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Felony charges dropped against woman in 'Twilight' taping case
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Laid-Off Movie Critics, the New 'In' Focus Group
"A new venture pays out-of-work film critics $100 to weigh in on arthouse films" thewrap.com -
Gummy Awards : 2009 Winners
"The Gummy Awards are Stereogum and Videogum's annual readers' poll celebrating the best music, TV, movies, and Web videos of the past 12 months." stereogum.com
Movie Review
J.R. Jones
What's Wrong With Up in the Air
Only in a year of mediocre movies would this patronizing Clooney vehicle be Oscar material.
Chicagoland / Onstage / Food Chain / Film / Music / Food & Drink / Performing Arts Dinner and a Show: Sunday 12/13
Posted by Whet Moser on Sun, Dec 13, 2009 at 12:38 PM
Music
Show: Unsilent Night Every holiday season since 1992, New York composer Phil Kline has been presenting his piece Unsilent Night in outdoor performances by and for the public, who literally carry the music as they stroll through city streets. Though a CD of the piece released by Cantaloupe in 2001 hints at its mesmerizing beauty, this is one work that needs to be experienced in the flesh. Its eight movements consist of layers of ethereal drones, bell-like electronic peals and chimes, and wordless vocals that intone drifting, hypnotic melodies, but the music gets its juice from the way live performances turn those layers into moving parts.
5pm, Historic Chicago Water Tower, 800 N. Michigan.
Dinner: Cibo Matto "What’s more, for every marquee item that delivered, I probably enjoyed two unheralded but quietly excellent dishes, beginning with a bowl of peppery bucatini carbonara with cured tomatoes, chiles, and a brilliant orb of duck yolk mixed in at the table--one of the greatest riffs on the classic I’ve ever had," writes Mike Sula.
201 N. State, 312-239-9500
Show: Jason Adasiewicz's Rolldown "Jason Adasiewicz's affable demeanor and outsize, loose-limbed vigor have long made the vibraphonist one of the more entertaining onstage presences in Chicago's creative-jazz community, but what's really established him as an MVP are his subtlety, harmonic facility, and textural imagination," writes Bill Meyer.
10 PM, Hungry Brain, 2319 W. Belmont, 773-935-2118, donation requested.
Dinner: 90 Miles Cuban Cafe It’s impressive that such a tiny spot—it’s counter seating only—can turn out such an array so well, including full dinner plates and specials such as rice and black bean congris, sides like fried yuca, sweet or green plantains, and papas rellenas, and omelets, plus tropical fruit shakes and de rigueur Cuban coffee.
3101 N. Clybourn, 773-248-2822
Chicagoland / Onstage / Film / Music Dinner and a Show: Saturday 12/12
Posted by Whet Moser on Sat, Dec 12, 2009 at 1:28 PM
Music
Show: "White Car were perfectly menacing, complete with a creepy, shirtless singer in a cowboy hat and a Trenchcoat Mafia longhair on keys—they're the best new local band I've seen all year," writes Jessica Hopper. Mahjongg headlines.
9 PM, Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, 773-227-4433 or 866-468-3401, $10.
Dinner: Jane's Raters feel at home in the rustic room and find the reasonably priced Cal-American fare innovative, eclectic, and especially friendly to vegetarians.
1653-55 W. Cortland, (773) 862-5263
Movies
Show: Birth of Magellan Part of a year-long, citywide series on filmmaker Hollis Frampton—which concludes with a symposium in February 2010—this program collects five parts of the filmmaker’s monumental unfinished "Magellan" cycle.
8pm, Chicago Filmmakers, 5243 N. Clark, 773-293-1447
Dinner: Huaraches Doña Chio couldn't be more modest: maybe four or five tables, no decor to speak of, TV on the counter usually tuned to Univision. But it's one of very few Mexican restaurants in Chicago serving huaraches, gorditas, and sopes handmade from fresh masa.
1547 W. Elmdale, 773-878-8470
Film This Week's Movie Action
Posted by J.R. Jones on Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 5:44 PM
- Me and Orson Welles
In this week's issue: my long review of Up in the Air, plus Critic's Choice boxes for the Hollis Frampton program Birth of Magellan, the eco-nightmare documentary Collapse, and Richard Linklater's latest, Me and Orson Welles.
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