Los Angeles, 1972: Barbi is a bored suburban housewife, frustrated that her blond stud of a husband Rick seems to care more about working at the office than spending time with her. So she reinvents herself as Viva, call girl extraordinaire, and soon finds herself in the middle of some far out adventures, pursued by a nudist hippie, a narcissistic artist, a cynical theatre director and her best friend Sheila's philandering husband. Can she find......

Call us contrarians. One of summer's most delicious pleasures is to be esconced in a cool, darkened theater as we lose ourselves in a movie for a few hours. Or for more than a few hours. The Leopard, screening twice as part of the Siskel's Visconti retrospective, is 185 minutes long, and it's worth every single minute. The experience is especially overwhelming when seen on a big screen. This Italian film from 1963 adapts......

There is arguably no genre of music littered with more forgotten figures than jazz. When it comes to pop and rock, every neglected album is just a Pitchfork blurb away from reappraisal and appreciation. But in the world of jazz, for every undervalued legend like Jimmy Scott whose work is rediscovered, there are dozens still consigned to near invisibility. Such a singer is Jackie Paris. He toured with Charlie Parker, performed with Lionel Hampton......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Theater Tonight is the premiere for Lincoln Square Theatre's production of Ray Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles." Adapted from Bradbury's seminal 1950 novel, the play tells of the tensions between native aboriginal Martians and new colonists fleeing a troubled Earth as an allegory for Old World colonialism. Bradbury was inspired to write his novel equally by Steinbeck's......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Music: If you think we piss piss piss and moan moan moan about Mayor Daley on this site too much, then head to the Empty Bottle this evening. The bands Mayor Daley and piss piss piss moan moan moan - and their abrasive noise rock - open for the experimental noise music of Binges. 1035......

Here are some things to do this evening to consider bringing your voter receipt. Politics: The local chapter of Drinking Liberally is hosting a Super Fat Tuesday party at Sheffield's this evening starting at 7 p.m. Stop in, order a pint or two and watch the results roll in from throughout the country. Seriously, it's politics and alcohol. What could go wrong? Art: Chuck Walker's latest exhibit "Through a Glass Darkly" just opened a run......

The above study in irresponsible parenting, "CARMICHAEL & shane" by Alex Weinress and Rob Carlton, is just one of the finalists to make it into the Chicago Short Film Brigade's Best of 2007 lineup that will be screening tonight at the Gene Siskel Film Center. Thirteen films have been selected from the 52 shorts that were screened in the Short Film Brigade's four 2007 episodes, and one lucky winner will walk away at the......

Thanks in part to huge voter turnout partially driven by bonafide grassroots excitement, Barack Obama cruised to victory in Iowa, and is expected to do well again today in New Hampshire. Yet the Siskel Film Center has quietly cancelled screenings of the new documentary Senator Obama Goes To Africa, which were scheduled for later this month. Why? We just told you why. Marty Rubin, one of the programmers at the Siskel, declined to comment, saying......

We're referring of course to the Golden Globes ceremony, which has been axed because of the writer's strike. It was announced today that Instead of the long-winded, smarmy fashion show we've seen in the past, the Sunday NBC telecast will instead be a bare-bones press conference padded out with lotsa clips (all the better to separate the commercials with, my dear). Says Jorge Camara, president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association: "We are all......

We’re big fans of the Helvetica Typeface here at Chicagoist. It’s everywhere here on our site. But we’re not sure about an 80-minute documentary, Helvetica, celebrating the typeface and it’s proliferation in society. The film is currently being screened at the Gene Siskel Film Center, now through the 20th. 2007 marks the 50th anniversary of the font, and the movie pieces together designers and fans of the font, who explain where the font came from......

Well, we've been hearing about Looptopia for awhile. A big overnight festival held in the Loop, blah blah. We didn't think too much about it. We pretty much dismiss the Loop after 5 p.m. and give it up for lost on the weekends. Looptopia is obviously working hard to change all that. It's going on this Friday through early Saturday morning and since we're going to be down there, we decided to check out the......

Of course we've got to have a margarita or three today, so we are headed to Salud's Cinco de Mayo block party at 1471 N. Milwaukee. Last year we tried to go to Salud and the wait was far too long. This year they've decided to throw an indoor/outdoor party covering an entire block. Tickets are $5 and it runs from 1 p.m. - 2 a.m. It's supposed to be a little rainy so we......

Screening as part of the Sixth Chicago Palestine Film Festival, Leila Khaled, Hijacker is a 58-minute documentary which examines the life of Leila Khaled; as a member of the PFLP she participated in two airplane hijackings in 1969 and 1970. As the first female hijacker, she occupies a disquieting position at the crossroads between feminism and terrorism. She's inspired both revulsion and admiration (songwriter Julian Cope, who composed the song "Like Leila Khaled Said," has......

What a change? We woke up this morning and remembered that occasionally the sky is clear enough that you can see the sun. We have put together some events that are going on around town today so that you can't get out before the wind kicks your ass. As always, feel free to add events in the comments. We heard One Ring Zero on All Songs Considered a few weeks back and were pretty excited......

"... when people ask me today where I live, I am often tempted to say instead of Chicago, I live on the Internet." That quote is from a new interview with Jonathan Rosenbaum that we came across at one of our very favorite film/TV blogs, The House Next Door. There are two giants of film criticism in Chicago, and we're talking of course about Roger Ebert and Jonathan Rosenbaum. Ebert has the TV show and......

No, we aren't referring to the NSA, or to the Cubs' talent scouts. We here at Chicagoist feel that it's never too early to get into the Halloween spirit. And that's why tonight you'll find us at the wonderful Siskel Film Center for the 6:00 screening of the original 1956 classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It's the next feature in the Tuesday night Fall Lecture Series; this semester the theme is Science Fiction Movies.......

This week marks the return of Adventures in Modern Music at the Empty Bottle. Arriving on the heels of the World Music Festival, the five-day event celebrates experimental music like the mash-up dance rock of Brazil’s Tetine, blessed-out head trips of France’s Colleen and Trapist’s space rock. A full lineup is available at the Bottle’s website, but don’t forget to see You’re Gonna Miss Me, a documentary at the Siskel Film Center on the fall......

As we trudge through the last remaining days of summer, things are rather quiet on the silver screen now that the Snakes have slithered out. This is the time when projects that studios have little-to-no confidence in get unceremoniously dropped into theaters. We’ve seen Invincible a million times before, and Idlewild has us intrigued, but worried. Working in separate studios might work for hip-hop double albums, but it’s not the best operating plan for a......

Folks, it’s going to be hot out there this weekend. If you’re out and about, drink water. Take breaks. Wear loose-fitting natural fabrics for God’s sake. You do not want to end up having to check yourself into the hospital, what with some people going out of their way to give “heat exhaustion” a bad name. Much of Chicagoist will be braving the elements out at Union Park this weekend, but the siren call of......

It’s been a sad state of affairs at movie theaters over the past couple of weekends. When the top 5 is filled with Scary Movie 4, Benchwarmers and Take The Lead, you know something is horribly wrong. But this weekend, things are looking up. Chicagoist is excited about American Dreamz and The Sentinel (co-starring our man-crush Kiefer Sutherland) as well as this weekend’s 22nd Annual Chicago Latino Film Festival. The first Chicago Latino Film Festival......

This weekend’s mainstream cinema offerings are once again slim. Last week offered only the disappointing V For Vendetta while the lone film that sparks our interest this morning is Spike Lee’s Inside Man. (Speaking of Orwellian dystopias, what kind of a world do we live in where Larry The Cable Guy has his own movie? The time for revolution is now, people!) Ergo, we turn to indie movie houses and revivals for some fun in......

Beth Kiely, Om on the Range...

Chicagoist knows there are some adventurous types who expect they’ll get their $10 worth of entertainment by just showing up at the local multiplex, placing their faith in the Hollywood studio system and picking a movie at random. Not us. We like to research our picks ahead of time, often by looking at plot synopses online. Yet it’s still a case of caveat emptor with similarly titled films. Consider the case of the film Lost......

With everyone here at the Chicagoist offices still feeling a bit hungover from the holidays, we’re not quite ready to return to work. The people at Schubas’ are of the same mindset. Tomorrow they’re hosting their Fifth Annual New Year’s Rehab Night with free DVD screenings of Wedding Crashers and The Aristocrats. While we didn’t think Crashers held up as well on a second viewing, The Aristocrats is worth seeing again if only to decide......

The Gene Siskel Film Center picked a helluva time roll out some excellent retrospectives. With the temps so low, all we want to do is roll ourselves up in blankets and watch our Tivo’ed episodes of Law and Order. But The Gene is tempting us to bundle up and head downtown for some great revivals and overlooked films of 2005. First up is "Merry Marilyn," a look at the films of Marilyn Monroe. Now: you......

As has been pointed out elsewhere, Thanksgiving is often a time for families to get together and share some quality time. You just threw up in your mouth a little, didn’t you? Somewhere around Hour Four of your Familial Celebration of Overeating and Passive-Agressive Conversation, you’ll be looking for an out. If two hours of sitting in the dark while no one sharing your DNA says a thing sounds like heaven, then it’s off to......

After an unfortunate incident a couple years ago involving “pumpkin spice” punch and a too-easily-removed Superman costume, Chicagoist tends to avoid big Halloween parties. Instead, we hole up with a list of video horrorflicks the night before (All Hallow’s Eve Eve?). But there are a few cinematic options this week for those looking for a communal, fright night experience. Doc Films at the University of Chicago is eschewing scary for sci-fi this week. Invaders from......

The Chicagoist Arts and Entertainment department has been suffering from a month long movie news drought that officially ends this week. After a cinematic summer of love, we’ve been hurting for something to get really excited over. While a few notable events have come and gone, the big highlights of the last couple of weeks were the University of Chicago’s performance in Proof and former pride of Mother McCauley, Jenny McCarthy in Dirty Love, a......

Been enjoying the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit at the Art Institute? Wishing you could see those can-can girls come to life in vivid Technicolor but have an intense dislike of musicals based on pop songs? Then head over to The Gene Siskel Film Center for a screening of John Huston’s 1952 version of Moulin Rouge starring Jose Ferrer as Toulouse-Lautrec. Unlike the version by Baz Luhrmann that focused on the love story between Nicole Kidman and Ewan......

The 8th Annual European Union Film Festival began this weekend at the Gene Siskel Film Center so expect to see more death, inappropriate sexual relationships, and circus clowns there than usual. Running through March 24th, the fest now reflects the diversity of all EU nations with entries from all 25 countries. We’re all used to films from the UK, France, and even Sweden but how often do you get to see a film from Luxembourg?......