Chicago Sun-Times - Movies and TV
2024-03-28T13:19:32.233-05:00
https://chicago.suntimes.com/rss/movies-and-tv/index.xml
2024-03-28T13:19:32.233-05:00
2024-03-28T17:12:04.928-05:00
Giancarlo Esposito the driving force in AMC's high-octane thriller 'Parish'
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<img class="Image" alt="Giancarlo Esposito as Gray Bourgeois in Parish on AMC." srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/18b5851/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5451x3059+0+287/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fa2%2Fd0%2F94f07e954c439c63a23091cee21c%2Fparish-101-am-0816-0085-rt.jpeg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/49218d3/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5451x3059+0+287/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fa2%2Fd0%2F94f07e954c439c63a23091cee21c%2Fparish-101-am-0816-0085-rt.jpeg 2x" width="490" height="275"
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Giancarlo Esposito stars as luxury car service driver Gray Bourgeois, who is forced to return to his former life of crime for one last job in the AMC series “Parish.”</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Alyssa Moran/AMC</p></div></div>
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<p>From “Breaking Bad” to “Better Call Saul” to “Revolution” to “Dear White People” to “The Mandalorian” to the recent Netflix limited series “The Gentlemen,” Giancarlo Esposito has been a brilliant contributor to myriad high-quality television series for the last quarter-century — and it’s great to see him bringing his unique on-screen presence to center stage as the titular character in the stylish, sleek and at times brutally effective AMC series “Parish.” </p><p>Over the course of just six fast-paced episodes, Esposito creates a memorable character in this crime drama based on the BBC One series “The Driver.” </p><p>Making great use of its New Orleans setting, “Parish” takes place in the present day but has the look and feel of an entertainingly lurid 1990s thriller. Esposito’s Gracián “Gray” Parish, flexing a gruff New Orleans accent, has some of the same fastidious attention to sartorial detail and well-mannered comportment as Gus Fring from “Breaking Bad” and “Saul” as well as Stanley Johnston from “The Gentlemen,” but Gray is no powerful drug kingpin or wine-collecting billionaire. He’s a low-key family man and the proprietor of a luxury car service in New Orleans that has taken hard financial hits in large part due to the popularity of ride-hailing services. Still in deep mourning for the son who was murdered a year earlier and in danger of losing his business and his home, Gray is reluctant, yet eventually willing, to return to his past in exchange for a much-needed cash influx.</p><div class="RatingCard Enhancement" data-module data-rating="3.5" data-align-center>
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"Parish"
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<div class="RichTextModule-items RichTextBody">Premiering at 9:15 p.m. Sunday on AMC and streaming on AMC+.</div>
</div><p>About that past. Nearly 20 years ago, Gray was a highly sought-after wheelman — but after he met a woman named Ros (Paula Malcomson, “Ray Donovan”) in Chicago, they settled down in New Orleans and started a family, and Gray left the life. That all changes when Gray's lifelong friend Colin (Skeet Ulrich), who is out of prison after serving a long stretch, comes to Gray, begging for help. Colin is one of those guys who can’t get through the day without getting into trouble, and he’s deep in debt to a ruthless local crime family. In order to make it right, he needs to pull off a high-risk break-in, and he needs a driver, and Gray owes Colin because Colin did hard time and never once sang to the authorities about Gray . Convenient plot device alert!</p><p>As you’d expect, the job goes sideways, REALLY sideways, and the obligatory One Last Job premise quickly turns into something ongoing, complicated, violent and dangerous. </p><p>We’re introduced to a number of characters, nearly all of them embroiled in a New Orleans underworld that involves human trafficking, the building of a new casino, an unsolved murder and a key political race. </p><p>Gray finds himself entangled with a Zimbabwean crime family that has moved its base to New Orleans. Zackary Momoh is chillingly effective as the gangster known as The Horse, with Bonnie Mbuli as his cool and calculating sister, Shamiso Tongai, and Ivan Mbakop as his volatile brother, Zenzo Tongai. </p><p>The outstanding ensemble cast also includes Bradley Whitford as Anton, a powerful and wealthy industrial businessman with deep ties to the criminal world, Amanda Brugel as Sister Anne, a nun, who like Gray, has left a much darker life behind; and Arica Himmel as Gray and Rose’s teenage daughter Makayla, who knows nothing of her father’s past. For now.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center><div class="Enhancement-item">
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</div></div><p>It’s an interesting turn to see Esposito playing a character who, unlike Gus Fring, has never been in charge of any operation, and that includes Gray’s home life. Tensions are high between Gray and Ros, especially after their son’s death, and their daughter feels isolated and invisible to her father. Gray keeps telling The Horse that he just wants to go home to his family, but we all know that’s not happening.</p><p>“Parish” benefits greatly from a keen sense of pacing. The filmmakers know exactly how much time to devote to various subplots before returning to the main story lines that have Gray at the center. There are moments of shocking violence (including one scene that plays like a callback to one of the most famous and notorious moments in “Breaking Bad”), and given that Gray is a driver, yes, there are some well-choreographed chase scenes. The supporting cast is excellent, but this is Giancarlo Esposito’s vehicle, and he’s in command throughout.</p>
https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2024/03/28/giancarlo-esposito-parish-review-amc-high-octane-thriller
Richard Roeper
2024-03-28T11:00:00-05:00
2024-03-28T14:33:16.319-05:00
'Godzilla x Kong' review: Film delivers same old monster song and dance
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Godzilla and King Kong are sparring partners once again in “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.”</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures</p></div></div>
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<p>At one point in the teeth-rattling and cheerfully dumb but ultimately wearisome monster mash titled “Kong x Godzilla: The New Empire,” Godzilla acquires a pinkish glow for reasons we don’t need to get into, and I couldn’t help but think: Godzilla Barbie!</p><p>I mean, I guess Godzilla is a dude, but it was kinda cool to see the Titan sporting a fuchsia tone. (Pinkzilla!) </p><p>That’s the kind of detail one enjoys when enduring the fifth film in the MonsterVerse franchise, following “Godzilla” (2014), “Kong: Skull Island” (2017), “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” (2019) and 2021’s “Godzilla vs. Kong,” because the mind tends to wander during the seemingly endless/mindless action sequences. </p><div class="RatingCard Enhancement" data-module data-rating="2.0" data-align-center>
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"Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire"
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<div class="RichTextSidebarModule-title">GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE</div>
<div class="RichTextModule-items RichTextBody">Warner Bros. Pictures presents a film directed by Adam Wingard, written by Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett and Jeremy Slater from a story by Rossio, Wingard and Barrett. Rated PG-13 for creature violence and action. Running time: 115 minutes. Now playing at local theaters.</div>
</div><p>While I’ve enjoyed some of these Monsterverse films more than others, I’ve always admired the craftsmanship and the modern-day, drive-in-movie spirit of the franchise. But there comes a time when despite the admittedly impressive location shooting and VFX, it becomes a bit of a chore to sit through the predictable spectacle of various monsters tossing each other about while smashing cities and beaches and jungles as tiny humans scramble for safety. </p><p>Is that all there is? </p><p>In this case, unfortunately the answer is yes. Despite the addition of some new characters (human and otherwise), “Kong x Godzilla: The New Empire” comes across as a relatively uninspired and repetitive effort and a fairly forgettable chapter in the Monsterverse saga.</p><p>“The New Empire” picks up the story in the aftermath of the events of “Godzilla vs. Kong,” with the two Titans having retreated to neutral corners, or should we say levels, of the world.</p><p>The mighty Godzilla roams the planet above the surface, while Kong’s domain is Hollow Earth, the world beneath our world that is filled with wondrous landscapes (the visuals pop with bright colors throughout) and is populated by a myriad of creatures, some of whom looked like they escaped from “Jurassic Park” while others have a kind of futuristic nastiness. </p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center><div class="Enhancement-item">
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</div></div><p>In the early going, director Adam Wingard and screenwriters Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett and Jeremy Slater establish the foundation for two concurrent storylines that we know will eventually intersect.</p><p>In the above-ground world, Kaylee Hottle’s Jia, the deaf orphan girl and adopted daughter of the anthropological linguist Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall), is feeling isolated and lost because she’s the last known Iwi and is having great difficulties fitting in.</p><p>Meanwhile, down in Hollow Earth, Jia’s old friend King Kong is going through a similar existential crisis because he’s the last of HIS kind. Even when Kong just wants to relax after a hard day of capturing and killing his prey, he can’t enjoy a juicy and quite gross meal without some creatures stealing a piece of the bounty and scurrying away. It ain’t easy being Kong, man!</p><p>As Godzilla evolves and goes through some major changes that are causing great concern among the humans, Kong discovers there actually are others similar to him deep in the bowels of Hollow Earth — but they’re living in horrific and hellish circumstances, working as slave labor under the ruthless wrath of the evil and sadistic Skar King. Looks like it’s time for Dr. Ilene to assemble a crew to make the journey to Hollow Earth and see what’s up with Kong and whether it connects to what’s going on with Godzilla, so off we go! </p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center>
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<img class="Image" alt=" Dan Stevens, left, Rebecca Hall and Kaylee Hottle in a scene from "Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire."" srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/a7f8eac/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5383x3021+0+284/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fcf%2F12%2F9ef9dbac4f1d890a190d4e7c619f%2Frev-1-org-20220819-03730r-high-res-jpeg.jpeg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/fbaaafd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5383x3021+0+284/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fcf%2F12%2F9ef9dbac4f1d890a190d4e7c619f%2Frev-1-org-20220819-03730r-high-res-jpeg.jpeg 2x" width="490" height="275"
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Trapper (Dan Stevens, from left), Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) and Jia (Kaylee Hottle) confront a host of perils in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.”</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures</p></div></div>
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</div><p>Ilene’s team includes the underground conspiracy influencer Bernie Hayes (a returning Brian Tyree Henry), who comes along mainly because these kinds of movies need comic relief; and a new character in Dan Stevens’ Trapper, a knockoff Han Solo type who is basically a thrill-seeking veterinarian who specializes in treating Titans. (Big fan of Dan Stevens here since his days on “Downton Abbey,” but this is a case of miscasting. We just don’t buy him as a rough-and-ready free spirit.)</p><p>Godzilla grows ever more powerful and dangerous. Kong is wounded in more ways than one, but with the help of Dr. Ilene and Jia and Trapper, the big guy is ready to join the fight. </p><p>“Godzilla x King Kong: The New Empire” is the definition of an old-fashioned (with new technology) popcorn movie and there’s certainly no harm in that, but at the end of the day, it feels like the stakes have never been more medium.</p>
https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2024/03/28/godzilla-x-kong-new-empire-movie-review-delivers-same-old-monster-song-and-dance
Richard Roeper
2024-03-27T21:23:24.872-05:00
2024-03-27T21:23:30.468-05:00
Carol Burnett recalls 'awful' experience performing before Elvis on 'Ed Sullivan Show'
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Comedian and actress Carol Burnett attends Apple TV+'s “Palm Royale” series premiere at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in Beverly Hills, Calif., earllier this month.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>ROBYN BECK/Getty</p></div></div>
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<p>Elvis Presley is a tough act to follow — or, as Carol Burnett once learned, to precede.</p><p>The television legend, 90, stopped by "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on Tuesday and chatted about one of her previous times at the Ed Sullivan Theater: when she appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on the same episode as Presley. This was when Presley was in the army, and "they did a whole big thing" with him, she explained.</p><p>Unfortunately for Burnett, she went on before Presley, so audience members were anxious to see the singer and had no interest in her.</p><p>"Nobody wanted to see me," she recalled. "'Elvis! Where the hell is Elvis? We want to see Elvis!' I bombed. Oh my God. It was terrible. It was awful."</p><p>On the bright side, Burnett met Presley that night and got his autograph for her sister. "He was very sweet," she told Colbert.</p><p>"The Ed Sullivan Show" originally aired from 1948 to 1971. Colbert noted that Burnett was on the show seven times, a number that surprised her. "I was?" she asked. Burnett's own self-titled variety show ran on CBS from 1967 to 1978.</p><div class="RelatedList Enhancement" data-module data-align-center>
<div class="RelatedList-title">Related</div>
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<a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2024/03/18/palm-royale-review-apple-kristen-wiig-series-allison-janney-ricky-martin" target="_blank" >Richard Roeper reviews: Versatile Kristen Wiig classes up ‘Palm Royale’</a>
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<p>While chatting with Colbert, Burnett remembered another awful television appearance, although this time, it was awful on purpose. The "Carol Burnett Show" star explained that when she was nervous to be a guest on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," she decided that she would intentionally be the "world's worst guest" without telling the talk show host beforehand. So during the show, Burnett repeatedly answered Carson's questions with "yes" or "no" answers.</p><p>"Of course, he caught on, and he started asking all kinds of interesting questions, to which I could just say, 'Maybe. No,'" she said.</p><p>Speaking of Presley, Burnett also looked back on when she performed a song on TV called "I Made a Fool of Myself Over John Foster Dulles," which imagined a young girl obsessing over the "dull" U.S. secretary of state the way most girls did about Presley.</p><p>"All hell broke loose" after Burnett performed the song on the Jack Paar and Ed Sullivan shows, she said, recalling that it "was front-page news" at the time.</p><p>The Emmy winner's television career has spanned more than 60 years, and her latest role is opposite Kristen Wiig in "Palm Royale," now streaming on Apple TV+.</p><p><i>Read more at </i><a class="Link" href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2024/03/27/carol-burnett-elvis-presley-ed-sullivan-show/73119982007/" target="_blank" ><i>usatoday.com</i></a><i>.</i><br></p>
https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2024/03/27/carol-burnett-recalls-awful-experience-performing-before-elvis-on-ed-sullivan-show
USA TODAY
2024-03-27T13:25:28.952-05:00
2024-03-27T20:50:01.756-05:00
Illinois Supreme Court agrees to hear appeal from former 'Empire' actor Jussie Smollett
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<img class="Image" alt="Jussie Smollett speaks to reporters at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse after prosecutors dropped all charges against him in 2019." srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/00fef96/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5128x2878+0+0/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fab%2Ff9%2Fd48244f749d28eb72a3f523235c5%2Fsmollett-032719-03.JPG 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d670f95/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5128x2878+0+0/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fab%2Ff9%2Fd48244f749d28eb72a3f523235c5%2Fsmollett-032719-03.JPG 2x" width="490" height="275"
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Jussie Smollett speaks to reporters at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse after prosecutors dropped all charges against him in 2019.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file</p></div></div>
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<p>The Illinois Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from actor Jussie Smollett after an appellate court upheld his conviction for lying to police about being the victim of a hate crime in a staged attack.</p><p>The high court announced Wednesday it would hear Smollett’s case, but a date for arguments has not been set.</p><p>In December, a state appeals court upheld the actor’s conviction and sentence in a split decision.</p><p>Justices David Navarro and Mary Ellen Coghlan affirmed the conviction and said they did not find his sentence unreasonable. But Justice Freddrenna Lyle dissented, saying she would have overturned the conviction.</p><p>The charges stemmed from <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/1/29/18395230/empire-star-victim-of-racist-homophobic-attack-in-streeterville-police-say" target="_blank" >Smollett’s claim that he was attacked by two men who made remarks indicating they were supporters of President Donald Trump</a> while beating him, dousing him with a bleach-like substance and hanging a thin rope noose around his neck as he walked to his Streeterville apartment in January 2019.</p><p>At the time, Smollett was a rising star on the cast of the hit television show “Empire” and was attempting to launch a music career.</p><p>Word of the attack spread quickly, but his story quickly fell apart as police investigated, and he was charged with lying.</p><p><a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/2/20/18314028/kim-foxx-sidesteps-smollett-case-over-familiarity-with-potential-witnesses" target="_blank" >Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx later said she was recusing herself</a> from the case after it was revealed she had helped facilitate conversations between Smollett’s family and the Chicago Police Department.</p><p>Months later, her office decided to drop the charges, saying it reached an agreement with the actor to forfeit his bond and perform community service.</p><p>However, he was indicted on new charges after a judge appointed special prosecutor Dan Webb to review the decision. Webb’s report stated the state’s attorney office had committed “substantial abuses of discretion and operational failures.”</p><p>A Cook County jury <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/12/9/22826356/jussie-smollett-jurors-verdict-guilty" target="_blank" >found Smollett guilty of five counts of disorderly conduct</a> in 2021, and he was sentenced to 30 months of probation, with the first 150 days to be served at Cook County Jail.</p><p>Smollett appealed the conviction and was released after spending six days of the sentence behind bars.</p><p>Smollett’s attorneys argued that the second round of charges against the actor violated an agreement reached with Cook County prosecutors to drop the case if he performed community service and forfeited his bond.</p><p>Writing for the majority, Justice Navarro stated that “The record does not establish that Smollett entered into a nonprosecution agreement ... in exchange for his performance of community service and the forfeiture of his bond.”</p><p>Lyle disagreed, saying that although Smollett had not entered into a plea agreement, “a bilateral agreement took place, which bound the state, nonetheless.</p><p>“The majority contends that there is no evidence in the state’s agreement that the parties intended for the agreement to be tantamount to a dismissal with prejudice,” Lyle said. “I disagree.”</p><p>Richard Kling, a professor at Chicago–Kent College of Law, told the Sun-Times after the ruling that he believed the high court would pick up the case. He pointed to<a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/6/30/22557579/bill-cosby-conviction-overturned-sex-assault-case-pennsylvania-supreme-court" target="_blank" > the overturning of actor Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction by Pennsylvania’s highest court</a> on similar arguments.</p><p>“I think that’s [Smollett’s] strongest argument and best chance,” Kling said.</p><div class="RelatedList Enhancement" data-module data-align-center>
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<a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2023/1/26/23573059/fifth-time-jussie-smollett-lawyers-more-time-file-brief-appealing-his-conviction" >For fifth time, Jussie Smollett’s lawyers ask for more time to file brief appealing conviction linked to fake hate crime</a>
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<a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/12/9/22826356/jussie-smollett-jurors-verdict-guilty" >Jussie Smollett guilty of staging hate crime and lying about it</a>
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<a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2021/11/28/22800734/jussie-smollett-former-empire-star-hate-crime-hoax" >Jussie Smollett heads to trial, nearly 3 years after the former ‘Empire’ star was accused of hate crime hoax</a>
</li>
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<p></p>
https://chicago.suntimes.com/jussie-smollett/2024/03/27/illinois-supreme-court-appeal-former-empire-actor-jussie-smollett
Matthew Hendrickson
2024-03-27T05:30:00-05:00
2024-03-27T05:30:00.88-05:00
'Asphalt City' review: A dark dive into the work of NYC paramedics
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<img class="Image" alt="Sean Penn (right) plays a veteran paramedic teamed with a rookie (Tye Sheridan) in "Asphalt City."" srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/a3c2cce/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3824x2146+647+0/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F1a%2Fcc%2Fbbc99db54b0e8ef0c69c2b26af47%2Fasphalt-city-still-12.png 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/9711b2b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3824x2146+647+0/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F1a%2Fcc%2Fbbc99db54b0e8ef0c69c2b26af47%2Fasphalt-city-still-12.png 2x" width="490" height="275"
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Sean Penn (right) plays a veteran paramedic teamed with a rookie (Tye Sheridan) in “Asphalt City.”</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Roadside Attractions/Vertical</p></div></div>
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<p>Not for one second, not for one frame, does director Jean Stéphane’s bruising and bloody New York City drama thriller “Asphalt City” drive even near the neighborhood of subtlety. This is a stark, pitch-black, violent and gruesome waking nightmare of a story — a war movie for all intents and purposes, only the soldiers are paramedics, and the battlegrounds are the seediest and most dangerous corners and alleys and apartments in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn.</p><p></p><p>Time and again, paramedics desperately trying to save lives have to exclaim, “I’m not a cop!” to the locals who don’t trust anyone with a uniform coming into their world and are pushing up against them even as they’re trying to do their jobs.</p><p></p><p>Originally titled “Black Flies” and based on the novel of the same name by Shannon Burke (with Ryan King and Ben Mac Brown doing the adaptation), “Asphalt City” is at least as dark and bruising as Martin Scorsese’s “Bringing Out the Dead” (1999), which starred Nicolas Cage and John Goodman as New York City paramedics.</p><div class="RatingCard Enhancement" data-module data-rating="3.0" data-align-center>
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<div class="RichTextModule-items RichTextBody">Roadside Attractions and Vertical present a film directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire and written by Ryan King and Ben Mac Brown, based on the book ‘Black Flies’ by Shannon Burke. Running time: 125 minutes. Rated R (for violent content, disturbing/bloody images, suicide, sexual content, graphic nudity, and pervasive language). Opens Thursday at local theaters.</div>
</div><p>With virtually every scene taking place in the deep of night or the gloom of day, Sean Penn gives a laser-focused and effectively brooding performance as Gene “Rut” Rutkovsky, a veteran paramedic who was one the first responders on the scene on 9/11 and has long since given up any grand illusions about being some kind of hero. The job is the job, and the nights are long and hellish, as Rut and his colleagues tend to gunshot wounds, domestic violence victims and junkies.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center><div class="Enhancement-item">
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</div></div><p>In the classic rookie-veteran pairing, Tye Sheridan is Ollie Cross, an idealistic sort who hopes to pass the MCAT exam and become a doctor. The symbolism in “Asphalt City” runs heavy; not only do we have that last name of “Cross,” but when Ollie is off duty, he wears a jacket with angel’s wings on the back, and there’s a painting of a falling angel in his shabby apartment room.</p><div class="RelatedList Enhancement" data-module data-align-center>
<div class="RelatedList-title">Related</div>
<ul class="RelatedList-items">
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<a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2022/4/21/23035652/gaslit-review-julia-roberts-series-martha-mitchell-sean-penn-watergate" >‘Gaslit’ review: Julia Roberts, Sean Penn skillfully settle into the ’70s</a>
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<p>As Rut and Ollie navigate a world teeming with unsavory characters (and one of the most ferocious dogs in recent film history), we’re introduced to a variety of supporting characters. Katherine Waterston has a memorable one-scene cameo as Rut’s ex-wife and the mother of his daughter, while Raquel Nave is the single mother who hooks up with Ollie for sex that will shake the walls. Michael Pitt is a veteran paramedic who’s the equivalent of the combat soldier who is on the edge of a total and violent breakdown.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center>
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<img class="Image" alt="Mike Tyson is surprisingly good as the paramedics' boss." srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0cb89c8/2147483647/strip/true/crop/6000x3367+0+316/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fdd%2Fcb%2Ffbd873234799896cda459e8f2fac%2Fasphalt-city-still-8.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/16c7110/2147483647/strip/true/crop/6000x3367+0+316/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fdd%2Fcb%2Ffbd873234799896cda459e8f2fac%2Fasphalt-city-still-8.jpg 2x" width="490" height="275"
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Mike Tyson is surprisingly good as the paramedics’ boss.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Roadside Attractions/Vertical</p></div></div>
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</div><p>Kali Reis <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2024/1/12/24034386/true-detective-night-country-review-hbo-max-jodie-foster-alaska" >(“True Detective”) </a>is stunningly good as a heroin-addicted woman who gives birth while a needle is stuck in her arm. We even have Mike Tyson as the chief in charge of the paramedics, and once we get past the stunt casting, Tyson is quite good.</p><p>With cinematographer David Ungaro providing hand-held docudrama work in saturated colors, “Asphalt City” is bleak and heavy-handed, yet we get the feeling a lot of paramedics in major cities would say it’s not all that far from the harsh realities of the job.<br></p>
https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2024/03/27/asphalt-city-review-sean-penn-paramedic-movie-tye-sheridan-mike-tyson-kali-reis
Richard Roeper
2024-03-26T11:00:00-05:00
2024-03-26T11:00:00.194-05:00
Steve Martin tells his story in two great, very different Apple TV+ documentaries
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<img class="Image" alt="In “STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces,” the usually reserved comedian speaks candidly about the ups and downs of his life." srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/601e11e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3840x2155+0+0/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fc7%2F5e%2F2d6486454c53b2a1018d561731e9%2Fsteve-photo-010201.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/55f9aad/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3840x2155+0+0/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fc7%2F5e%2F2d6486454c53b2a1018d561731e9%2Fsteve-photo-010201.jpg 2x" width="490" height="275"
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>In “STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces,” the usually reserved comedian speaks candidly about the ups and downs of his life.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Apple Original Films</p></div></div>
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<p>If Steve Martin had retired from show business at the age of 35, he still would have left behind an incredible legacy. Martin had become arguably the most successful stand-up comedian ever to that point, selling out arenas, hosting “Saturday Night Live” on numerous occasions, releasing multiple best-selling comedy albums, even reaching the Billboard charts with the novelty tune “King Tut.”</p><p>If Steve Martin had done only movies in his career, he would have left an indelible mark on the industry as an actor and writer, with hits such as “The Jerk,” “All of Me,” “¡Three Amigos!,” “Roxanne,” <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2022/11/4/23426474/planes-trains-and-automobiles-movie-anniversary-35-years-edie-mcclurg-kevin-bacon" >“Planes, Trains and Automobiles,”</a> “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” “Parenthood,” “L.A. Story,” “Father of the Bride,” et al.</p><p></p><p>Even if we forget all that, Martin STILL has an astonishing body of work, from the plays and books to his musical career to the popular stage shows with Martin Short to the resounding success of <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2023/8/8/23821972/only-murders-in-building-review-hulu-season-3-meryl-streep-paul-rudd-steve-martin-short-selena-gomez" >“Only Murders in the Building.”</a></p><div class="RatingCard Enhancement" data-module data-rating="3.5" data-align-center>
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“STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces”
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<div class="RichTextModule-items RichTextBody">Apple Original Films presents a two-part documentary directed by Morgan Neville. Available Friday on Apple TV+.</div>
</div><p>What a life. What a career. It’s only fitting that a documentary about Martin would actually be two separate and quite different films released simultaneously. Saddled with the unwieldy title of “STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces,” this Apple TV+ work from the greatly talented storyteller Morgan Neville (who has painted memorable portraits of Fred Rogers in “<a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2018/6/8/18316037/won-t-you-be-my-neighbor-it-s-a-beautiful-night-at-the-multiplex" >Won’t You Be My Neighbor</a>” and Anthony Bourdain in “<a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2021/7/15/22575741/roadrunner-review-anthony-bourdain-movie-documentary" >Roadrunner</a>”), is one of the most impressively and creatively shot filmed biographies in recent memory.</p><p>When I say these are separate films, that’s no overstatement. In the first part, Martin provides the voice-over narration for a tour through his childhood and the early stages of his show business career. Other interviewees are heard off-camera, and the doc relies heavily on a treasure trove of archival clips. It’s almost as if Martin is co-directing the movie.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center><div class="Enhancement-item">
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</div></div><p>For the second film, Neville switches gears — working with a different editor, a different composer, a whole different crew — and takes a completely different tone, with Martin and his colleagues, family and friends on-camera. It’s a rare and fascinating glimpse into a Steve Martin who is not “on” at all, who is remarkably candid (you can see how much that pains him at times) as he reflects on his upbringing in a home where demonstrable love was something he never knew, of the bouts of melancholy and loneliness he felt in his middle years, and of the happiness he’s found later in life with his wife, Anne Stringfield, and their 11-year-old daughter. (The only restriction Martin placed on the film was that it would not include his child — not even a picture.)</p><p>The first film provides a glimpse into Martin’s mindset, which was formed in part by his studies of philosophy at Long Beach State and advanced logic at UCLA. He reads from long-ago journals, with entries such as, “What if I created tension, but never released it?” and, the idea of playing “a comedian who thinks he’s funny and isn’t.” Martin’s career took a jolting leap skyward after he killed on “The Tonight Show” and after he hosted “Saturday Night Live.” Suddenly he went from playing houses of 300 to headlining venues with crowds in the thousands. It got to the point where Martin reached rock-star status, with fans copying his look and chanting his catch phrases. “I thought I was still doing comedy, but really, I was a party host,” says Martin, who in 1980 finished a tour as the most popular comedian ever — and never did his act again.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center>
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<img class="Image" alt="A young Steve Martin plays banjo during his formative years as a comedian, which are the focus of one of the two "STEVE! (martin)" documentaries." srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/14e76e1/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5105x2865+0+479/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fc6%2Fef%2Fae108d5d4269b7fdf2e4e2d88346%2Fsteve-photo-010101-1.jpeg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/abae16c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5105x2865+0+479/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fc6%2Fef%2Fae108d5d4269b7fdf2e4e2d88346%2Fsteve-photo-010101-1.jpeg 2x" width="490" height="275"
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>A young Steve Martin plays banjo during his formative years as a comedian, which are the focus of one of the two “STEVE! (martin)” documentaries.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Apple Original Films</p></div></div>
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</div><p>In the second film, we’re with Steve Martin in his mid-70s, and Neville does a brilliant job of making us feel as if we’re an invisible observer granted rare access into this remarkable man’s world. Here’s Steve in the kitchen, rhapsodizing over the poached eggs on toast he’s making. Here’s Steve pulling leather-bound screenplays from the shelves and sharing anecdotes about John Candy and “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.” Here’s Steve fine-tuning routines with his pal Martin Short as they work on regaining their impeccable rhythms after a COVID-induced break. Here’s Steve reflecting on the fact he’s had 27 kids in the movies, and how “movie fatherhood paved the way for actual fatherhood. … I started doing movies with children, and I liked them.”</p><p>We see Martin in conversation with Jerry Seinfeld, and we get separate, on-camera interviews with the likes of Diane Keaton, Lorne Michaels, Eric Idle — and Steve’s wife, Anne, who was a fact-checker at the New Yorker when they met, over the phone. Martin seems almost surprised, but also eternally grateful, that he found such happiness so late in life. We’re thrilled for him. He certainly deserves it after giving all of us so much joy for all these years.</p>
https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2024/03/26/steve-martin-documentary-2-pieces-review-apple
Richard Roeper
2024-03-26T10:00:00-05:00
2024-03-26T10:00:00.449-05:00
Sundance Institute bringing inaugural film event to Chicago
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<img class="Image" alt="Film fans take in a screening of the documentary "Will & Harper" at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. | Jemal Countess/© 2024 Sundance Institute " srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/aa49496/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1200x673+0+63/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fee%2F61%2F007376b540c5bd88f37574a38969%2F2024-screening-willandharper-jemalcountess-0609.jpeg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/502ba59/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1200x673+0+63/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fee%2F61%2F007376b540c5bd88f37574a38969%2F2024-screening-willandharper-jemalcountess-0609.jpeg 2x" width="490" height="275"
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Film fans take in a screening of the documentary “Will & Harper” at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Jemal Countess/© 2024 Sundance Institute </p></div></div>
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<p>Sundance is on its way to Chicago this summer.</p><p>On Tuesday, the Chicago Film Office, in partnership with Choose Chicago and the Sundance Institute, announced the arrival of "Sundance Institute x Chicago 2024," a "new independent film event," running June 28-30 and featuring artists programs, film screenings and other programming to celebrate the city as a filmmaking center. </p><p>Chicago will become the only U.S. city to host the event outside of Park City, Utah, home to the annual Sundance Film Festival, Tuesday's announcement said. </p><p>The weekend's lineup will be announced at a later date, but the fest will feature screenings of four films from the January 2024 Sundance Film Festival and Q&As with the filmmakers; a masterclass for emerging/underrepresented filmmakers; panel discussions, and more.</p><p>"To know the history and landscape of independent storytelling is to know that Chicago has always been a home and a source of inspiration for artists, many of whom have ties to Sundance through our festival and artist support programs," said Eugene Hernandez, festival director and head of public programming for the Sundance Institute. "All of us at the institute are very much looking forward to deepening our connection to this unique community of film lovers, film champions and filmmakers through this weekend of events designed for and with the city of Chicago."</p><p>More information, including venues and ticket on-sale dates, visit <a class="Link" href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.choosechicago.com_sundance-2Dinstitute-2Dx-2Dchicago_&d=DwMGaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=njuv4-d7O86rvy8gBD71QGjlbCKVI5FHcisH3lytqM8&m=8haBavni9p7c62RVkVuzLS_cPKAQlk0fFVXPSQiozYDPnXokmAgWN8IUyf_FUMxP&s=vap3b1BBDF82tfFD6TCr8AmxkveRGcFv1dmy3wACULw&e=" target="_blank" >SundanceInstituteXChicago.com.</a><br></p>
https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2024/03/26/sundance-institute-bringing-inaugural-film-event-to-chicago
Miriam Di Nunzio
2024-03-25T05:30:00-05:00
2024-03-26T08:08:01.31-05:00
'The Truth vs. Alex Jones' review: HBO doc showcases lying blowhard
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<img class="Image" alt="Red-faced Alex Jones points and shouts into TV microphones while clad in a short sleeved black shirt." srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0e68955/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8358x4691+0+441/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F59%2Fcd%2F5cbaf2704086acc22e39a638ca9d%2Fgettyimages-1425983307.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/4ab3b03/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8358x4691+0+441/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F59%2Fcd%2F5cbaf2704086acc22e39a638ca9d%2Fgettyimages-1425983307.jpg 2x" width="490" height="275"
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Alex Jones speaks to the media during his 2022 trial in a lawsuit brought by the families of children killed at Sandy Hook, alleging he caused them harm by claiming the massacre was staged.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images</p></div></div>
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<p>HBO documentary feature film “The Truth vs. Alex Jones” is a scathing and well-deserved takedown of the abhorrent hatemonger and huckster whose name is in the title, but the bleating talk show host isn’t the only villain in this story.</p><p>What about the hundreds upon hundreds of gullible and obtuse and in some cases hateful trolls who bought into the conspiracy theories about the <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2017/12/14/18356782/mental-health-care-worries-linger-5-years-after-sandy-hook-slaughter" >Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting </a>and proceeded to harass the grieving families, online and in some cases in person? What kind of human being talks about digging up children’s graves to “prove” Sandy Hook was staged, claims to have urinated on graves, or threatens to rape and kill the parents of those kids?</p><p>Then there’s one Kelley Watt, a Sandy Hook conspiracy theorist who says, “I’m as firm in my belief that [Sandy Hook] didn’t happen as [Sandy Hook parent] Lenny Pozner is … convinced that he had a son who passed away. … This is so insane. I just can’t believe that anybody believes it.”</p><div class="RatingCard Enhancement" data-module data-rating="3.0" data-align-center>
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"The Truth vs. Alex Jones"
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<div class="RichTextModule-items RichTextBody">HBO Documentary Films presents a documentary directed by Dan Reed. Running time: 115 minutes. No MPAA rating. Premieres at 8 p.m. Tuesday on HBO and streaming then on Max.</div>
</div><p>Oh, but before we dismiss Watt as some kind of ignorant and grotesquely cruel kook, she advocates for exhuming the bodies of the victims she doesn’t believe exists and lists her bona fides: “I watch a lot of true crime, and they exhume bodies all the time.”</p><p>Un. Believable. Then again, a poll cited in one of the civil trials against Jones says 24% of Americans believe some mass shootings are either definitely or possibly staged.</p><p>“The Truth vs. Alex Jones” director Dan Reed, who has previously tackled controversial matters in compelling fashion in documentaries such as <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/2/21/18316040/in-hbo-documentary-michael-jackson-is-possibly-a-molester-definitely-a-weirdo" >“Leaving Neverland”</a> and “<a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2021/10/19/22733743/four-hours-capitol-review-hbo-documentary-january-6-movie-insurrection-riot-police" >Four Hours at the Capitol</a>,” spent four years filming interviews with parents of Sandy Hook victims, who speak with admirable bravery and heartbreaking passion about the horrors of losing a child — and the years of pain they’ve endured because Jones and others have mocked their grief, have questioned whether the shootings ever happened, have accused them of being crisis actors. We hear from the parents of a number of children who were killed on Friday, Dec. 12, 2012, and we hear how many of them were stunned when they were called liars who were part of a vast and wide-ranging conspiracy.</p><p>Robbie Parker in particular was targeted for vicious criticism by Jones after Parker issued a statement on the evening after the shootings and was seen smiling awkwardly before addressing the media. “I was just kind of confused and nervous and kind of gave this laugh like, ‘I don’t know what to do here,’” recalls Parker.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center>
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<img class="Image" alt="Close up head shot of Robbie Parker wearing a suit with orange lighting in the background." srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/25dfc48/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5616x3152+0+217/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fa8%2F22%2Fdb9216024f1eb37423f9a8c78914%2Faptopix-connecticut-school-shooting-parent.JPG 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e6bbce4/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5616x3152+0+217/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fa8%2F22%2Fdb9216024f1eb37423f9a8c78914%2Faptopix-connecticut-school-shooting-parent.JPG 2x" width="490" height="275"
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Robbie Parker, pictured in 2012, whose 6-year-old daughter was killed in Newtown, Connecticut, was ridiculed by Alex Jones for his TV appearance the night after the shootings.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>David Goldman/AP</p></div></div>
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</div><p>That brief clip was mocked by Jones, who told his audience of millions, “He walks up like he’s an actor, then breaks down on camera … He does it like a soap opera actor.” By then, Jones had already called the entire tragedy into question; just two hours after the news broke, he was on the air, declaring, “This is staged. And you know I’ve been saying for the last few months, get ready for big mass shootings.”</p><p>Jones also gave a platform to the likes of Wolfgang Habib, who said “nobody died” at Sandy Hook and cited the fact that no trauma helicopters ever arrived on the scene as evidence.</p><p>Says Nicole Hockley, whose son Dylan was killed in the shooting, “They didn’t seem to accept logic … Why weren’t people airlifted to emergency rooms? Well, because they were all dead.”</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center>
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<img class="Image" alt="Ian Hockley, wearing a dark blue sweater over a shirt and tie, puts an arm around Nicole Hockley, wearing a purple top, as both look downward and wear remembrance ribbons on the one-month anniversary of the Sandy Hook shootings. Their 6-year-old son Dylan was killed in the massacre." srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/fcfa557/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x1684+0+168/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F67%2F99%2Fa1eaa01a4b76a69eb5d89ac840fc%2Fgettyimages-159498299.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/04dffd7/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x1684+0+168/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F67%2F99%2Fa1eaa01a4b76a69eb5d89ac840fc%2Fgettyimages-159498299.jpg 2x" width="490" height="275"
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Ian and Nicole Hockley, whose 6-year-old son Dylan was killed at Sandy Hook, embrace on the massacre’s one-month anniversary.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>John Moore/Getty Images</p></div></div>
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</div><p>The documentary takes us inside courtrooms in Texas and Connecticut and the trials against Jones, who was <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/11/15/22783373/conspiracy-theorist-alex-jones-loses-lawsuit-over-sandy-hook-hoax-conspiracy" >found liable</a> for some $1.5 billion in damages. Whether Jones is at the defense table or on the stand or commenting on the trials on his show, he consistently comes across as craven, petulant, disingenuous, equivocating, self-aggrandizing and despicable.</p><p>Jones has yet to pay the victims’ families — negotiations for payments remain ongoing — and he remains podcasting, spinning his views and urging his legions of loyal followers to buy products and supplements such as “Nitric Boost” and “Brain Force Ultra” and “Ageless Vitality Collagen,” as well as “preparedness items" such as a six-month supply of “long-term storable food” for just $1,397.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center><div class="Enhancement-item">
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</div></div><p>In the final moments of “The Truth vs. Alex Jones,” we see the graves of Noah Samuel Posner (Nov. 20, 2006-Dec. 14, 2012) and Jesse McCord Lewis (June 30, 2006-Dec. 14, 2012), and we’re reminded of just how short their time was — and how their families’ suffering was compounded by the evil of conspiracy theorists.</p><p>And we know that if you showed this documentary to many who still believe Sandy Hook was a hoax, they’d shrug it off as merely another part of the plan to deceive us.</p><div class="RelatedList Enhancement" data-module data-align-center>
<div class="RelatedList-title">Related</div>
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<a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/3/12/21177691/alex-jones-fake-coronavirus-cures" >Alex Jones accused of selling fake coronavirus cures</a>
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<a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/10/16/20918225/sandy-hook-denier-pay-victims-father" >Judges rules against Sandy Hook denier, orders him to pay $450K to victim’s father</a>
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<p></p>
https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2024/03/25/truth-vs-alex-jones-review-hbo-documentary-sandy-hook-trial
Richard Roeper
2024-03-22T05:30:00-05:00
2024-03-22T17:45:20.089-05:00
'Ramy Youssef: More Feelings' review
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<img class="Image" alt="Ramy Youssef performs in February during the taping of his comedy special "More Feelings."" srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e1c916e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1078+0+102/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F94%2F40%2F34b37e7b496d94af8f18165eb013%2Framy-youssef-0.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2e5767e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1078+0+102/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F94%2F40%2F34b37e7b496d94af8f18165eb013%2Framy-youssef-0.jpg 2x" width="490" height="275"
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Ramy Youssef performs in February during the taping of his comedy special “More Feelings.”</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>HBO</p></div></div>
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<p>To call something “gently edgy” seems like something inspired by the classic George Carlin routine about words that don’t go together, e.g., “jumbo shrimp” and “military intelligence." But the term applies to the comedy in the HBO stand-up special “Ramy Youssef: More Feelings,” and it’s meant as a high compliment.</p><p>The Golden Globe-winning creator and director of the acclaimed Hulu series “Ramy” has such a warm and inviting and authentic presence, and his social and cultural and personal observations clearly come from a place of trying to find some common ground in this effed-up world — but his humor is also as sharp an Obsidian blade, and his punchlines often land with a terrific and cheerfully politically incorrect sting.</p><p></p><p>A Muslim son of Egyptian immigrants, Youssef says that on Oct. 7, “I get a call from a guy I know, [who says], ‘Yo bro, where you at with Hamas?’ Where am I at? ... You think any of us like what happened on October 7th? It’s AWFUL. We hate seeing people die. It’s inhumane. It made me cry. … Now I gotta prove to you that I’m not violent, like you think that’s what’s in my heart? You know me …</p><p></p><p>“Bro, I’m a Taliban guy.”</p><div class="RatingCard Enhancement" data-module data-rating="3.0" data-align-center>
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<div class="RichTextModule-items RichTextBody">A comedy special premiering at 9 p.m. Saturday on HBO and available then on Max.</div>
</div><p>The joke lands because Youssef is poking fun at the mentality that has so many of us immediately questioning the motives and beliefs of anyone who is Muslim, and he’s talking about the pressures he feels as a high-profile Muslim celebrity. When Youssef contributed funds to earthquake victims in Syria and Turkey, he said his inbox was “getting cooked” by Muslims who wanted to know where he was when the floods happened in Pakistan. “I was like, I gotta cover everything? I gotta be the mayor of Muslim disaster?”</p><p>Filmed last month in Jersey City, New Jersey (if you caught Youssef’s show at the Vic Theatre in Chicago last summer, you’ll recognize much of the material) and directed by “The Bear” showrunner Christopher Storer with minimal camera movement and a total trust in Youssef’s quiet charisma, “More Feelings” has a steady stream of current events content, e.g., when Youssef notes that Joe Biden has “crazy substitute teacher energy." He also talks about how in America, “The South is 25 minutes from wherever you think isn’t the South.” Just as often, though, there’s a universality to the humor, as when Ramy talks about how his father would never really open up to him — but when they’d go to the Olive Garden, his dad would share his whole life story with the waiter.</p><p>Been there, experienced that.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center><div class="Enhancement-item">
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</div></div><p>Ramy Youssef is having one of those classic Show Business Moments when a talented young performer is catapulted to the next level in relatively rapid fashion. On the heels of “Ramy,” he directed the “Honeydew” episode of <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2023/6/19/23763833/the-bear-review-season-2-hulu-fx-jeremy-allen-white-chicago" >“The Bear,” </a>which followed Lionel Boyce’s Marcus to Copenhagen, and he had a key role opposite Academy Award winner Emma Stone in Yorgos Lanthimos’ <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2023/12/13/23992544/poor-things-review-emma-stone-movie-mark-ruffalo-yorgos-lanthimos" >“Poor Things.”</a> He will host “Saturday Night Live” on March 30.</p><p>It’s all heady stuff, and with great success comes great pressure, and in today’s world, endless trolling and sniping. Still, the Ramy Youssef we see in “More Feelings” is a genuine, brilliant and calming presence who makes us laugh a lot, think quite a bit and maybe even feel a little bit better about how we still have much in common despite all our differences, and we should hold onto that.<br></p>
https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2024/03/21/ramy-youssef-more-feelings
Richard Roeper
2024-03-21T07:13:26.166-05:00
2024-03-21T11:04:15.601-05:00
Chicago outdoors: FLOW Film Fest and ISA's free tying sessions lead Go & Show
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<img class="Image" alt="A file photo of an earlier chance to visit the Urban Stream Research Center in Warrenvlle, which has rare public tours on Saturday and Sunday." srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ff92888/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5248x2945+0+3/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.vox-cdn.com%2Fuploads%2Fchorus_asset%2Ffile%2F22925574%2Furbanstream02_06_16jessitanks.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/238957e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5248x2945+0+3/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.vox-cdn.com%2Fuploads%2Fchorus_asset%2Ffile%2F22925574%2Furbanstream02_06_16jessitanks.jpg 2x" width="490" height="275"
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<div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>A file photo of a tour of the Urban Stream Research Center in Warrenvlle, which is the center on much work on mussels.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Dale Bowman</p></div></div>
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<p>FLOW Film Fest leads Go & Show this week.</p><ul><li><a class="Link" href="https://theconservationfoundation.org/event/2024-flow-film-festival/" target="_blank" >FLOW Film Fest</a> has eight short films, centered around human connection to water, including the first public screening of "Mussel Matters: Saving Critical Species in DuPage County." It is free, open to all ages and requires no registration. It is at 7-9 p.m. Friday, March 22, at North Central College (Pfeiffer Hall) in Naperville. Other films are "Red – The Colorado River," "The Worth of Water," "Restoring Our Rivers," "How 'Forever Chemicals' Polluted America’s Water," "Road Salt: Street to Stream," "The Studio" and "Alice’s Garden – Solutions for Clean Water in Milwaukee." I would absolutely be at this, except this is my weekend to be on the other side of Lake Michigan.</li></ul><ul><li>On Saturday, March 23, the Illinois Smallmouth Alliance has free tying sessions at Kappy's Restaurant in North Aurora from 12-3 p.m. Options include, making inexpensive Ned jig heads, tying Fox River patterns, how to make Hover style rigs, how to tie with eyelash yarn and satin and tie along or watch.</li></ul><ul><li>The Masters Walleye Circuit tournament is Friday and Saturday, March 22-23, out of Spring Valley. The MWC gave these details for spectators: "Event specifics include a 7:30 a.m. CT takeoff each day and live weigh-ins at the Spring Valley Boat Club at 3:30 p.m. CT on March 22-23. Spectators are welcomed to witness the excitement in person weigh in are free and open to the public, or follow the action live online at <a class="Link" href="http://masterswalleyecircuit.com/" target="_blank" >masterswalleyecircuit.com</a> or on the official Facebook page: <a class="Link" href="http://facebook.com/MastersWalleyeCircuit" target="_blank" >facebook.com/MastersWalleyeCircuit</a>."</li></ul><ul><li>Farther afield, The <a class="Link" href="http://bassmaster.com/expo" target="_blank" >Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo</a> is at the Cox Business Convention Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Friday through Sunday, March 22-24.</li></ul><p><a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2023/11/22/23972227/outdoors-shows-master-list-2024-season-chicago" target="_blank" ><i>Click here for the complete list</i></a><i> of shows, outdoors classes, swap meets and major ice-fishing events.</i></p>
https://chicago.suntimes.com/outdoors/2024/03/21/flow-film-fest-and-isas-free-tying-sessions-lead-go-show
Dale Bowman