Cheeky Gets Vamped (video)
This was a blast — Cheeky threw Halloween party with make-overs and I made a video of it. Check it out. And yes, that’s me behind the camera getting all afraid of innocent rodents. For the record, I’m not afraid of of mice and rats in general. It was the actor’s surprise approach! He’s good at his job. I swear.
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Tags: cheekychicago.com, chronicles of the cursed, video
Quick update: Here’s my interview with Michael Showalter, who’s on tour with Michael Ian Black in support of their new Comedy Central show, Michael and Michael Have Issues. Great guy.
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Let the Right One In
This movie was amazing. Bullied-schoolboy revenge fantasy, played out through a kind of reverse-Twilight, pre-teen romance, which reminded me of those adorably twee boy-meets-girl scenes in Rushmore.
The crux for me? The classmate cruelty scenes felt far more violent (disturbing, brutal, haunting) than the goriest vampire kill sequence. Strong & subtle point, especially given the recent events in Chicago. Couldn’t help but make the school killing connection. Maddening.
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Tags: fenger, let the right one in, movies
A few things this week:
1) Another preview of another Chicago show I can’t wait to see (in fact I will see it tomorrow): Salem! The Musical. As a musical theater lover and parody aficionado with an obsession for true crime, this should be my jam.
2) My KEXP blog wrap-up of the awesome Equalizer 9/25 show I keep mentioning.
3) My gushing over Inglourious Basterds continues in a profile of Mélanie Laurent in Cheeky.
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The Most Powerful Weapon of All.
I finally saw Quentin Tarantino’s Nazi fairytale opus Inglourious Basterds this weekend. It gave me that same giddy satisfaction I felt in 1994, when my fellow study-abroad students and I walked out of small art house in Bath, England, after seeing Pulp Fiction. Times ten.
First of all, I’m tickled that Tarantino has applied his ninja-like movie skills to perhaps the loftiest of revenge goals: straight up killing Nazis. Second, like every Tarantino movie, this chock full of genre references is a love letter to film itself, which gets me every time. Then you’ve got the dead-on acting and casting, from the good-enough-to-eat Basterds to my nouveau-fave femme fatale Mélanie Laurent to . . . I must pause . . . the impeccable Christoph Waltz. Straight to the top of my villain list.
But I’ve only just scratched the surface. Here’s why Inglourious Basterds can and will catapult to instant iconic status in film history: It’s a movie that captures the power of film itself. [Spoilers below].
What medium did Goebbels use to recruit countless blind supporters for the Third Reich? Film. What’s the only way to watch a Jewish American soldier in a James Bond tux pump round after round of lead into a helpless Führer? Make a movie. What spectacle could conceivably lure all the Nazi top brass into one room for a night of self-aggrandizing? Surely, nothing short of a red carpet movie premiere would do the trick. And what common item, in 1944, came coated with enough nitrate to potentially blow up a building? Yep. Film’s one bad-ass motherf*cker.
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Tags: inglourious basterds, movies
Faustus! He’s back, he’s got one night left on Earth, he’s had a little to drink and a lot on his mind. Seeing as this icon of hubris pre-dated the talk show circuit, he’ll just have to spew his long self-serving rant one-on-one to Mephistopholes, his manservant and captive audience. That’s the general premise of Theatre Oobleck’s An Apology for the Course & Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening, which opens Friday.
Oobleck’s on my list for Saturday, however, because this Friday 9/25 I’ll be at the darkroom for Equalizer Chicago, of course. Not just saying this because I help with the event: I’m super excited about seeing Mayer Hawthorne, Buff1 with 14KT and JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound all in the same line-up. Could not ask for a better line-up on my birthday! Yep, it’s a soul / hip hop Equalizer on my birthday. Plus Matt and I have reservations at Japonais beforehand. Shaping up to be a pretty great Chicago birthday — my sixth one here. That’s right. I’m six.
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Tags: buff1, cheekychicago.com, chicago music, faustus, jc brooks and the uptown sound, kexp equalizer, mayer hawthorne, theatre oobleck
Cheeky-tinis

Here’s my wrap-up of the Cheeky-tini Contest Charity Event at Martini Park. Proceeds went to Vital Bridges, which delivers food to people in Chicago with HIV/AIDS.
That is all.
Gorgeous weekend!!
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Tags: cheekychicago.com, martini park, vital bridges
I interviewed Season 4 Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard, whose new restaurant, The Drunken Goat, is set to open in the West Loop in January. She’s hosting a series of “Wandering Goat” dinner parties to lead up to the opening. The last one had a bacon theme (in totally unrelated bacon news, this is brilliant).
Cheeky Gets Nosy With a Top Chef
Feel like a taste of the macabre this fall? Chicago theater’s got you covered. Whether you prefer the Hypocrites‘ multi-media, newly adapted Frankenstein at the Museum of Contemporary Art or the pre-Broadway musical extravaganza The Addams Family at the Oriental Theatre, you’ve got some scary good options.
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Tags: cheekychicago.com, chicago food, chicago theater, linkedin, stephanie izard, the addams family, the hyprocrites frankenstein, top chef
Recent Entries
- Cheeky Gets Vamped (video)
- Most Entertaining Week Ever?
- Cheeky and Michael Have Interview
- Let the Right One In
- Witchy Women, Soul Men and Femme Fatale
- A very birthday Equalizer
- The Most Powerful Weapon of All.
- Blago’s so vain, he probably thinks this play is about him.
- Cheeky-tinis
- This Week In Cheeky: Top Chef Interview & Freaky Drama
- Bloodshot Beer-B-Q!
Categories
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- look what they did (13)
- musings (13)
Sunday 10/11:
Tuesday 10/13: Michael and Michael Have Live Show at the Metro. After doing the interview I posted below, I was especially excited for this. Comedy at the Metro is weird because of the standing. Note to self: The media area in the Metro has bad sightlines and only seats for the early birds. We wound up just standing downstairs. Highlights: Their footage of themselves of Fox news in Detroit; Jessi Klein’s opening set; Showalter’s sweater; Ian Black’s description of his kids’ increasingly creative Halloween costumes; their iTunes-scored dramatic film scenes. Two-person stand-up can be tough, but these guys riff so well I couldn’t help thinking how cool it would be to see them just put down the mics and do improv.
Wednesday 10/14: Animal Crackers at The Goodman. Joey Slotnick pretty much reincarnated Groucho Marx, and not just with the external shtick. He got almost scary at times — so smart, so irritated with the fallacies of the upper crust, so quick-witted and yet self-effacing. Unafraid of the corny jokes. You know. Groucho Marx. As Harpo, Molly Brennan was a true clown, with an indelible deadpan grin and perfect timing. The whole cast of nine shined, in fact, and all of the rapid costume changes succeeded is upping the farce factor. Sometimes actors passed behind a scrim for under 5 seconds and emerged as another character. Singing, dancing, all the best aspects of the genre. So much fun.
Thursday 10/15: Double Door. I went last night as a Rolling Rock rep (just 9 days left of that promo!) and caught three bands, each and every one good. I’m familiar with
Quick note on my weekend: