Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
With his waist-length black hair, dark somber eyes and skintight outfit, the star of “Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust” looks more like a beautiful, moody rock star than the half man/half vampire bounty hunter he is. Never mind that he’s a cartoon character.
Are you a good game player? We’re not talking about chess, Monopoly or even basketball here but rather that strange, confusing pas de deux called ”dating.”
For all the hammering that boy bands get, the Backstreet Boys were the perfect group to see Saturday night. Just a couple weeks after the terrorist attacks on the United States and talks of impending war, it was a relief to lose yourself in a two-hour show where all you had to worry about was not getting hit with a flying stuffed animal. The Backstreet Boys show was all about fun.
Chicagoans want to hear Ray Charles sing “America the Beautiful.” We are reading up on the Middle East. We are renting movies that celebrate the human spirit, but some of us also are checking out “Armageddon” and “Independence Day”–films where the United States reigns victorious. In different ways, we all are sating our psyches with comfort entertainment–in whatever form we need it–to help us deal with last week’s tragedy.
It is noon Friday. Thirty-six little heads are bowed in honor of the victims of Tuesday’s tragedy. Many of them have miniature American flags perched on their desks. These children-many of whom don’t yet like members of the opposite sex in that way-cling onto each other’s hands in solidarity. They are fifth graders at Arthur Dixon Elementary School on the South Side. Bright and articulate, they are acutely aware of this week’s events. They speak as knowledgeably about the terrorists as they do about pint-sized rap star Lil Bow Wow.
“China: The Panda Adventure” won’t tell you anything about the giant panda that a Discovery Channel special doesn’t do better. But what the IMAX picture can do is present the magnificent beauty of China and its gorgeous giant pandas on a 6-story, 80-foot screen.
Don’t use the “B” word around Vi3. That’s right, the Chicago-based trio doesn’t like to be lumped with boy bands. But let’s face it–if it looks like a boy band and dances like a boy band, well …
“You know the part in scary movies where somebody does something really stupid and everybody hates them for it?,” Trish says to her thrill-seeking brother, Darry, in the horror film “Jeepers Creepers.” “Well, this is it.” Right on cue, lil’ bro’ falls down a drainage pipe that leads to a deserted church basement decorated in tacky 1970s gore. There are a few hundred dead (but incredibly well-preserved) bodies here, a sutured stomach or neck part there. Nothing he can’t handle. Yet.
But make no mistake: Though Beyonce Knowles and Kelly Rowland may have started the group, Knowles is the primary destined child. The trio knows it, too. The women recently appeared on the cover of Vibe magazine made up like vintage Supremes. Guess who got to be Diana Ross?
Across the street from Dunkin’ Donuts and directly behind Popeyes Chicken, students faithfully gather at the Frog Temple to learn piloga from Randi Whitman. Whitman’s slim, toned body indicates that she hasn’t indulged in too many treats from either fast food joint.