Movie Tuesday Five Cheers For Ra L Ruiz

It speaks to how amazingly prolific Raúl Ruiz was that he’s still managing to entertain us from beyond the grave. This week Facets is screening the Chicago premiere of The Wandering Soap Opera (aka La Telenovela Errante), a collection of scenes the Chilean-born filmmaker shot in 1990 and that his widow, Valeria Sarmiento, completed in 2017. As I wrote in this week’s issue of the Reader, The Wandering Soap Opera touches on all the filmmaker’s favorite themes—paranoia, narrative intricacy, fleeting but meaningful friendships—while advancing the baroque (yet proudly low-budget) aesthetic for which he was beloved by cinephiles worldwide....

April 28, 2022 · 2 min · 306 words · Eva Clark

New Talent Buyer Zoey Victoria Stirs Up Tonic Room

Zoey Victoria has been a vital force in Chicago’s DIY underground since becoming infatuated with the scene in high school. Now 22, she’s managed artists such as Cold Beaches and Morinda and founded the Femifest Music and Art Festival, which would’ve had its sixth year in 2020. She’s also helped launch the DIY CHI Mutual Aid Fund, which collaborated with the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers last month on a stellar livestreamed benefit at the Hideout that featured Gossip Wolf faves Tenci, Ariel Zetina, and Lala Lala....

April 28, 2022 · 1 min · 189 words · Gary Getty

Officials Hope Much Hyped Drug Can Slow State S Opioid Crisis But Is It Worth The Costs

A multinational drug company has quietly carved out a lucrative, publicly subsidized market for an expensive—and risky—medicine that the company promises can help rescue Illinois from its opioid crisis. Vivitrol is also being dispensed by other public health officials and in private treatment clinics all across Illinois. Alkermes’s website lists at least 60 different Vivitrol providers in Chicago and the suburbs. Last year, Vivitrol was written into Governor Bruce Rauner’s “Opioid Action Plan” along with two more established drug treatments....

April 28, 2022 · 2 min · 219 words · Dan Silva

Panic Revives The Young Adult Adaptation

There’s something oddly comforting about the young adult novel adaptation. Regardless of genre, there’s often an element of predictability to the stories and an effortless relatability to the characters that make for a satisfying viewing experience. But at a certain point, audiences of all ages were burnt out by the sheer volume of these adaptations coming out at once, especially those with a more dystopian flair: The Hunger Games, the Divergent series, The Maze Runner, among others....

April 28, 2022 · 1 min · 171 words · Sam Turner

This Is My Home

Aaron “Haroon” Garel, 39, recounts fond memories of growing up in his vibrant south-side neighborhood, Woodlawn, during the 1980s. Block club parties were “on and poppin,’” treating neighborhood children to an abundance of candy and a free petting zoo. Stores and restaurants lined 63rd Street and at the corner of Kimbark Ave, the original three-story branch of the neighborhood public library doubled as a community center that held talent shows, dance practices and a local theater....

April 27, 2022 · 2 min · 242 words · Janet Horton

What Is The Appropriate Amount Of Side Boob

I had a blast hosting Savage Lovecast Live at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts. Audience members submitted questions before the show, and I consumed a large pot edible right after the curtain went up and then raced to give as much decent sex advice as I could before it took effect. Here are some of the questions I didn’t get to before my judgment became too impaired. A: This is outside my area of expertise/giving a shit....

April 27, 2022 · 2 min · 225 words · Sidney Belliveau

Amplifying Sally Banes

This article has been updated with corrected information. There is no argument that Sally Banes was an eminent, groundbreaking scholar, and that her writings informed, inspired, and connected many dance artists. Her work will continue to be taught and explored. It has already been pushed against; Manning explains that Ramsay Burt’s 2006 book Judson Dance Theater: Performative Traces and the 2019 MoMA exhibit about Judson-era art, The Work Is Never Done, both revise Banes’s narrative of the postmodern dance era....

April 27, 2022 · 2 min · 289 words · Megan Finch

Are The Vinyard Indians The Rachel Dolezal Of Native Tribes

In a small clearing in the middle of the Shawnee National Forest, Barney Bush sprinkles a handful of glittery dust into a bonfire and pokes at the night sky with an eagle feather as if signing some kind of phantom letter. It’s the second evening of Reconnection Days, an annual festival held on the third weekend in September by the Vinyard Indian Settlement, a small nonprofit entity 345 miles south of Chicago that’s the literal stomping grounds of a tribe of self-identifying Native Americans led by Bush, a distinguished poet, author, activist, and educator....

April 27, 2022 · 30 min · 6374 words · Christina Page

Bad Hunter Is Mostly Meatless But Missing Nothing

Along with gun racks and truck nuts, in certain parts of the country there’s a bumper sticker prevalent on rusty pickups that states “ ’Vegetarian’ is an old Indian word for ‘bad hunter.’ ” It’s from this feeble scrap of woodsman’s humor that Heisler Hospitality, the burgeoning bar and restaurant empire behind Trenchermen and Pub Royale, has adopted the name for its latest. These are fine dishes, but it’s the rest of the menu that makes Bad Hunter an oasis for anyone who prefers to keep blood out of the mouth....

April 27, 2022 · 2 min · 222 words · Kasandra Mont

Best Of Chicago 2015 City Life

Best use of faux religious iconography Best new rails-to-trails conversion that isn’t the Bloomingdale Trail Best new tech development to make your mouth water Best AM caffeine substitute Best indicator that the CTA is as slow as you think Best sex-positive podcast Best online publication following the astounding things your alderman does Best signs that the lakefront liberal is dead Best evidence Anita Alvarez might have a sense of humor Best political flack Best rebel alliance against the Empire Best alternative use of Christmas lights Best youth delegation to the United Nations Best place to bone up on Chicago’s legal history Best show of architectural chutzpah Best soul-singing sensei Best new college sports program Best NCAA basketball tournament appearance streak Best retro sports facility Best affordable indoor tennis club Best Chicagoan to follow on Twitter Best street character Best alderman Best journalist Best local blog Best neighborhood Best view of the city Best athlete Best historic building Best charity Best bowling alley Best dog park Best activist Best LGBTQ organization

April 27, 2022 · 1 min · 170 words · Joe Stines

Bill Clinton Revs Up Supporters In Evanston For Change Maker Hillary

In a raspy voice and with his folksy charm, Bill Clinton preached to the Democratic faithful in Evanston Tuesday morning, campaigning for Hillary Clinton here a week before the Illinois primary. And no one was more capable of that than Hillary, he said. He traced many of her campaign pledges: criminal justice reform, protection of gay rights, support for small businesses, and fighting for clean energy and a “more inclusive” economy....

April 27, 2022 · 1 min · 164 words · Karen Connolly

Bric A Brac Co Owner Helps Breathe New Life Into Defunct Italian Garage Rock Record Label

Thing Italian-based SSLD Records operated from 1999 until 2007, cranking out more than 30 slabs of deranged garage punk, with releases by bands like Lost Sounds, the Dirtbombs, the Bassholes, and the Ponys. Label owner Federico “Mr. Z” Zanutto originally ceased operations to focus on fatherhood, but like any true punk, he wasn’t about to just let the dream die. At the urging of—and with major assistance from—Bric-a-Brac Records co-owner Nick Mayor, SSLD has been resurrected and is now operating out of Mayor’s shop....

April 27, 2022 · 1 min · 154 words · Lawrence Cyr

Brilliant Michigan Grindcore Band Cloud Rat Stream New Album Play Chicago

Adam DeGross Cloud Rat Despite my fondness for loud, obnoxious music, I often have a hard time warming up to grindcore—usually because I can’t hear enough of what’s happening. Combine hyperactive distorted guitars with frenzied, pistoning drums, and in most cases the shape and direction of the riffs ends up lost. It’s like listening to a busy construction site—all you can make out is churning, percussive noise and shouting. Some bands make that work by expertly modulating the density and speed of the barrage—Wormrot come to mind—but I tend to prefer the ones that build in a little breathing room instead....

April 27, 2022 · 1 min · 152 words · Martina Andrews

Chicago Tattoo Artist And Rapper Phor Talks Mental Health On Self Love

In October 2015, VH1 launched Black Ink Crew: Chicago, a reality show chronicling the intertwining lives of tattoo artists working at 9 Mag, a Black-owned and -operated tattoo parlor in Pilsen. Black Ink Crew turned the shop’s regulars into celebrities, but cast member Phor Robinson already wanted to make a name for himself as a rapper before the first episode even aired—he’d dropped the full-length Sacrifice in early 2015. Since then, Robinson has put out four more albums as Phor, averaging nearly one a year....

April 27, 2022 · 1 min · 171 words · Angelia Trahan

Correcting Crain S On Tifs

Brian Jackson/Sun-Times Media Listen, Crains, Mayor Rahm doesn’t need any help getting away with TIF murder. I was lounging on the couch, watching my beloved Bulls on a peaceful Sunday afternoon, a bother to nobody, when Greg Hinz fired off the latest salvo in the great debate about TIFs. Greg Hinz is, among other things, an old pal who covers politics for Crain’s Chicago Business. OK, where do I start with my rebuttal?...

April 27, 2022 · 1 min · 166 words · Charles Bond

Experimental Metal Supergroup Rlyr Explore Their Poppy Side On Their Second Lp Actual Existence

Those familiar with Chicago’s heavy-music scene got what they were expecting with Delayer, the 2016 debut record from Chicago experimental-metal supergroup Rlyr. On it Pelican guitarist Trevor De Brauw, Locrian and Cleared drummer Steven Hess, and former Russian Circles/sometimes Bloodiest bassist Colin DeKuiper combined their powers to make an album of expansive instrumental postmetal that steamrolled their aggressive and pretty sides together. On the brand-new Actual Existence (The Flenser), Rlyr bust out of the formula they set up on Delayer and throw the world a curveball: they went ahead and made a pop record....

April 27, 2022 · 2 min · 247 words · Rocky Mears

Hawaiian Master Guitarists Bring Their Warm Island Sounds To A Cold Chicago Winter

George Kahumoku Jr., Nathan Aweau, and Kawika Kahiapo are masterful slack-key guitarists whose music embodies Hawaiian traditions, and between the three of them, they certainly have the accolades and awards to prove it—Kahumoku, for instance, is a four-time Grammy winner. Their six- and 12-string skills are unquestionable, and between their playing and their distinct ways of incorporating Hawaiian culture into their music, they’ve each fashioned a niche as viable singer-songwriters. Kahumoku is devoted to keeping indigenous Hawaiian music going strong, and in addition to his albums and performances, he’s taught, appeared in music documentaries, and written books to spread the slack-key gospel (and in 2015, he performed a duet with Tia Carrere on the revived Hawaii Five-O television show)....

April 27, 2022 · 2 min · 215 words · Scott Creech

How To Meet And Greet Little Green Men

The Reader‘s archive is vast and varied, going back to 1971. Every day in Archive Dive, we’ll dig through and bring up some finds. Article one stipulates, not in so many words, that Thou Shalt Wait Before Calling the Media. Inserted at the insistence of astronomers such as Peter Boyce of the American Astronomical Society, article one directs research organizations discovering a possible alien signal to hold off making a public announcement until they “verify that the most plausible explanation for the evidence is the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence rather than some other natural phenomenon....

April 27, 2022 · 1 min · 194 words · Kimberly Greenspan

In Good Grief Melissa Duprey Does More Than Just Talk About Loss

Melissa DuPrey sits across from me, in an updo she swears she never wears, positively radiant even as she discusses one of the most tender topics in America—grief. This contrast in presentation underscores the motivation behind DuPrey’s work on her upcoming solo show, Good Grief, coproduced at Free Street Theater. “It was not going to be Good Grief. It was going to be the story of me and my mother, and exploring mother-daughter relationships....

April 27, 2022 · 2 min · 333 words · Michael Whitehead

Listen To A New Track From Noise Rock Duo Uniform

Kelsey Henderson Uniform Uniform, the New York noise-rock duo of Ben Greenberg (formerly of the Men and Pygmy Shrews) and Michael Berdan (who used to sing in Drunkdriver) have been one of my favorite bands to emerge over the past couple years, creating a perfectly damaged racket with their punishing recordings and confrontational live performances. This week the band announced that their debut full-length, Perfect World, would be out in early June via 12XU, and along with that came a preview of the record, the title track, which is today’s 12 O’Clock Track....

April 27, 2022 · 1 min · 185 words · Edwin Patty