The omnipresent Chicago-born international phenomenon August: Osage County will travel to Sydney, Australia next year for a one month engagement at Australia's Sydney Theatre Company. The same design team from the Steppenwolf and Broadway production will go down under with the show. Fun fact: Cate Blanchett and her husband, Andrew Upton, are the artistic directors for the company. more ›

If you're like us, you're already getting pumped up for the Oscars! Not. Jeez, let's get past New Year's first, O.K.? Oops. Too late. The Chicago Film Critics Association has already jumped the gun and handed out their awards. To the surprise of no one the big winner was No Country for Old Men, the new Coen brothers movie that both impressed and disturbed us when we saw it last month. It won four awards in all (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor for Javier Bardem). We're very pleased that Bardem won; there wouldn't be much of a movie without his chilling character study, and he damned well better win the Oscar. more ›

Women haven't exactly taken over Capitol Hill, but there are now more women in Congress than ever. And at the risk of stating the obvious, Hillary is basically the first-ever serious contender for the White House. But things in the film industry couldn't be more different. more ›

Standing on the bus this morning, we glanced at another rider’s Red Eye, where a Golden Globes article was visible. The images featured Borat and Chicago native Jennifer Hudson, with a headline to something of the effect of “surprise nominations.” While the movie about a crass Kazakh is a bit perplexing, Hudson’s nod is anything but a surprise. While we are waiting like everyone else to see the much-lauded film version of the hit 1981... more ›

We've finally had a chance to sift through all the films in the preview of the Chicago International Film Festival, and it's got us drooling with film-geek joy. Each October we get a chance to sit in the dark and nurture our anti-social tendencies ... that is, until the lights come up and we begin to argue amongst ourselves about what we've just seen. Yes, it's two weeks of wall-to-wall film. So how to decide... more ›

The Pre-Show Ah, what to say. Everyone looks so...puffy. We're watching WGN because...well, we can't find the remote honestly. 6:10 PM - Do you even have the right to complain about cheesy presenters if you're watching an Oscar pre-show? Isn't that like visting a dominatrix and complaining about the pain? Still, we have a deep burning hatred of Sam Rubin. 6:17 PM - Hilary Swank going against the grain with no cleavage display. Wearing drapes... more ›