seem to have an ending,” Luick said. “I wrote […]
Health professionals: more alcohol deaths than CDC report suggests
By Dani Anguiano Several health care professionals have said that a recently released CDC report, which revealed that on average, six people die from alcohol poisoning each day in the United States, while jarring – doesn’t show the full societal cost of excessive drinking. According to the CDC report released earlier this year, researchers found […]
Second City’s Evil Stepchildren
By Jessica T. Gable Michael Pieper approaches the craft of acting from very serious, ancient traditions. For him, the craft is rooted in Native American shamanism and his method of accessing a character is anchored by a very strong sense of spirituality. But he applies those traditions as a teacher at the premiere comedy institution […]
VIDEO: Dancing helps students balance school and social life
By Megan Kramer From AP classes to college applications and part-time jobs to volunteering, four student captains of Auroris Dance Company at Niles North High School are juggling busy schedules as they near graduation. While dance is yet another activity to fit into their schedules, the captains are finding that this shared passion is actually helping them […]
VIDEO: Consumers break traditional gender roles
By Andrew Fowler As more conversations about gender equality and gender roles take place in the U.S., consumers are changing the way they shop. No longer are shoppers only buying what has traditionally been meant for one specific gender. Retailers are now adjusting to potentially different and wider customer bases. According to Mintel, American consumers […]
From Chinatown to Bloomingdale’s: Chicago celebrates Chinese New Year
By Kate Morrissey Despite the snow that rattled rush-hour drivers Wednesday evening, the Phoenix Restaurant hosted a who’s who of Chinatown’s business and political leaders for one of the many celebrations of Chinese New Year happening across Chicago. Chinese New Year, more accurately referred to as Lunar New Year, began Thursday, and, according to Raymond […]
Education funding formula gets second look
By Phoebe Tollefson The 2015 reincarnation of a contentious bill that came out last spring, which would shift money away from wealthier school districts and move it into poorer ones, has entered the Springfield pipeline, but opposition and confusion about financial impact means the next steps will be slow. Senate Bill 1 amends the state […]