Once upon a time there was the perfect couple: Brad and Jen. Then along came a woman, Angie, who broke them up. The End. more ›

Do you think Oprah ever feels “in the middle” of celebrity breakups? On Monday she welcomed Nicole Kidman, ex-wife of famous couch-jumper Tom Cruise, to chat about life with hubby Keith Urban and baby Sunday Rose, and her new movie Australia coming out later this month. Well, if Oprah had and twinges of uneasiness they didn’t show. Oprah’s cup runneth over with enthusiasm for the Nicole Kidman/Hugh Jackman/Baz Luhrman flick, gushing all over the specially-decorated Australia-esque set and calling it the best movie she’s seen in a long time. Nicole seemed well, if not a little stiff, but that may just be the (alleged) Botox. But when Oprah brought out Hugh Jackman, all estrogen-fueled hell broke loose. The ladies giggled and squealed over his shirtless scenes in the movie clips, and as if his rippling abs weren’t enough, Hugh brought the audience cookies. Cookies! Tim Tams from Down Under, which both he and Nicole agreed were the best their country has to offer. (Note to Tim Tams: load up the ship and haul some more boxes over to the States. Oprah likes them. We will now buy them.) more ›

Yes, our Thursday night sitcom dreams might come true. Oprah is in final talks to guest star on NBC's this fall. Rumor has it that she is slated to appear as herself in the season's second episode to air November 6. Further speculation notes that she will be playing all her scenes opposite Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) and it that her story would also play into a feud between Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) and Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski). After Tracy Jordan hosted the Source Awards as Oprah, and Liz Lemon declared Oprah to be her religious adviser (above), we hoped it was only a matter of time before Ms. Winfrey herself made an appearance. more ›

Some years before making a cameo appearance in The Break-Up, the Fireside was the kind of place that Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston wouldn't have been caught dead in. Or actually, maybe they would have. Ultra-late hours and ultra-loud bands were the two prime ingredients in Brian Peterson's makeover of the vintage bowling alley. If you were under thirty, with lots of time on your hands but little money in your pockets, the Fireside was the ne plus ultra of Chicago nighttime adventure. more ›

Rhett Miller is as poppy a dude as you'll find, but he's mastered the art of knowing when to hold back and when to let the whole symphony out to play. As leader of the seminal-turned-name-checkable insurgent Americana band the Old 97's, Miller culled a rep for giant, hooky melodies and had one of the sharpest tongues on the independent rock scene. As a solo artist, he's replaced much of the whiskey and vinegar of the 97's with melodic flourishes of strings and piano on 2002's The Instigator and 2006's The Believer. With the 97's touring again, perhaps on the strength of a kinda bizarre cameo (filmed at the Riv) in a certain Chicago-set Jennifer Aniston movie, now is the time to catch Miller alone and in an intimate setting where the real sweetness of his songs can shine through the snarkiness of his lyrics. more ›

Today, New Line announced the cast for the upcoming film adaptation of The Time Traveler's Wife. Genetically gifted/cursed, Henry DeTamble, will be played by Eric Bana (Incredible Hulk, Troy) and his wife, Clare Abshire, will be Rachel McAdams (The Notebook, Wedding Crashers). The rights to the book were purchased by Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston's Plan B production company back in 2003. At the time the studio was in discussions with Gus Van Sant to... more ›

Have you seen The Break Up yet? Yes? Then you know that in the movie Jennifer Aniston's character works in an art gallery and that the condo she share's with Vince Vaughn is tastefully decorated with all kinds of art. That art was all done by Francine Turk, a Chicago artist who has a gallery on the Near South Side. more ›

The orgy of attention that the local media has paid to the Vince Vaughn/Jennifer Aniston film The Break-Up comes to a screaming climax this week with yesterday’s premiere at the Music Box and this weekend’s release of the film nationwide. As Governor Hairdo used the premiere to trumpet the new 20 percent tax credit on film and television productions in Illinois, we wondered what’s next for Chicago’s film industry now that our famous friends are... more ›

Jennifer Aniston is moving to Chicago, which drops the Cusacks even further down the hip Chicago celebs list. (Who’s even on the list these days? Does Jeremy Piven even rate still? Jeff Garlin has a permanent spot, though.) But it’s true. She’s coming to the Midwest to shack up with hometown fave Vince Vaughn, in a move that, given the feelings of certain elements here at Chicagoist, could lead to a drunken confrontation some night... more ›

The Tribune’s Mark Caro is a lucky guy. No sooner does his Pop Machine blog debut than he’s off to Park City, Utah to cover the Sundance Film Festival. Wait…you don’t suppose they planned it that way, do you? In any case, we’ve been getting a kick out of Caro’s warts-and-all coverage, especially his realization last week that people might, you know, read his blog. Unfortunately, this didn’t occur to Caro until after he took... more ›

So ya'll remember last summer there was this television actress in town who was getting more press for her high-profile divorce than her bad movies, right? She's got this gravity-defying rack, popularized a hairstyle ten years ago that women in some parts of the city still cling to like an amaretto sour at last call, and was filming one of those movies when rumors started floating around that she was seen around the city engaged in PDA's- that's "public displays of affection" for the anagram-challenged- with Erin's unrequited crush. All we can remember is that post, which is admissable in court as evidence should Vince want to take out a restraining order. Humor us. What's her name? more ›

Everyone knows how important it is to have a mentor. Even the most savvy and successful individuals needed a leg up at some point. This week we learned that even the mighty Queen of Everything once got some help from a guy in the balcony. Last Monday, Oprah Winfrey told her audience that none other than Roger Ebert convinced her to take her show into the lucrative world of syndication. This occurred while the two... more ›

While the CTA’s budget woes are well-known, the cries of poverty that occasionally emanate from its suburban counterpart often go unheard by those in the city limits. So Metra has to find creative ways to make ends meet like picking up some acting work. Various Metra trains and stations appear in the Jennifer Aniston/Clive Owen film Derailed, which comes out this weekend. more ›

We know this makes us sounds like those guys who hang out in doorways wearing hats made out of tinfoil but Jennifer Aniston has been stalking us through the media. more ›

While Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston are what constitute big “movie news” in the major papers, there are two independent film productions that have captured Chicagoist’s notice. more ›

New American cuisine served within the lush, feminine confines of what was once Green Room, Butter offers the West Loop a casual yet sophisticated dining experience. Walking into Butter, Chicagoist got the sense that it looks to accomplish two things: 1) appeal to the hipsters while maintaining a dignity that best befits a chef who cut his teeth at The French Laundry and Le Francais; and 2) be a place to be seen but not... more ›

As the city’s nighttime streets lend an air of authenticity to this weekend’s number one movie and Vince Vaughn's new flick shuts down a portion of Michigan Avenue for most of the day, the Sun-Times reminds us why The Blues Brothers is responsible for bringing moviemaking back to the city of Chicago. As we watched Batman Begins this weekend, we noticed three things: 1) It is possible for Chicago’s mass transit system to get worse... more ›

Four major film productions are lensing in Chicago this summer, including The Break-Up with Jennifer Aniston and Lake Forest’s own Vince Vaughn. With six more projects set to begin production in Illinois this year, you’d think that the folks in the Illinois and Chicago film offices could sit back and congratulate themselves on a job well done. Yet other state film offices are on the chopping block due to budget shortfalls. Also, the tax credits... more ›

Having finished their work at UIC last week, the makers of the film Stranger Than Fiction move downtown to Daley Plaza this June and are looking for some authentic city background. This means you. If you’re looking to gaze longingly at Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Dustin Hoffman (from a respectable, non stalker-y distance and God help you if you ask for an autograph!), then why not become an extra in the film? Alert reader... more ›

If you read Chicagoist with any regularity � in which case, we love you � you know that we're always reporting about Hollywood coming to Chi-town (or just pretending to come here). Most prominently, we've bitched about Josh Hartnett posing as a Bucktown hipster and fawned over the caped crusader chilling on Lower Wacker. (We always knew Wacker Drive felt like another world and now we know it is: Gotham City.) This week's New... more ›