Before a certain sports team and its star player made international headlines, most outsiders associated Chicago with tales of mythic gangland figures like Al Capone or Terrible Johnny Torrio. Chicagoist saw proof of this many years ago on a family vacation to San Francisco when we encountered a street performer dressed as a clown. While making a balloon animal, the clown asked us where we were from. When we said Chicago, he said “Oh? Gangsters,... more ›

Michael Mann’s skill for finding the noir-ish Los Angeles of In A Lonely Place and Chinatown among the fake tits and fake friends of modern-day L.A. remains his calling card. But before hitting the L.A. streets, Mann flexed his muscles on the urban landscape of Chicago with the television show Crime Story and the movie Thief. Hallmarks of Mann’s films can be found in both works: the career criminal pulling one last job; the hunter... more ›