Illinois News Network | Archive | Entertainment

New movie thriller promises hole-in-one excitement

March 30, 2015 Comments Off

By Ray Hanania New independently-produced movie thriller that brings golf and gambling together and has local Southwest Suburban Chicagoland ties will be released to limited theatrical distribution on April 17 and to Video-on-Demand audiences. Directed and written by Terry Jastrow, the film stars Jeremy Sumpter (“Friday Night Lights”, Peter Pan), Christopher McDonald (Happy Gilmore, Requiem for a Dream, […]

Game of Thrones, reflects the corruption of humanity

March 22, 2015 Comments Off

The HBO series Game of Thrones, which begins its 5th season in three weeks, is successful for one main reason. It appeals to the deepest and darkest nature of humanity that lurks in all of us. Kings and concubines, sons and daughters, and rogues take the lives of others in a treacherous game of life. By […]

“The Rhythm and the Blues” film to highlight Chicago history, talent

March 9, 2015 Comments Off

“The Rhythm and the Blues” film to highlight Chicago history, talent Chicago will be the location this spring for a new, homegrown feature film, The Rhythm and the Blues. Set in the 1960s and 70s, the movie is based on a true story of a Mississippi born family of blues musicians trying to make […]

Movie Review: Chappie goes beyond SciFi

March 9, 2015 Comments Off

Neill Blomkamp, the producer of the 2009 SciFi movie District 9 has come up with a new SciFi film, Chappie, that looks like it could have been a sequel to District 9, but isn’t. Both are filmed in Johannesburg and feature some of the same actors. It’s a phenomenal hit that keeps you guessing. By Ray […]

Travel: Ft. Lauderdale, by Water Taxi

March 5, 2015 Comments Off

Travel: Ft. Lauderdale, by Water Taxi By Ray Hanania On our second cruise on the Norwegian Epic, this time doing the Western Caribbean itinerary (we did the Eastern Caribbean in November 2013), we decided to spend a few days on land before boarding the boat in Miami, Florida. So we booked a two night stay in […]

Traverse City Winter Comedy festival slated

January 21, 2015 Comments Off

By Ray Hanania The star-studded lineup for the Fifth Annual “Traverse City Winter Comedy Arts Festival” — the world’s ONLY festival that has six words in its name will feature big name entertainers and comedians, according to a release put out by filmmaker and activist Michael Moore. The festival will be held Feb. 13 - […]

Shameless love for ShowTime’s Sunday night lineup

January 12, 2015 Comments Off

By Ray Hanania There is no doubt that in the past decade, Cable Television has surpassed commercial television in terms of quality entertainment. As much as I dislike the Cable TV industry though, for their greed and excessive costs (the sell everything including the good, the bad and the garbage, for a fee), I couldn’t […]

Bastien shares life story in new one-person play

January 9, 2015 Comments Off

To honor families everywhere, we are pleased to announce that Stephen R. Bastien, successful entrepreneur, businessman, and writer will be performing his one person play, “A Championship Life,” as part of the 18th Annual Fillet of Solo Festival presented by Lifeline Theatre beginning this Saturday at 4pm at the Heartland Studio venue, 7016 N. Glenwood […]

Movie Theater Review: iPic in Bolingbrook

January 3, 2015 Comments Off

By Ray Hanania It only took me two years after receiving a gift card for iPic Theaters that I finally used it. And I am glad I did. The whole iPic experience may cause you to hesitate. They’re not very good at explaining how it all works. Basically, you see a movie and eat a […]

Interstellar takes 2001 Space Odyssey to 21st Century

November 9, 2014 Comments Off

Movie Review: Interstellar takes the audience beyond the 2001 and 2010 movie frontiers By Ray Hanania I was only 15 in 1968 when the science fiction movie “2001: A Space Odyssey” and it was a blockbuster that pushed our generation to the edge of imagination. We not only started to think about and imagine space travel […]