Review: 9 Monkeys of Shaolin Is Brawler Bliss
Brawlers always have a fond place in my heart. I remember spending countless hours with my brother on the couch playing Turtles in Time, Double Dragon, and countless other brawlers. […]
Dispatch: Films to Make Time For (at Home, at the Drive-In) in Chicago International Film Festival’s First Weekend
As the 56th Chicago International Film Festival kicks off, the majority of this year’s film selections are available to stream online for the duration of the event (October 14-25). In […]
Review: A Long-Ago Blaze That Echoes the Pandemic, Chicago’s Great Fire, by Carl Smith
Chicago’s Great Fire: The Destruction and Resurrection of an Iconic American City by Carl Smith Atlantic Monthly Press Devastation is devastation, whether brought about by fire or pandemic. The Great […]
Fall Museum Guide: What’s Open, How to Stay Safe, and How to Enjoy Chicago’s Museums From Home
UPDATE: Due to the sharply rising number of COVID-19 cases in Cook County, the city of Chicago is returning to Tier 3 mitigation beginning Friday, November 20th. Details of what […]
Preview: Take Control of a Space Agency in Mars Horizon and Change History
I love games about space—from combat heavy space sims to games that try to recreate real-life space exploration. Science fiction is great, but when a game manages to be about […]
Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death, A Story of Plague and Dissipation for Our Day
In 1842, Edgar Allan Poe published one of his most famous stories, which turns out to be a parable for 2020. The Masque of the Red Death concerns a prince […]
Preview: Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time Is Gonna Be Great
I played Crash Bandicoot on PlayStation when it originally released, but it’s one of the games of that generation that never clicked. I think I was obsessed with more action-oriented […]
Review: Over the Top Serious Sam 4 Is More of What you Want
I can remember my “git gud” moments in video games pretty clearly. I always think I’m good enough, and then something comes along to challenge that—whether it is insanely good […]
Review: Dreaming Grand Avenue Features a Chicago Dreamscape With a Criss-Crossed Plot and Strong Ensemble
Jimmy (Twilight’s Jackson Rathbone) and Maggie (Narcos’ Andrea Londo) keep meeting. Not in real life, mind you, but in each other’s dreams. They’ll bump into one another in waking life […]
Poem: The Queen of Brooklyn—R.B.G. (1933–2020)
She was the queen of Brooklyn although she wore no gold crown except in the public’s imagination and on t-shirts. Instead her apparel of choice was a white frilly lace […]
The Complete (Chicago) Beer Course: Czech Pilsner
When COVID-19 closed taprooms and cancelled festivals, I looked for ways to still engage with Chicago’s craft beer scene. I therefore decided to finally work my way through The Complete Beer […]
Review: The Joy and Bother of City Streets, The Streets of Europe: The Sights, Sounds, and Smells That Shaped Its Great Cities, by Brian Ladd
The Streets of Europe: The Sights, Sounds, and Smells That Shaped Its Great Cities By Brian Ladd University of Chicago Press, 320 pages, $30 I’m having a difficult time deciding […]