Patrick McDonald

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Culinary icon Paula Deen, Nov. 16, 2015.

CHICAGO – Chicagoland was cooking last month as former Food Network star and culinary icon Paula Deen was at the Old Orchard Barnes & Noble in Skokie, Ill., to promote her new book, “Paula Deen Cuts the Fat: 250 Recipes Lightened Up.“ The queen of southern-style cooking has reworked her popular recipes with ingredients with less calories.

CHICAGO – The meaning of our lives is elusive, and the time we spend here too short. The Spanish foreign language film “Flowers” seeks to define the meaning, through three women trying to memorialize one man. “Flowers” opens at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre on Dec. 18th, 2015.

CHICAGO – “Mad Max: Fury Road,” the hyper-driven artistic achievement by director George Miller, was designated Best Picture of 2015 by the Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA), at a ceremony on December 16th. George Miller was also honored as Best Director, and “Mad Max” received five total honors.

CHICAGO – An extraordinary filmed recently screened in Chicago, but not for the reasons that are expected. The Japanese film “Poison Berry in My Brain” was directed by Yuichi Satoh, and starred popular native actress Yoko Maki. What was extraordinary about the film is that the plot parallels the well-received animated movie, “Inside Out,” except “Poison Berry” is live action, and the character representations of the brain controllers are manipulating a frustrated woman, not a little girl. Funny they were both conceived around the same time, and were released in the same year.

CHICAGO – The adrenalin-fueled “Mad Max: Fury Road” topped the Chicago Film Critics Association nominations list for 2015, announced on Monday, December 14th. Other notable multi-category nominees included “Carol,” “The Revenant” and “Inside Out.” Jennifer Jason Leigh scored a double nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category for “The Hateful Eight” and “Anomalisa,” and Amy Schumer got a nod for Most Promising Performer with “Trainwreck.”

CHICAGO – When a film tries to be philosophical, it easily can devolve into heavy handedness. But the exception is the latest from writer/director Paolo Sorrentino, the richly presented “Youth.” It treads upon many definitions of the title, and lands upon all of them, because that’s life.

CHICAGO – This is a rare film that will fill you with anger, while making you laugh at the absurdity of 21st Century life. “The Big Short” is an inside look at the mortgage meltdown that began in 2007, that cost eight million jobs and an untold amount of foreclosures, and the men who knew it was coming.

LOS ANGELES – In a crazy land where films like “The Martian” and “The Big Short” can be nominated as a “comedy or musical” means it’s soon time for the 73rd Annual Golden Globes, on January 10th, 2016. The event kicks off awards season with “Spotlight,” “Room” and “Carol” in the drama film category, and “Game of Thrones,” “Transparent” and “Orange is the New Black” among the TV nominees.

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Director Spike Lee of ‘Chi-raq.’

CHICAGO – The Red Carpet in Chicago was rolled out in maximum fashion for the November 22nd, 2015, premiere of director Spike Lee’s new film, “Chi-raq.” Despite its controversial title, the city has embraced the film’s metaphoric plea for sanity, and the premiere took place at the historic Chicago Theatre on State Street. Stars of the film, including Nick Cannon, Teyonah Parris, John Cusack, Jennifer Hudson, Wesley Snipes and director Spike Lee were all in attendance, and HollywoodChicago.com photographer Joe Arce got Exclusive Portraits of them all.

CHICAGO – Carole King, from modest roots and beginnings, went on to become the most successful female songwriter of the last forty years of the 20th Century. So this “natural woman” was perfect for a musical overview of her life and great songs, in “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.”