Tag: Chicago

Electing a president is like buying a house, we want to know what we’re getting into before taking the plunge — conservative Texas rambler or meterosexual Chicago condo with a view? Is the house going to be practical in 1

[youtube g1EJfkd5tU0 nolink] In this episode, “NewsBusted” covers: The National Deficit, President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Teleprompters, Vice President Joe Biden, New York Post, New Yorkers, Obamanomics, Walter Cronkite, All Star Game, Chicago White Sox, Comiskey Park, Smoking in the military,

What is the difference between art and entertainment? There is, obviously, some overlap: Not all art entertains (though some does); not all entertainment is art (though some is). At bottom, it seems, the difference is one of intent – the

Well, I liked it. That’s no guarantee you will. Years ago, I did stand-up. Learned a lot doing that. One thing you learn is that there’s often a difference between the craft of comedy and what it takes to reliably

I have been driving around the Midwest for the last six days with my son playing golf, watching baseball games, visiting old friends and doing a few shows. There are a lot of benefits to this well-timed vacation. The weather

Frankly, I’m beginning to feel a lot like Howard Beale, the character portrayed by Peter Finch in the 1976 release, “Network.” He insisted that people get up right now and go to the window, open it, stick their heads out

Striving for cinematic greatness is always a risky proposition. The risk is that when you fall short there’s no mistaking the swing-and-a-miss. To his credit, this is the position Director Michael Mann loves to put himself in. He always strives,

A while back, I heard Obama bragging about his first few months in the White House. When he claimed he had done as much in that period as any president in history, my initial thought was for the first time

The life story of a Black star in a White world, a man who arguably was the world’s greatest entertainer, will not be coming to a theater near you anytime soon. If ever. During a recent interview on my radio

In March 2008, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright David Mamet, author of “Glengary Glen Ross” and the man many consider America’s greatest living dramatist, wrote an essay for The Village Voice titled “Why I am No Longer A Brain Dead Liberal.”

Not long ago, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Jake Rademacher, the director of the incredible Iraq War documentary, “Brothers at War.” What ensued was one of the more enjoyable evenings I’ve had in a while. Jake is

I am a stand- up comic and I love what I do for a living but I hate traveling to get there. I do between 125 and 150 road dates a year. Fortunately for me I can drive to a

Yes, vampires are still a hot media commodity, but zombies are vying to knock them off the cultural pedestal, with the rise of zombie movies as a cultural force and numerous books about zombies hitting the stores, capped by the

I caught a media screening of the new Russell Crowe flick, State of Play, in Chicago this week. It did not disappoint. The film’s trailers promise a taut, political thriller with a number of dramatic plot twists–and the movie delivers

I’ve just come back from the Orange County Tea Party where Big Hollywood contributors Gary Graham, Orson Bean and I addressed the crowd. It was a breathtaking experience with upwards of 2,000 people in attendance who were, much to the

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote: “I was the spark that lit up Flaming Youth, Colleen Moore was the torch. What little things we are to have caused all that trouble.” In 1923, Colleen Moore’s starring vehicle, Flaming Youth was an international