This is part of Chicagoist's continuing coverage of the Chicago International Film Festival. more ›

The Chicago International Film Festival begins on Thursday with The Kite Runner, a movie you'll be hearing a lot more about after the Oscar noms are announced. That's why we won't be seeing it. You see, we've got a strategy, and after many agonizing days we've got our "to-see" list all drawn up. The Kite Runner will be opening far and wide in November anyhow, so we'll wait. To us, the festival is a chance... more ›

We were a little skeptical last night as we headed over to the Metro to see Vega4 and Augustana for an early show since both these bands have garnered their attention from having songs on television shows. Visions of The Fray were all we had to go on — tender songs that are good, but for the most part are innocuous background music. The stuff on our iPod that we don’t fast forward, but we don’t repeat either. more ›

You would be totally forgiven for being so over that whole neu-New Wave/Joy Division/dance-rock trend that has gripped hipsters from coast to coast for the past couple of years. We wouldn’t hold it against you. Like any trend, this one was kicked off by a handful of talented groups that were eclipsed all too soon by a deluge of recent label signings motivated by the need to jump on the bandwagon before the tires blew... more ›