Steven Pate

Image Credit: Curtis Locke Today marks the 79th anniversary of a moment that forever changed the history of Chicago and one of the very great "What If" stories of American history. At 9:15 p.m. on Feb. 15, 1933, in Miami's Bayfront Park, an assassin's bullet intended for then president-elect... continue reading on Chicagoist

Image Credit: Marshall Rosenthal The new year was still very new when it happened to us for the first time. A film ended, the credits started to roll, and some members of the audience started clapping. Many of us non-clappers chuckled in a way meant to convey, audibly, derisive... continue reading on Chicagoist

Yes, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and supposedly sentenced us to six more weeks of winter. We say, so what? It's not just that the next six weeks of winter might feel like the first, given how mild it has been. It's that our own rodent prognosticator, Woodstock Willie,... continue reading on Chicagoist

Receiving two Academy Awards nominations last week seems to have put some wind in the sails of arguably one of the best films of the past year, Asghar Farhadi's A Separation. The nod for Best Foreign Picture (for which it ought to be heavily favored) was long anticipated. Farhadi's... continue reading on Chicagoist

A "snub" is what we call an opportunity to use the cognoscente's shortcomings to validate our own good taste. Be it an all-star team oversight, a literary short-list travesty or an awards show bungle, who doesn't appoint themselves expert enough to decry just how wrong the "so-called" experts are,... continue reading on Chicagoist