CHICAGO – YIPPIE! It’s back, in the neighborhood of its roots. YippieFest 2023 will be August 4th-6th in the Lakeview/Buena Park venue of PRIDE ARTS, 4139 North Broadway in Chicago. The space is less than a half mile from the former Mary-Arrchie Theatre, whose “Abbie Hoffman Festival” was the template for the three-day performance celebration. YippieFest currently has slots for theater acts, including one-act plays, monologue, sketch, improv, vaudeville and other stage performance arts. Artists get free admission to the rest of the festival, so click YiPPIE FEST 2023 to sign up.
PBS
Film Review: Mellow Fellow Owen Wilson Channels Bob Ross in ‘Paint’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 6, 2023 - 11:04pmCHICAGO – The newly released “Paint” film offers an amiable enough premise that’s amusing in a two minute trailer, but entirely out of gas 20 minutes into the story, and then plods around for a whole other hour. While it’s hard to hate it, but I don’t think my time was very well spent either. !—break—>
Podtalk: Kevin Shaw on HIs Documentary ‘Let the Little Light Shine’ at Gene Siskel Film Center
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 15, 2022 - 5:37pmCHICAGO – The City of Chicago, like a number of American cities, has gone through incredible transformations in the last 25 years. Whole neighborhoods left for dead during the white flight of the 1950s-70s have been gentrified and re-settled with luxury housing … often to the detriment of those who remained there throughout many difficult years.
Podtalk: Director Jacob Gentry on ‘Broadcast Signal Intrusion’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 28, 2021 - 11:40amCHICAGO – In 1987, one of the oddest incidents in broadcast history took place in Chicago, when a local news sports segment and an episode of “Dr. Who” on PBS was interrupted by a bizarre video sequence featuring a man in a Max Headroom mask. This infamous event was the inspiration for the new film “Broadcast Signal Intrusion” – directed by Jacob Gentry – which was release to theaters and through Video-On-Demand on October 22nd, 2021, after playing at the 57th Chicago International Film Festival.
Podtalk: Harry Shum Jr., Kelley Mack on ‘Broadcast Signal Intrusion’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 24, 2021 - 7:41amCHICAGO – In 1987, one of the oddest incidents in broadcast history took place in Chicago, when a local news sports segment and an episode of “Dr. Who” on PBS was interrupted by a bizarre video sequence featuring a man in a Max Headroom mask. This infamous event was the inspiration for the new film “Broadcast Signal Intrusion,” which was release to theaters and through Video-On-Demand on October 22nd, 2021, after playing at the 57th Chicago International Film Festival.
Via Zoom: Sarah Burns on ‘The Central Park Five,’ ‘Jackie Robinson’ & “Muhammad Ali’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 29, 2021 - 2:22pmCHICAGO – Say the name “Ken Burns” and immediately images are evoked regarding the best of American documentaries. For three films – “The Central Park Five,” “Jackie Robinson” and the latest PBS documentary series, “Muhammad Ali” – Ken’s daughter Sarah Burns co-directed with him. Sarah talked to Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com on the three landmark films.
Via Zoom: Co-Director Sarah Burns on PBS Doc Series ‘Muhammad Ali’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 18, 2021 - 9:49amCHICAGO – Say the name “Ken Burns” and immediately images are evoked regarding the best of American documentaries. For three films – “The Central Park Five,” “Jackie Robinson” and the latest PBS documentary series, “Muhammad Ali” – Ken’s daughter Sarah Burns co-directed with him. Sarah talked to Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com on the latest film about “The Greatest.”
Via Zoom: CJ Hunt on His New Documentary ‘The Neutral Ground’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 3, 2021 - 9:08amCHICAGO – When you are not black in America, you cannot imagine the societal indignities (to say the least) that are endured on a daily basis, both macro and micro. A new documentary on a particular indignity, “The Neutral Ground,” by first time director CJ Hunt, premieres on PBS’s “POV” on July 5th, 2021. Click for details.
Podtalk: Chicago Icon Bruce DuMont on ‘Mike Wallace is Here’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 30, 2019 - 10:35amCHICAGO – This week, the new documentary “Mike Wallace is Here” will release in Chicago, so who better to get a perspective on the CBS News and “60 Minutes” interviewer and reporter than Bruce DuMont, a Chicago broadcasting icon who has covered the scene since the late 1960s.
Podtalk: Bob Sirott & Marianne Murciano, Part of PBS Station WTTW’s ‘Summer of Space’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 11, 2019 - 4:53pmCHICAGO – July 20th, 2019, will mark the 50th Anniversary that a human being – astronaut Neil Armstrong – first stepped on the moon. All month in July/August, PBS station WTTW is featuring its “Summer of Space,” with special programming dedicated to both the Apollo 11 moon landing/walk and other space-themed shows. Participating are Chicago media personalities Bob Sirott and Marianne Murciano, in “Jim Lovell in Booth One with Sirott and Murciano.” For a schedule of showings, click here.
Film Review: ‘The Chaperone’ is Excellent Lesson in 1920s Identity
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 15, 2019 - 9:55amCHICAGO – Although mostly set in the early 1920s, “The Chaperone” has some pungent lessons regarding identity, and living life authentically. The story of former silent film star Louise Brooks and her first trip to New York City expresses both how we can live today and how they lived back then.
