One of the legends of Chicago newspaper columnists remains the late Mike Royke. His columns had an acerbic edge that wasn’t for everyone, but was entirely Chicago and genuine. As an Andy Frain usher and supervisor, we all got to know the real Royko – a petty tyrant who threw his weight around as the […]

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I can never feel good about someone being let go. I have lost jobs several times over the years, and it is never fun. By the same token, it could be easy to be happy when sports broadcasters that you don’t like get canned, but even if I don’t like someone’s style or mode of […]

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I have posted Academy Awards predictions for many years, but didn’t during the pandemic because I was unable to attend TIFF for those years, but 2022 allowed my to return to the Festival and see some films before they hit the theaters or streaming services. To be honest, just the atmosphere of TIFF makes me […]

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I don’t usually write movie reviews except after Toronto, but rarely have I watched a decent film that missed something very basic. I was free yesterday, and I had heard about a new movie called Marlowe. I love film noirs; I like Liam Neeson as an actor and it was directed by Neil Jordan. I […]

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I should know better, but I just can’t help it – after decades of participating, I still participate in the WXRT Listeners’ Poll. WXRT is the worst in hypocrisy, promoting itself on its wide playlist but despite the great number of artists that they play, they only play the same 2-3 greatest hits by all […]

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For the past couple of years, I did not post a Best of Films list, in great part because I felt that I hadn’t seen enough films due to not attending the Toronto International Film Festival. That changed in 2022 and I saw 14 films there, on top of the usual “regular” movies. Here is […]

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I used to compile these lists every year, but I have gotten out of the habit during the pandemic, but there have been more releases this year than in the pandemic years, so I am compiling this list. As before, it is based on what I listened to most this year. Generally, my list has […]

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