And now, another major venue in Rosemont also has a new name.

The Rosemont Theatre, at 5400 N. River Rd. in Rosemont, has been renamed the Akoo Theatre at Rosemont.

The Village of Rosemont handed over naming rights to the Rosemont-based Akoo International interactive media company, according to a news release

Akoo paid $1.5 million for a five-year deal, as well as access to performers at the theater for music and video content.

“As operator of the leading out-of-home entertainment television network in the U.S., Akoo International is a perfect partner for the theater,” Rosemont Theatre executive director Harry Pappas said in a news release. “We’re very excited to have the Rosemont-headquartered company as an active contributor to the local community.”

The 4,400-seat Rosemont Theatre opened in 1995.

Back in 2008, Rosemont Mayor Bradley Stephens offered the venue to the State of Illinois for use as a casino, but the state’s 10th casino license ended up going to the Rivers Casino in nearby Des Plaines.

She was a truly beautiful person who could have been a most beautiful role model for millions of young women, but she gave away that opportunity; just as Michael Jackson did, and Amy Winehouse – of the rich and careless pop music world.

They lost themselves in celebrity, and a misguided belief that fame and fortune could save them from their demons.

We’re hailing Whitney Houston, as we hail so many music stars as though they are heroes, which they are not.

Heroes are cops and firefighters and school teachers.

I say hail Houston as a lesson about the ravages of drugs. Hail the music industry to protect its young singers and the doctors to stop dishing drugs (50 million tranquilizers a year).

And hail the Grammy people to be better role models, and the media to focus less on who the stars are, and more on how they ought to behave.

Regina Daniels, Houston’s former publicist, shows the gold bracelet she received from the singer. It includes a very special inscription, “Regina and Nippy.”

“Nippy, which is her nickname,” Daniels says.

Houston’s father gave the singer the nickname, which was reserved for family and close friends.

“I tell you, she was a sweetheart. She genuinely was. She was fun, she was a joker,” Daniels says.

She worked for Houston for nine years, during the height of her career.

She says one of Houston’s happiest times was when she made her movie debut in the Kevin Kostner movie “The Bodyguard.”

Lynn Norment, former managing editor at Ebony Magazine, offers another close look at the superstar. She wrote nearly several on her career.

“At the core of her essence, she was very religious. Those are the things that were important to her: God, religion and family, and of course her talent,” Norment says.

Daniels attended the Grammys in Los Angeles and was looking forward to seeing Houston at the pre-Grammy party the night Houston died. Now, she’s making plans to attend her funeral service in New Jersey.

But As CBS 2′s Mai Martinez reports, Cahill never imagined the fame he’d find online.

At York Community High School, he’s just another sophomore, but online he’s larger than life, performing with some of the biggest names in music, from 50 Cent to David Guetta.

So how did this all happen to the 16-year-old from Elmhurst? The answer: a little time, a big dream, and a computer, all from the comfort of his own bedroom.

“At first it was just like, ‘Make a YouTube channel just for fun just to see what would happen,’” Cahill says.

What happened was not much, until Keenan recorded a lip-synched version of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream.”

The singer heard about it and tweeted “I heart you @KeenanCahill” and “THIS…is my Teenage Dream,” with a link to Keenan’s video. It went viral, making Keenan an instant Internet sensation.

Why did people react that way?

“I have no idea. I don’t find it funny at all,” Keenan says.

But millions do, including countless celebrities who are eager to co-star with Keenan. From singers to athletes, and even models, some popping by his house.

“Just Thursday night I’ve got Tyra Banks knocking on my door and going upstairs and doing a video with Keenan,” Keenan’s mother, Erin O’Brien Cahill, says.

During such encounters with celebrities, she says, “I hope my house is clean enough.”

Erin says she welcomes any distractions that take her son’s mind off the reality of  MPS-6, the life-threatening disease that has stunted her son’s growth.

“The focus is not on the disease anymore, but it’s on more positive things in his life,” she says.

As for Keenan, he couldn’t be happier because his teenage dream is now “basically a dream come true.”

So what’s next for Keenan? He wants to actually sing now and hopes to release his first single later this year.

After working with so many artists, Kennan said his dream co-star would be Chris Brown.

CBS 2′s Vince Gerasole reports on how fans are coping and remembering Whitney Houston.

They’re fans who remember singing her hits into their hairbrushes, or along to the radio as they drove down Lake Shore Drive.

Like legends Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra before her, Whitney Houston is remembered for songs and a sound that underscored American lives.

As her impeccable voice sang on, listeners called in to Effie Rolfe at V103 FM, singing Houston’s praises.

“When she sang, she just had it all. She had it,” Rolfe said.

Fans were touched by the superstar who crossed over from pop to R&B and smooth jazz, but never forgot her gospel music roots.

“One listener called this morning and said even when she sang the Star Spangled Banner; she said ‘I felt like my soul was on fire,’” Rolfe said.

John Gehron, one of the nation’s leading radio executives since the 1970′s, said Houston’s vocal clarity and charisma are only part of what made her a music legend.

“She loved what she did and it’s fun when you talk to people who love what they do,” Gehron said. “There was an enthusiasm for the business that she had. I mean, when you watched her on stage, I mean she just exploded with excitement.”

South Side resident Rai Barney said, “Her music was so inspirational.”

As they enjoyed a Sunday brunch, Barney and her family reflected on how Houston became the soundtrack to their lives.

“You just get chills when you hear her voice, because it’s so soulful and it just … I don’t know, it just touches you deep down,” Rha-Kera Sutton said.

Barney said it’s sad that Houston is gone, but her music still gives people a reason to smile.

“We have to celebrate her life, and her legacy, and her music,” she said.

There’s a pretty big Chicago connection to Sunday night’s Grammy tribute to Houston. Local girls Chaka Khan and Jennifer Hudson are reportedly the featured singers. Hudson has made no secret that Houston was a major influence on her career.

Houston died Saturday at the age of 48 at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles. Her cause of death has not yet been determined.

Show executive producer Ken Ehrlich said that Hudson will be featured in a “musical tribute” to Houston to note the Grammy-winner’s amazing accomplishments, adding Houston’s death is too fresh to do more at this time.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Regine Schlesinger reports

It won’t be the first time Hudson will pay tribute to Houston. Two years ago, at the BET Awards, Hudson serenaded a beaming Houston as she belted out Houston’s hit song “I Will Always Love You.”

Hudson has talked about Houston as a role model, recalling that as an 11-year-old girl, she would sing pretend duets with Houston.

Full CBS News Coverage Of Whitney Houston’s Death

Prior to the news of Houston’s death, Hudson attended a pre-Grammy event Saturday where she discussed the impact Houston had on her career.

Houston actually presented Hudson with her first Grammy. Hudson said meeting her idol “almost overshadowed getting the Grammy.”

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS Radio and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

By MICHAEL WALTERS
Cantankerous Critic

“Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” aims for mediocrity, but crash lands far short of it.

It strip mines Jules Verne, Gulliver’s Travels, and Treasure Island for a movie so condescendingly crappy it doesn’t even feel the need to try to be anything else because “it’s for kids.”

Josh Hutcherson reprises his role from 2008′s “Journey To The Center Of The Earth” as a rebellious teen bookworm/explorer. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is stuck in the thankless stepfather role. He offers to take the child to the South Pacific to track down Hutcherson’s long lost grandfather (Michael Caine) as a way to build a relationship with the boy. In this world the works of Jules Verne are truth masquerading as fiction, and Hutcherson believes old granddad has found the granddaddy of discoveries. What is it you say? Why the answer is all right there in the title, it’s the mysterious island. But the only thing mysterious is how little thought and wonder went into this misguided attempt at adventure.

Luis Guzman is comic relief as a bumbling helicopter pilot they hire to take them, and High School Musical alum Vanessa Hudgens is the court ordered love interest.

The film gives us tiny elephants, giant ants, and ill tempered lizards, but never lets the characters engage the special effects in any kind of an interesting way. Most of the time the characters simply go from place to place and stare blankly at the green screen unsure of what they’re reacting to and how to do it. Caine compensates best by wearing an expression of doddering glee throughout.

The film is so devoid of ideas it subjects us to a painfully extended sequence of people popping berries off The Rock’s pecs that has to be one of the lamest excuses for 3-D in recent memory- and an entire scene of The Rock singing around a campfire.

And although the movie was filmed in Hawaii, every set piece looks like some forgotten backwater of Disneyland with paths through the jungle so clearly marked and spacious you almost expect to see a tour group of 10 year olds following behind. This “Journey” quite simply isn’t worth the trip.

By MICHAEL WALTERS
Cantankerous Critic

“Safe House” doesn’t have a single idea it can call its own. Everything about the movie is on loan from somewhere else, and the end result is just so generic you may have trouble remembering anything beyond Denzel Washington’s beaming smile afterwards.

Washington is as dynamic as ever, this time playing a rogue CIA agent accused of selling U.S. Secrets to the highest bidder. He’s on the run in South Africa and walks into the American Consulate. Once he’s taken into custody he’s placed in a safe house in the care of low level operative Ryan Reynolds.

When the house is raided by armed men out to kill Washington- the two men go on the run together unsure of who to trust.

They start off as antagonists, but begin to develop an uneasy chemistry. Washington is as good as anybody at playing both sides of the coin. He’s a master manipulator and uses his innate charm to keep you on your toes, never quite knowing whether he’s telling the truth or just playing you. Reynolds has become a better actor than people give him credit for, but he never quite gets a handle on what he’s supposed to be called to do.

The film coasts as far as it does on Washington’s performance alone, but the end results are as rote as they are predictable. There’s the usual dirty politics, secret agents, and gunplay and camera work that comes off a bit like Tony Scott-lite. It’s an ok way to kill a couple of hours, but I can’t quite envision a scenario where I’d be quite that bored that Safe House would seem like my only option.

Critic’s Note: The screening I attended was delayed by 45 minutes because of technical problems with the film. Some critics left. I stayed. It wasn’t worth the wait.

By MICHAEL WALTERS
Cantankerous Critic

Is there a more dynamic actress on the screen than Rachael McAdams? After watching “The Vow,” I’m inclined to think not. She single-handedly takes a story that sounds like yet another piece of chick-lit Nicolas Sparks trash and infuses it with a humanity and charm I frankly didn’t think was possible.

Rachael McAdams and Channing Tatum are relative newlyweds. They come out of a movie at the Music Box, and then get into a car accident barely before the credits are over. She goes into a coma and then wakes up. She remembers who she is and her parents and growing up, but can’t remember ever meeting or marrying her husband or anything about their life together in Wicker Park. So he must court her all over again to make her fall in love with him all over again.

They say a rising tide raises all ships, and her energy raises the game of everyone else in the cast too. Even Channing Tatum (still the actor most likely to be nicknamed “cementhead”) comes off relatively well. The film doesn’t ask him to stray out of his fairly limited range, but he’s actually serviceable for once which is a big change from his usual slightly inadequate. Sam Neil and Jessica Lange are her rich North Shore parents who don’t care much for her more bohemian loft-living Wicker Park city life with Tatum. They’re stuffy and disapproving, but I wouldn’t say they’re demonized either.

I am the last person who expected to like this movie. I actually went into it with a sort of dread but hopeful that maybe Rachael McAdams could make something out of it. Instead I got just the right kind of Valentine’s Day movie to make you feel gooey inside and remind you about all the reasons why you love someone else. It’s about as original as a dozen roses and a box of chocolates. But hey, sometimes that’s all you need.

As CBS 2′s Pamela Jones reports, Cornelius’s friends and fans lifted their voices in soulful tribute to a man they say used a simple show to help change the lives and attitudes of a nation.

WVON Radio’s Herb Kent put it simply: “I love me some Don Cornelius”

Kent was just one on a list of Chicago celebrities gathered at the Museum of Broadcast Communications for a public memorial for Cornelius.

Entertainment mogul Don Jackson originally suggested Cornelius put the brakes on the Soul Train idea before it hit the tracks.

“I said at the time, ‘Soul Train? A show like that will never make it on the air,’” Jackson said. “I went my way and he went his way.”

Fifteen years later, the show’s success made Jackson roll back on those words.

He was sent to ask Cornelius to strike a deal that would put Soul Train on more stations across the country.

“I said, ‘Man I have to apologize. You have a great show.’ He said, ‘You damn right I got a great show.’”

Veteran broadcasters like Merri Dee shared how Cornelius helped mold careers in Chicago.

“We can take away the fact that we can have a dream and that that dream can come true,” Dee said.

Soul Train promoted a style and flair some at Wednesday night’s event couldn’t help but show off.

“It’s sad that it had to come to this occasion for us to celebrate like this, but it also recognized the fact that … one of our own made such an impact on all of our lives,” said Soul Train fan Troy Winston, who donned a zebra stripe suit and matching hat for the memorial.

Radio executive Marv Dyson was one of the last Chicagoans to talk to Cornelius. Dyson said Cornelius left him three messages just hours before he committed suicide.

Dyson borrowed some of Cornelius’ most famous words to pay tribute to his friend.

“’Love, peace, and soul’ do not begin to describe the man that was Don Cornelius,” Dyson said.

Dyson said Cornelius left him one message just before his death, saying he was going to go away for a while to a hospital. Dyson said one of the last things his friend did was to get his son free tickets to the Grammy Awards, so he was giving right up until the end.

As WBBM Newsradio’s Regine Schlesinger reports, the sleek steel sculpture known formally as Cloud Gate already has become one of Chicago’s top attractions since it was unveiled in 2004.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Regine Schlesinger reports

Starting Friday evening, the sculpture could even more visitors, as a temporary exhibit called “Luminous Field” will light it up with vibrant colors and music.

The Chicago artistic ensemble Luftwerk has designed a field of multicolored geometric mosaics beneath the Bean, which will reflect the lights in a light show that will be synchronized to music.

Luftwerk is a collaboration between artists Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero, both alumni of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The artists formed the Luftwerk ensemble in 2007, with a focus on new media, video, and light design, according to the City of Chicago.

Luftwerk has also created multimedia installations at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater House in Mill Run, Pa., and Wright’s Robie House in the Hyde Park neighborhood.

Luminous Field will be on display from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday evenings, and 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday evenings, from Feb. 10 to Feb. 20.

Bachmeier and Gallero will also appear for a discussion led by Art Institute adjunct professor Lou Mallozzi at 7 p.m. Feb. 15 at Millennium Park.

The tribute is planned for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the museum’s new location, 360 N. State St. It will also be broadcast live on WVON-1690 AM.

Doors will open at 5:15 p.m.

Cornelius, 75, was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted this past Wednesday morning at his Los Angeles home.

A former Chicago police officer, Cornelius began his broadcasting career at WVON in the 1960s. He originally worked as a newscaster and reporter.

But Cornelius had an idea and WCIU-Channel 26 bought it: an afternoon teen dance show for the African-American community. “Soul Train” quickly became a phenomenon. Cornelius started “Soul Train” on a shoestring budget as a daily show on black and white TV on Aug. 17, 1970.

As the show got off the ground, local high school kids came to the WCIU studios in the Board of Trade building to dance to the latest R&B hits.

The program moved to national syndication in October 1971, and production for the program also moved to Los Angeles at that time.

“Soul Train” went on to become the longest-running first-run, nationally syndicated TV show ever. New episodes were produced until 2006.

Cornelius stopped hosting the show in 1993, by which time he was an icon.

The Chicago Sun-Times contributed to this report, via the Sun-Times Media Wire.

By MICHAEL WALTERS
Cantankerous Critic

“Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe confronts things that go bump in the night without the aid of his trusty wand in the atmospheric haunted house chiller “The Woman In Black.” It’s a surprisingly effective scare generator full of creaking doors, cobwebs, and ghosts who are gone in a flash even if the scares themselves get a little repetitive after a while.

Radcliffe is a London lawyer sent out to the English countryside to get some affairs in order at a creepy old estate. But the locals are highly uncooperative, and get a frightened look in their eyes whenever the home is mentioned. The home itself, surrounded by marshland, and periodically cut off from the outside world by high tides that wash out the road, is just as big a part of this scary movie’s appeal as the story or the actors themselves. It’s simply awash in creepiness, and its really the only thing that sets this spine-tingler apart from other haunted house stories before it.

Radcliffe proves himself to be a capable actor outside the safety net of the Harry Potter franchise. He’s not asked to do a whole lot other than be inquisitive and walk down spooky hallways by candlelight to investigate a strange noise, but continues to command our attention. It seems the home is haunted by the ghost of an old woman who first had her son taken from her, and then saw him drown in the marsh outside. And the locals say whenever she’s seen she takes another child to avenge her own loss.

So of course, Radcliffe spots her on his first visit, and the children around town start mysteriously dying. He’s supported by a fine English cast including Oscar Nominee Janet McTyre as a mother who can mysteriously communicate with the spirit of her own young son who was taken by the ghastly ghost.

While the filmmakers make a great use of the locations, the scares themselves are decidedly run of the mill. If you’ve ever seen one of those internet videos that starts off showing something banal and then shocks the heck out you when a creepy ghost pops in from nowhere, this movie is kind of like that. But the shocks fade away as quickly as the ghosts themselves leaving just a few vapors of a good time in their wake.

By MICHAEL WALTERS
Cantankerous Critic

“Chronicle” is one part superhero origin story, one part “Cloverfield.” It shares Cloverfield’s found footage visual trappings and asks the right questions, but it’s not quite as fresh or intelligent as it thinks it is.

Andrew is a shy maladjusted teenager who provides the camera we see everything through. When his cooler cousin Matt drags him to a high school rave — he’s rolling when Matt and the glad handing class president Steve stumble onto a strange alien spaceship buried in the ground outside. They head down the rabbit hole, find a strange glowing orb and emerge with new superpowers, and the ability to fly.

Since we’re not in a Spiderman movie, these teens don’t immediately use their new powers to go out fighting crime. Instead they test them out first for silly teenage pranks like moving cars in a parking lot, or peeking up girls skirts and playing with legos. But as they continue to test out their new powers they get more powerful, and more likely to go out of control.

I give the movie credit for asking the right questions and examining the corrupting power of their newfound strength. While Steve and Matt are insistent on keeping their powers secret and keeping them under control — Andrew becomes more and more eager to settle old scores. He’s been bullied at home by an abusive father, and at school and he’s finally got the power and will to defend himself.

I don’t have to tell you who becomes the monster terrorizing everything in sight. The whole found footage genre has become a cliché by this point, and this movie tests the audience’s patience with its ADD addled visual style. But it at least has a reason for its found footage style. When it sticks to the themes of isolation, the downtrodden and the corrupting power of power, it gives the brain and the eyes a little something extra. But too often the film tosses away its more existential questions in favor of some bad CGI and a lot of the usual Hollywood destruction.

By MICHAEL WALTERS
Cantankerous Critic

By the standards of kid-friendly animals in trouble rescue pics, “Big Miracle” is a better than average tale that works as well as it does because of winning performances and a script willing to add a few extra layers to the standard environmental story.

The movie surrounds the true story of a family of whales trapped in the ice in Alaska and unable to get to the ocean. John Krasinski is the small market TV reporter eager to move on and up from Alaska who stumbles onto the story and believes it may be his ticket to the big time. Drew Barrymore is a Greenpeace activist who happens to be his old girlfriend. She’s got a flair for publicity grabbing stunts and leads the efforts to save the whales. Ted Danson is the oil executive eager to drill in a wildlife preserve who becomes convinced saving the whales will be just the kind of good PR he needs to help him accomplish his goals.

Krasinksi’s story and her publicity grab the hearts of the nation, and soon every network in the country is flooding the alaskan wilderness with correspondents. While it would be easy to draw all these characters in black and white and separate them into heroes and villains, the reality here is that everybody lives in a different shade of gray. Barrymore may be a tireless crusader for environmental action, but truth be told she likes the media attention just as much as the rich oil barons she’s fighting against do. No one has entirely pure motives here, but everyone is working together towards their own ends, and the whales just happen to be the beneficiaries.

He hasn’t yet found a star making vehicle on the big screen- but I’ve always enjoyed John Krasinski on “The Office” and in movies like “Away We Go.” He can be a little too ironic sometimes, inserting air quotes around any expression of sincerity, but he mostly puts his expressive face to good use here. But for a TV reporter on the biggest story of his life, he doesn’t do much reporting. He spends more time tussling with Barrymore, or wooing a local correspondent from L.A. (Kristen Bell) than actually tracking down any leads. He only seems to pick up a camera or take any notes when the script requires him to.

In short, there are a lot worse ways to entertain the kiddies on a snowy or cold February day. It’s something of a miracle but “Big Miracle” is a lot more entertaining than a movie about Drew Barrymore saving the whales has any right to be.

As CBS 2’s Roseanne Tellez reports, Dyson said Thursday that he wonders if he might have made a difference if he was home to answer his phone when the “Soul Train” creator called a few hours before taking his own life.

Dyson knew Cornelius for 40 years and said he was shocked to hear of his friend’s death on Wednesday.

“I pulled off to the side of the road when my wife called. I just kind of sat there and went, ‘This can’t be real,’” Dyson said.

Then he discovered three messages left by Cornelius on his voice mail at home. The first message said simply “call me.”

“The second message was, ‘I’m going to be unavailable for a few days, because I have to go into the hospital,’” Dyson said. “I don’t know what that meant. And the third message was, ‘I’ve got the tickets for your son.’”

Dyson said he had hit up Cornelius for Grammy tickets and, as always, his friend came through. He said he wishes he could have returned the favor.

“If I just could have heard his voice that night, I might have been able to say something to make a difference,” Dyson said.

Asked if he saw any indication that Cornelius was in distress, Dyson said “no, not at all.”

Dyson had seen his old buddy last year when he returned to Chicago for his street dedication and, while he suspected Cornelius was having some health trouble, Dyson said he had no idea it could lead to this.

Dyson’s son Tony Cornelius said the family also failed to see the signs.

“I could tell that he was uncomfortable, but … our family could never know that he would … how uncomfortable he really was,” he said.

Tony Cornelius said his lasting memory of his father will be the happiness he brought to millions with dancing, music and style.

“It’s just a legacy of things that make me smile when I hear his voice, and I see the show, and it’s wonderful,” he said.

Dyson said he had asked Cornelius if he could nominate him into the Illinois Broadcast Association Hall of Fame. Cornelius agreed, but said he didn’t want to attend any events, because he didn’t want people to see him when he wasn’t feeling great.

Dyson said that comment just didn’t raise a red flag.

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — “Soul Train” creator and Chicago native Don Cornelius was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Wednesday morning in his Los Angeles home.

Cornelius, 75, was found dead around 6 a.m. Chicago time at his home in the Sherman Oaks district, CBS Los Angeles reported.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Regine Schlesinger reports

Law enforcement officials tell CBS Los Angeles that Cornelius was discovered with a gunshot wound to the head. CNN confirmed Wednesday morning that Los Angeles Police reported to the county coroner that Cornelius died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Cornelius was born in Chicago in 1936 and was raised in the Bronzeville neighborhood, where he attended DuSable High School.

As CBS 2’s Derrick Blakley reports, Cornelius became the conductor of a TV trip that changed American culture when he launched “Soul Train” in Chicago and it eventually became a national phenomenon.

WVON Radio’s Melody Spann said, “Don Cornelius had the vision to take young black America and put them on the world stage.”

A former Chicago police officer, Cornelius began his broadcasting career at WVON in the 1960s.

WVON disc jockey Herb Kent, a member of the Radio Hall of Fame, said, “Don wanted to be a DJ, he really wanted to be a DJ, but we didn’t have room so they made him a newsman. And he was a very good newsman.”

But Cornelius had an idea and WCIU-Channel 26 bought it: an afternoon teen dance show for the African-American community. “Soul Train” quickly became a phenomenon.

When Cornelius convinced the management at Channel 26 – then broadcasting only in black and white – to air his very modest afternoon dance show, little did he know that he would one day set a longevity record for a nationally syndicated television show.

FROM WXRT: 10 ESSENTIAL SOUL TRACKS

Cornelius came a long way from Chicago’s South Side to a broadcast that showcased some of the biggest stars in the music business.

Cornelius started “Soul Train” on a shoestring budget as a daily show on black and white TV on Aug. 17, 1970.

The Chi-Lites, the Emotions, and Jerry “Iceman” Butler – now a Cook County commissioner – were among the first guests.

As the show got off the ground, local high school kids came to the WCIU studios in the Board of Trade building to dance to the latest R&B hits.

Chicagoans of a certain age remember it well.

“After school, everybody used to rush home to come see ‘Soul Train’ in Chicago,” one woman said.

The program moved to national syndication in October 1971, and production for the program also moved to Los Angeles at that time.

University of Chicago professor Adam Green says when Cornelius moved the show to Los Angeles, he took Chicago’s culture with him.

“In a certain sense, it was insinuating some of the DNA of African-American popular music culture into the broader black community nationally, but also, I think, the broader community at large,” he told WBBM Newsradio’s John Cody.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s John Cody reports

By the time “Soul Train” got to L.A., the music industry had taken notice, and Cornelius was attracting the biggest stars – the Jackson Five, James Brown and the Isley Brothers among them.

“When we started to believe that we had something was the day Aretha Franklin walked in the door,” Cornelius said in a recent interview. “We were like, ‘OK, it’s starting to look bright now.’”

“Soul Train” went on to become the longest-running first-run, nationally syndicated TV show ever. New episodes were produced until 2006.

Cornelius stopped hosting the show in 1993, by which time he was an icon.

“Soul Train” was a sensation, and not just for blacks.

Neal Sabin, executive vice president of WCIU-TV said, “For us, the kids who weren’t African-American, it was showing us a whole world that we never saw on televsion before. I think that’s what made it really unique.”

This past September, Cornelius was back in Chicago to mark the 40th anniversary of “Soul Train.” He was honored at Millennium Park with a concert that featured some of the great musical acts he helped launch.

Also at the event, an honorary street sign emblazoned with Cornelius’ name and the “Soul Train” logo was unveiled, in honor of the 40th anniversary of the program. Cornelius was clearly moved.

“This is the biggest thing that has ever happened to me,” he said.

And that was quite a statement, considering his long, celebrated career in show business.

Speaking from Florida Wednesday morning, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said he was “stunned” by the news of Cornelius’ death. Jackson pointed out that as a reporter for WVON, Cornelius recorded and broadcast the meetings held the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. when the civil rights leader came to Chicago for his open housing drive.

“He had this idea of a kind of alternative to ‘American Bandstand,’ and he started going down to the trade center, and at some point, Johnson Products Company – a black company – decided to sponsor it, and it took off,” Jackson said.

Jackson described Cornelius as an affable man who looked out for artists who were otherwise being ignored.

“He was sensitive and funny,” Jackson said. “We had this contest for who had the highest afro. I think he won. We had fun. But for the artists who just didn’t have an outlet, you know, people like Aretha Franklin, Al Green, and the O’Jays, and Marvin Gaye, the Chess Records groups, and the Motown group, this was their outlet. And once he found his niche, he just kept making room for more people. Beyond that, he was well-liked. He was a good guy. He wasn’t hard to know; (he was) easy to like.

CBS 2’s Harry Porterfield also met Cornelius several times when they were both covering news stories in the field. The last time they crossed paths, Cornelius was covering a meeting between the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Nelson Rockefeller.

“This guy was really impressive; he had this big, deep, booming voice, and he was very tall and very big, and he dominated the scene wherever he went,” Porterfield said. “He was really quite a unique individual.”

Cornelius, and the fact that he was boss of his own production, were sources of pride for African-Americans. But people of all races and backgrounds have told us this morning how much they loved “Soul Train.”

The street sign honoring Cornelius now graces the corner of Halsted and Madison streets, the current location of the studios for Channel 26.

We pick up “pop” and “sassage sammitches” at “da beef stand over by dere.” We call our living room the “frunch room.” And we proudly call ourselves “Grabowskis.”

But we all know there’s more to being a Chicagoan than that. In fact, there are two new YouTube videos, whose creators have jumped on the “S**t People Say” bandwagon, that expose some the many endearing, and annoying, remarks we make.

The first “S**t Chicaogans Say” clip was posted a week ago by Matthew Montalvo, of the Belmont-Cragin neighborhood.

The old chestnuts of our common lingo are all there – from “Huh?” to “Wassup, joe?” and from “gym shoes,” to “Da Bears.”

Montalvo showcases Chicagoans’ spirited and undying defense of favorite sports teams past and present. LeBron, Kobe and even Derrick Rose are “good,” according to the video, but none compare to Michael Jordan.

And our common habits are also exposed, from chasing CTA buses as they pull away from bus stops without us to having cell phone conversations while driving, but putting our phones down in our laps when a police officer happens to drive by. And as many of us may have done at some point, Montalvo takes a toy tricycle that a neighbor was using to protect a parking space and hurls it into the snow.

As of Tuesday, Montalvo’s video had 155,375 views and 725 comments.

Two days after Montalvo’s video appeared, Robert Bacon, Marie Maloney and Tess Borgerding posted their own video, filmed largely on the sidewalks along Broadway in the East Lakeview neighborhood.

Their clip showcases the common everyday problems we Chicagoans run into, from movies being filmed outside our apartment buildings to the Red Line always smelling like urine.

Also exposed is our frequent obsession with the identity of our neighborhoods, whether we wonder, “What neighborhood technically is this?” or point out, correctly, that “Wrigleyville is a sub-neighborhood of Lakeview.”

We are reminded of how we love to point out President Barack Obama’s house, and how we refuse to accept that the Willis Tower will ever be called anything other than the Sears Tower.

And while Montalvo merely expresses disdain at the notion of ketchup on a hot dog in his clip, Bacon goes so far as to swat a hot dog right out of Borgerding’s hand onto the ground as he scolds her for drenching it with the forbidden condiment.

Some people have left comments on Bacon, Maloney and Borgerding’s video, complaining that it was too focused on young professionals from the North Side. But Bacon fired back at those charges on his own Web site.

“I’m sorry that we didn’t have time to go to every neighborhood in Chicago and film what each side says differently. This is a ‘S**t ___ Say’ video, not a documentary,” Bacon wrote.

And a few detractors notwithstanding, fans seem to be flocking to the clip. As of Tuesday, it had racked up 651,985 views and 1,515 comments.

CBS Chicago Web Producer Adam Harrington contributed to this report.

Survivor co-founder Frankie Sullivan, whose legal name is Frank M. Sullivan III, filed the lawsuit on Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Sullivan owns Rude Music, a Palatine-based corporation which publishes his musical compositions.

Guitarist Sullivan and keyboardist-vocalist Jim Peterik wrote “Eye of the Tiger,” which was released on May 29, 1982, and topped the charts around the world. It also became the theme song for the movie “Rocky III.”

The song has been copyrighted since June 7, 1982, the lawsuit said.

Gingrich began using the song as early as 2009 during political conferences and public events such as the Conservative Political Action Conferences from 2009-11 and the Southern Republic Leadership Conference in 2010, the suit claims.

Gingrich has also used the song publicly during campaign appearances in Pennsylvania and a “pre-caucus swing” through Iowa before its Republican caucuses, the suit said. A video on the Newt 2012 Inc. website features Gingrich entering a packed Moose Lodge in Doylestown, Pa., for a speech as the song “pulsed,” the suit claims.

Gingrich’s campaign bus “blared” the song during a stop at an excavation business in Walford, Iowa, and “Eye of the Tiger” was also played when he entered and exited an event in Des Moines, the suit claims.

The suit claims Gingrich is “sophisticated and knowledgeable” about copyrights, both as a former elected official and a business owner.

According to the U.S. Copyright Office, Gingrich is author or co-author of 40 copyrighted works. While he served as a congressman, the Copyright Act was extensively amended.

Gingrich is also chief executive officer of Gingrich Productions Inc., a Washington-based multimedia production company that features works from Gingrich and his wife, Callista, the suit said. They have produced historical and public policy documentaries, photographic essays, and written and audio books.

During a recent debate in South Carolina, Gingrich criticized the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act, stating, “We have a patent office, we have copyright law. If a company finds that it has genuinely been infringed upon, it has the right to sue …,” the suit said.

The suit also names the American Conservative Union for posting internet video recordings of its 2010 and 2011 conferences that featured Gingrich and the “Eye of the Tiger” song, which was unlicensed, unauthorized and infringed upon Rude Music’s copyright.

The suit claims copyright infringement and seeks that Gingrich and the American Conservative Union stop using unauthorized performances of the song. It also seeks damages, any profits gained from using the song, attorney fees and court costs.

Kristy Campbell, an American Conservative Union spokeswoman, said she hadn’t seen the lawsuit as of late Monday afternoon, but would be reviewing past music licensing agreements. A spokesman for Gingrich was not immediately available for comment Monday.

This is not the first time in recent years that a politician has gotten into legal trouble for using a popular song without permission.

When he was running for office two years ago, U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) was slapped with a lawsuit by the other Joe Walsh – the guitarist from the Eagles.

The Eagles’ Walsh alleged candidate Walsh took his 1970 hit with the James Gang “Walk Away” and changed the lyrics to turn it into a campaign song called “Lead the Way.”

Candidate Walsh went on to win the election, and has gained notoriety in his freshman term as a Tea Party firebrand. He has also come out against SOPA and its companion act, the Protect IP Act (PIPA.)

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.

By MICHAEL WALTERS
Cantankerous Critic

“Man On A Ledge” is a movie made to play on TNT on a rainy afternoon. It’s got a simple premise you can understand easily from the title alone, and it never aspires to be anything else. But that begs the question: Why pay for something you probably wouldn’t pay that much attention to on television?

“Avatar” star Sam Worthington is the Man On A Ledge. He’s a former cop framed and convicted for a jewel heist he didn’t commit. So he breaks out of jail and stands on the ledge to attract enough of an audience so he can plead his case and clear his name.

Elizabeth Banks is a hostage negotiator with a checkered track record assigned to talk him down. He’s specifically asked for her because she’s sure to attract the voyeuristic vultures of a bloodthirsty news media eager to pounce on her next screwup.

While Worthington is commanding the stage, his brother and his brother’s girlfriend try to break into the safe of unscrupulous New York real estate mogul Ed Harris. Worthington was accused of stealing a large diamond from Harris. So they try to break into his vault to show the diamond was never stolen in the first place and Harris was just using him to collect the insurance money.

Now I don’t need to explain to you, dear reader, just how profoundly stupid and farfetched this idea is. Somehow while being incarcerated, Worthington has drawn up incredibly detailed and precise plans of Harris’ maximum security vault. And all those security systems can be disarmed by two amateurs.

The movie also relies on Harris and everyone else to play incredibly dumb to keep the mechanics of plot going. There’s also a little loved subplot about dirty cops that’s only brought up when its convenient and then dropped just as quickly.

Worthington, Banks, and Harris never digress to the point of being unwatchable. But there’s no spark, no pizazz, nothing to set the overwhelmingly average movie apart. You wonder why they went to the trouble to make it all?

By MICHAEL WALTERS
Cantankerous Critic

Liam Neeson is cold, and there’s wolves!! That’s all you need to know about “The Grey,” an unambitious actioneer that fails to realize the potential of simple but boneheaded premise.

Neeson is one of several roughneck oil workers who survives a plane crash in the frozen wilderness of Alaska. From there, it’s a battle to survive against the brutal elements and a pack of bloodthirsty wolves on their scent.

The script never develops beyond the one sentence pitch meeting stage, and it’s clear no one involved in the production even though to try. Neeson and the rest of the cast never get characters to work with, they might as well all be named “Tough Guy,” so we never really care whether anyone lives or dies.

But the film was obviously done on the cheap so it doesn’t have big spectacular set-pieces to rely on either. For example — there’s no plane crash. Neeson simply wakes up in the snow. There’s no subtext, no characters, and nothing much going on. And it never succeeds in becoming a ludicrous good time either. It’s just tough guys in the cold struggling to survive and getting picked off one by one by some very fake looking wolf effects. I suspect there may not have been any actual wolves on set because we never get a good look at them.

If you’re going to set up Liam Neeson to fist fight a wolf with broken bottles from an airplane minibar, at least have the conviction to follow through and deliver the goods. Instead we get a combination of crappy looking CGI, and animatronic wolves, and we never see the actual confrontation. I’ve seen more realistic looking robots on the rides at Disneyland.

Writer/Director Joe Carnahan ostensibly set out to make an enjoyably crappy twinkie of a movie- an exploitation movie in the style of old. But with each impending picture- Carnahan continues his rapid decline into ham fisted self parody.

His best movie, “Smokin’ Aces,” wasn’t that good to begin with, but it might as well be “Goodfellas” compared to this.

You’d think Neeson would have learned his lesson after working with Carnahan on “The A-Team.” Maybe Neeson just doesn’t care anymore because he may be freezing his tail off but he’s phoning this one in. This one isn’t enjoyably bad, it’s just boring.

As WBBM Newsradio’s John Cody reports, former offensive guard Morris Robinson is now in rehearsals for “Show Boat” at the Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Dr.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s John Cody reports

Robinson considered going pro in football, but the NFL didn’t consider him a good candidate. At 6 feet 2 inches tall and 290 pounds, he was too small.

And while Robinson always sang, he wasn’t a music major.

“I have a degree in English at the Citadel, with an emphasis on prelaw, and I was going to go to law school, and ended up going to work for 3M Company in Minnesota for a while, and then I worked for a division of Exxon and Monsanto, selling thermoplastic elastomers up in the New England area, and then I went back and started studying music at the age of 30,” Robinson said.

The decision to turn from business to voice worked. Robinson starred at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Tanglewood in Boston, and Symphony Center in Chicago.

He debuts in “Show Boat” on Feb. 12 at the Lyric Opera.

“Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin’ town, I love Chicago,” he said.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Lisa Fielding reports

At 75 years old, Campbell reflects on a life of singing, songwriting, and acting.

“I just love to sing and play,” he said. “I’m very blessed.”

In the last several months, Campbell has had a new battle to fight. In June, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease but the singer doesn’t seem to even realize his fate.

“They say I have Alzheimer’s disease. I guess it’s something with my brain?” he said. “It’s like having the croup every once in awhile. I haven’t noticed it in my life.”

His wife of 30 years, Kim, travels everywhere with him and is there when he forgets details, names and faces.

The country legend says his “Goodbye Tour” is something he says he’s doing for his fans.

“I don’t worry about how I’m going to play,” he said.

Unlike Ronald Reagan and Charlton Heston before him, Campbell decided not to exit the public stage and share his experiences with his fans.

“People say: keep your chin up,” he said.

He plays with his family — his daughter and two sons.

The eight-time Grammy winner released his new album “Ghost on the Canvas” in August. He will receive the industry’s lifetime achievement award on February 11th.

“I haven’t been around a lifetime yet,” he laughed.

Some of his hits include “Rhinestone Cowboy,” “Southern Nights”, “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”, and he even starred with John Wayne in the movie “True Grit.” He also hosted a variety show on CBS called “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour.”

Campbell was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005.

He is playing at the at the Rialto Square Theater in Joliet Thursday and Friday.

“With so much to do, see and eat, some of our city’s finest features do not make it onto our tourists’ to-do lists,” Quigley said. “But if you want to share with the visitors some of the true heart and soul of Chicago, drive down Lake Shore Drive with the lake on one side and our beautiful skyline on the other, and 93-WXRT on the radio.”

• MORE FROM 93XRT

WXRT first went on the air in 1972, originally as a night-time only station. By 1976, the station had gone 24 hours, bringing variety to a local radio scene that had been limited to “the same 10 songs on AM radio,” Quigley said.

“Like many others, XRT linked me to a new world. XRT encouraged me to leave my sterile environment and travel to the Earl of Old Town and listen to Steve Goodman, and my first concert at the Aragon Ballroom to see Mott the Hoople and the New York Dolls, not to mention other famous haunts that played host to greats like Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Muddy Waters Frank Zappa, Roxy Music and the like,” Quigley said. “Thank you, XRT, for 40 great years. You’ve made me a better person.”

Quigley also honored Brehmer for his dedication both to music and to the city.

Quoting Brehmer’s own catch-phrase, Quigley said, “When your kids turn their dial to 93, they will find Lin Brehmer, your best friend in the whole world.

“For 20 years, Lin has been there with us to celebrate all things Chicago, from commiserating another Chicago Cubs loss to suggesting the restaurant for a post-concert dinner. He shares with us the best of the city, and makes sure we better understand the world, with “Lin’s Bin.” He helps us discover new sounds, rediscover old favorites, and provides an unparalleled soundtrack to our days.”

And, Quigley added, “Lin’s musical sensibilities are nicely summed up from his motto, borrowed from the writing of Gerard Manley Hopkins – ‘Flesh fade and mortal trash fall into the residuary worm – you and I might as well rock and roll.’”

Brehmer is also an accomplished foodie who so enjoys that passion that he goes out with extra-size “eating pants,” Quigley said.

“Lin Brehmer is a man who helps us discover the best about Chicago, and in doing so, has become a Chicago treasure himself,” Quigley said.

Brehmer also talked about his 20 years as morning host on 93XRT this past Friday with Harry Porterfield and Roseanne Tellez on the CBS 2 News at 11AM. Watch that here:

“The first movie industry was in Chicago,” said Geoffrey Baer of WTTW-Channel 11, an expert on Chicago and its history.

The city has a rich past in the early days of films, Baer points out.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Regine Schlesinger reports

“On Argyle Street in the Uptown neighborhood is this really ornate entrance to the old Essanay Studios – it was their soundstage and they had a whole lot there – and all kinds of famous people made movies there – Gloria Swanson, Charlie Chaplin,” Baer said.

Chaplin was hired away from Keystone Studios in Los Angeles in 1914, and made 14 films at Essanay the following year at the Chicago studio and at a second facility in Niles, Calif., now part of Fremont While working in Chicago, Chaplin lived in the penthouse of the Brewster Building, at the northwest corner of Diversey Parkway and Pine Grove Avenue in the East Lakeview neighborhood.

Today, the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company building still stands at 1333-45 W. Argyle St. It is now part of St. Augustine College, the first bilingual college in Illinois.

The main meeting there hall is now known as the Charlie Chaplin Auditorium.

Meanwhile, at Irving Park Road and Western Avenue in the St. Ben’s-Northcenter neighborhood stands a building that once housed the Selig Studio.

“Selig made the first ‘Wizard of Oz’ at that movie studio – a silent ‘Wizard of Oz,’” Baer said. “It was way before Judy Garland and her ‘Wizard of Oz.’”

The Selig Polyscope studio was located on the southeast corner of Irving Park and Western. It was demolished many years ago, and a BP gas station now stands on the site.

As the movie industry shifted to Hollywood, Chicago had to settle for just being the backdrop for a handful of movies each year.

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Plainfield native and “Mike & Molly” star Melissa McCarthy may soon be the proud owner of more than just the Emmy she’s holding in the picture.

She has been nominated for an Academy Award best supporting actress, for her role in the gross coomedy “Bridesmaids.”

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Regine Schlesinger reports

McCarthy will be up against Octavia Spencer for “The Help;” Berenice Bojo in “The Arist;” Jessica Chastain, also in “The Help;” and Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs.”

In “Bridesmaids,” McCarthy portrays the crude, but good-hearted Megan, the future sister-in-law of bride-to-be Lillian (Maya Rudolph) who is also set to serve as one of her bridesmaids.

McCarthy was raised on a farm in Plainfield, and graduated from St. Francis Academy in Joliet, now Joliet Catholic Academy.

She talked about her high school experience in an interview on “The Late Show” with David Letterman.

“I was pretty normal and preppy, and then did, like, tennis and cheerleading, and student council, and then somewhere in the beginning of junior year, I was like, ‘I’m really gothic,’” she said in the interview/

Since 2010, she has also played teacher Molly Flynn in the CBS prime time sitcom “Mike & Molly,” which is set in Chicago. She won an Emmy for that role last September, and proudly proclaimed her hometown as she received it.

“I’m from Plainfield, Illinois, and I’m standing here, and it’s kind of amazing,” she said upon winning her Oscar.

Here is the full list of Oscar nominees:

1. Best Picture:

“The Artist,” ”The Descendants,” ”Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” ”The Help,” ”Hugo,” ”Midnight in Paris,” ”Moneyball,” ”The Tree of Life,” ”War Horse.”

2. Actor:

Demian Bichir, “A Better Life”; George Clooney, “The Descendants”; Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”; Gary Oldman, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”; Brad Pitt, “Moneyball.”

3. Actress:

Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs”; Viola Davis, “The Help”; Rooney Mara, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”; Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”; Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn.”

4. Supporting Actor:

Kenneth Branagh, “My Week With Marilyn”; Jonah Hill, “Moneyball”; Nick Nolte, “Warrior”; Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”; Max von Sydow, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.”

5. Supporting Actress:

Berenice Bejo, “The Artist”; Jessica Chastain, “The Help”; Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”; Janet McTeer, “Albert Nobbs”; Octavia Spencer, “The Help.”

6. Directing:

Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”; Alexander Payne, “The Descendants”; Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”; Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”; Terrence Malick, “The Tree of Life.”

7. Foreign Language Film:

“Bullhead,” Belgium; “Footnote,” Israel; “In Darkness,” Poland; “Monsieur Lazhar,” Canada; “A Separation,” Iran.

8. Adapted Screenplay:

Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, “The Descendants”; John Logan, “Hugo”; George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon, “The Ides of March”; Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin, “Moneyball”; Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.”

9. Original Screenplay:

Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”; Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, “Bridesmaids”; J.C. Chandor, “Margin Call”; Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”; Asghar Farhadi, “A Separation.”

10. Animated Feature Film:

“A Cat in Paris”; “Chico & Rita”; “Kung Fu Panda 2″; “Puss in Boots”; “Rango.”

11. Art Direction:

“The Artist,” ”Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,” ”Hugo,” ”Midnight in Paris,” ”War Horse.”

12. Cinematography:

“The Artist,” ”The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” ”Hugo,” ”The Tree of Life,” ”War Horse.”

13. Sound Mixing:

“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” ”Hugo,” ”Moneyball,” ”Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” ”War Horse.”

14. Sound Editing:

“Drive,” ”The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” ”Hugo,” ”Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” ”War Horse.”

15. Original Score:

“The Adventures of Tintin,” John Williams; “The Artist,” Ludovic Bource; “Hugo,” Howard Shore; “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” Alberto Iglesias; “War Horse,” John Williams.

16. Original Song:

“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets,” Bret McKenzie; “Real in Rio” from “Rio,” Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown and Siedah Garrett.

17. Costume:

“Anonymous,” ”The Artist,” ”Hugo,” ”Jane Eyre,” ”W.E.”

18. Documentary Feature:

“Hell and Back Again,” ”If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front,” ”Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory,” ”Pina,” ”Undefeated.”

19. Documentary (short subject):

“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement,” ”God Is the Bigger Elvis,” ”Incident in New Baghdad,” ”Saving Face,” ”The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom.”

20. Film Editing:

“The Artist,” ”The Descendants,” ”The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” ”Hugo,” ”Moneyball.”

21. Makeup:

“Albert Nobbs,” ”Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,” ”The Iron Lady.”

22. Animated Short Film:

“Dimanche/Sunday,” ”The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore,” ”La Luna,” ”A Morning Stroll,” ”Wild Life.”

23. Live Action Short Film:

“Pentecost,” ”Raju,” ”The Shore,” ”Time Freak,” ”Tuba Atlantic.”

24. Visual Effects:
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,” ”Hugo,” ”Real Steel,” ”Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” ”Transformers: Dark of the Moon.”

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS Radio and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

James, who would have turned 74 on Wednesday of next week, died Friday in California of complications from leukemia, according to published reports.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s John Cody reports

James was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles, and was initially discovered by bandleader Johnny Otis while living in San Francisco as a teenager. She recorded with Los Angeles’ Modern Records in the 1950s, before arriving at Chicago’s Chess Records in 1960.

While at Chess, James recorded her signature songs, “At Last,” and “Something’s Got a Hold on Me.” An Associated Press report says label owners Leonard and Phil Chess regarded James as their first soul singer, on a label that up until that point had been known for delta blues and early rock and roll.

James also struggled with heroin addiction for many years, but was ultimately able to beat the habit.

James was famously portrayed by Beyoncé in “Cadillac Records,” the 2008 dramatic film about Chess Studios. Beyoncé also performed “At Last” at President Barack Obama’s inaugural ball.

James retired from recording in October of last year, CBS News reports.

Alligator Records founder and blues historian Bruce Iglauer said James stood out for her versatility.

“Etta was able to move between a very melodic, sweet, big voice, and a really coarse, raw kind of singing,” said Iglauer said.

She was an artist, and a battler, Iglauer said.

“She took guff from nobody,” Iglauer said, “not from other musicians, not from record people, not from critics, not from club owners.”

But, Iglauer said, she could back up everything she had.

“When she decided to deliver that performance, boy she just knocked it out of the park.”

James retired from recording in October of last year, CBS News reports.

By MICHAEL WALTERS
Cantankerous Critic

“Red Tails” wasn’t written by George Lucas, but it sounds like it could have been, and that’s not a good thing.

Lucas executive-produced and financed the film, and it tells the true story of the first African-American fighter pilots who fought for their country in World War II. As long as the movie stays in the air, it soars. But corny dialogue and cardboard characters send it crashing back to earth.

Lucas has said he wanted to make an old-fashioned, patriotic war picture like the ones from his youth, and he filters the story of the Tuskegee Airman through a barrage of old war movie clichés. This is a movie where one pilot spots a fleet of German fighter jets coming in and literally says “Oh look, it’s the Germans. Let’s get em.”

Each character has exactly one personality trait, there’s the cautious leader afraid of failure, the young brash hotshot, the country boy, the ladies man, and so and so forth. Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. and Oscar nominee Terrence Howard play the commanders of the unit fighting racism and Washington for a chance to prove their men have what it takes. But they have the unenviable task of delivering tin-eared stabs at inspirational speeches.

The true story of the Tuskegee Airmen is certainly a tale worth telling, but it deserves a better storyteller than George Lucas.

By MICHAEL WALTERS
Cantakerous Critic

In the spy thriller “Haywire,” former MMA fighter Gina Carano shows she has what it takes in the ass-kicking department, but dialogue proves to be a far more formidable foe.

Director Stephen Soderberg eliminates all the bells and whistles and focuses on making a stripped-down action film, but at times it feels a little too stripped down. The film features an all-star cast lining up to get a beat-down, and Carano’s numerous fight scenes are impressive. But would it have killed Soderberg to add a little music to the action? As is, the brutality of combat occurs in a deadening silence which robs the picture of some of its punch.

Carano stars as a tough as nails special operative. She’s the best in her field and working for a private contractor doing government’s dirty work at a much higher rate of pay. But soon enough she’s been double crossed by her bosses. She narrowly escapes and then sets out to settle the score.

Soderberg has said he didn’t just want an actress who looks like she could kick your ass for this part- he wanted someone who actually could kick your ass. Carano certainly looks the part with her rock hard physique, and sly dark good looks. But when she’s called on to speak she delivers her lines in a vaguely confused monotone as though she were a jock who had been unexpectedly called to fill in at the last minute in a school play. And she doesn’t have a dynamic enough screen presence to make up for it.

The impressive cast around her includes Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Michael Douglas, Channing Tatum, and Antonio Banderis. This is a spy thriller after all so there’s a little international intrigue, double crosses and greed thrown in but not too much to get in the way.

So why does the film just feel like it drags whenever Carano is on screen? At times it feels like Soderberg made this movie just because he could. In notoriously risk averse Hollywood, Soderberg has tried to find a new action star. But it’s more filmmaking exercise than finished product. This latest project either displays his relentless need to challenge himself or the arrogance of a filmmaker who believes he can do almost anything. It all depends on how you look at it.

CBS 2′s Derrick Blakley explored the legacy of the famed unit with one of its members and the son of another.

The new film, “Red Tails,” tells the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, but 89-year-old Julius Echols lived it.

“All through the training, it was rough; because we had to deal with the discrimination first, because we were designated as an experiment,” Echols said.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Brandis Friedman Reports

Echols didn’t graduate from the Tuskegee Flight School until October 1945, after the war was over. He joined the Illinois National Guard, where he flew fixed wing aircraft and helicopters.

But first, he had to withstand the test Tuskegee provided.

“They didn’t do no great help for you to get you through. If you got out of line in any kind of way … you’d get washed out,” Echols said. “My class started with 89 people and we only graduated 21.”

John Rogers Sr., a retired Cook County judge, flew 120 missions as one of the original Tuskegee Airmen.

His son, John Rogers Jr., CEO of Ariel Capital, said, “Growing up, I can remember him telling me the stories of how challenging it was. When you were really dodging the bullets and you could hear the bullets hitting the plane.”

“That experience of being overseas and fighting for their country, I think gave them a lot confidence when they came home that they could accomplish anything,” Rogers added.

Echols said the experience taught the pilots, “If you put your mind to it, you can do it. That’s what we try to instill into the younger people now.”

Echols had a long career as a police officer. He retired from both the Chicago Police Department and the National Guard in 1981.

Rogers Sr. is now 93, and unfortunately, he didn’t quite feel up to speaking about his time with the Tuskegee Airmen.

Movie producer George Lucas found some barriers still exist as he was making the film. He said couldn’t secure financing from Hollywood studios for an expensive war movie with all black stars, so he’s spending almost $100 million of his own money to make and distribute “Red Tails.”

The film opens in theaters Friday.

The Chicago Sun-Times’ Thomas Conner Thursday morning that a source with the Cubs is saying Bruce Springsteen tentatively plans to perform at Wrigley Field in September.

No dates have been announced, although some ticket brokers are already listing a Springsteen concert with a date of Sept. 8. No tickets are listed yet, Conner pointed out.

The Cubs will be on the road between Sept. 3 and 13.

If Springsteen does come to Wrigley Field, his concert will be the second during the coming baseball season.

Roger Waters will bring his tour of the classic Pink Floyd opus “The Wall” on June 8. Waters decided to stage “The Wall” as an outdoor show for the first time in 2010, and decided to launch a baseball stadium tour for this year.

This past summer, thousands crowded the stands and bleachers at Wrigley Field – and the sidewalks surrounding the ballpark – for two concerts by Paul McCartney.

The Cubs ballpark hosted its first concert, by Jimmy Buffett, in 2005. It was followed in subsequent years by the Police, Elton John and Billy Joel, Rascal Flatts, and the Dave Matthews Band.

WBBM Newsradio’s Regine Schlesinger has been talking with Gordon Montgomery about joining the city’s signature art museum.

Douglas Druick took over as museum president in August. Now, Montgomery has been brought on to expand the Art Institute’s customer base.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Regine Schlesinger reports

Montgomery comes to the Art Institute from Homemade Pizza Company. He’s also worked to market brands such as Procter & Gamble and Motorola.

Whether you’re selling toothpaste, computer chips or art, Montgomery said selling is selling.

“What I’m there to do is to help them understand who are their customers,” Montgomery said.

By far, the majority of Art Institute customers are tourists, according to Montgomery.

“About a quarter of the people who come here are from Chicago and that might be less than what people might imagine, but I think that’s one of the big areas of opportunity,” Montgomery said.

Among his challenges is figuring out how to get those who live in the Chicago area to keep coming back.

“In some ways, the Art Institute is even getting younger, so that’s a really interesting point of encouragement in terms of how to take, you know, a newer audience and work with them to continue to help make the place more relevant and more accessible,” he said.

“Joyful Noise” preaches to the choir, but provides no glee for anyone else.

Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton are rivals vying to lead their church choir in a gospel singing competition. But you’d have to be a saint to forgive this movie’s many sins.

“Joyful Noise” is a big Hollywood production but it sometimes resembles a grossly misguided Christian version of “Glee” instead. It aspires to look and sound the real thing, but it displays both a tin ear for dialogue and a clumsiness that betrays its roots. So we are treated to the unfortunate display of Usher’s hit song “Yeah” with lyrics about God being my homie.

One of the chief problems here is that all the characters seem driven more by the necessities of the plot than human nature. So in one scene, Queen Latifah tells her choir she wants to feel the spirit of God through their singing, and then in the next scene she gives her choir a speech that’s meant to inspire them by telling them to put off legitimate charity work so they can kick another choir’s behind — it comes off as hypocritical and disingenuous. Dolly Parton is handed the role of the Good Christian Bitch, the (usually upscale) faithful churchgoer who isn’t above scheming to get what she wants.

Dolly Parton is a national treasure, and she still has the pipes but years of plastic surgery have rendered her face grotesque. No amount of jokes about that fact makes it any easier to take especially when she’s a good 30 feet high.

We’re also treated to a Queen versus Dolly cat fight and lots of bitchy comments that are supposed to be funny but mostly fall flat. For the youngsters, there’s a subplot involving Latifah’s daughter and Dolly’s troubled grandson. They both just happen to have tremendous singing voices, and can’t take their eyes off each other.

I love gospel music, but I have an extremely low tolerance for the showy over-produced, over the top gospel choirs depicted here. There’s a phoniness about the performances that undercuts their sincerity. This choir’s quest to win the choir singing championship is supposed to be inspiring, but choir competition doesn’t lend itself easily to the heroes and villains of the sports movie cliches it tries to embrace.

By the end of this nearly two hour film I had begun to envy Kris Kristofferson. He’s in this movie too, but he dies in the first scene, thus freeing him up to find something better to do than sit through this.

By MICHAEL WALTERS
Cantankerous Critic

Meryl Streep delivers a formidable performance as the divisive British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, but the film that surrounds her is an awful mess.

Instead of laying the story out in the traditional biopic structure, the film instead treats us to a half senile Thatcher doddering away and prattling on with the spirit of her dead husband (Jim Broadbent) long after she’s left office. The events that shaped her and her rise to power are told exclusively in flashback.

ut the scenes of the modern day Thatcher puttering around in near isolation are a dramatic dead end. When the audience is nearly dead of boredom, Streep will bump into a table and then think back about that time she went to war over the Falklands and the movie will lurch to life.

But these historical recreations of Thatcher’s rise to power are anything but lively. They not only don’t entertain, but they’re often so blandly staged you wonder why anyone made such a fuss over Margaret Thatcher in the first place.

Despite the film’s narrative failings, Streep does a commendable job as the Iron Lady. She transcends impersonation and seems to inhabit rather than play the steely former leader. And Streep gets Thatcher’s voice just right.

I also enjoyed Broadbent’s performance as her kindly but crotchety old husband. The couple has a cantankerous chemistry together where complaints are greeted just as warmly as compliments, if not more so because there seems to be more truth in them. And a sly smile is a truer expression of love and devotion than a thousand floral bouquets.

Streep may likely pull down yet another Oscar nomination for this performance and it would not be without merit. But the film surrounding her is just another failing enterprise looking for a handout.

By MICHAEL WALTERS
Cantankerous Critic

“Contraband” could very well be the prototype for a formulaic Mark Wahlberg vehicle. It practically smells like it just rolled off the movie assembly line. But sometimes you’re in the mood for a Big Mac, and you could do a lot worse than this OK heist thriller.

Wahlberg is a brilliant smuggler who’s gone legit, but gets pulled in to do one last job to save his wife’s screw-up of a little brother. Wahlberg hops aboard a cargo ship destined for Panama to bring back millions of dollars in counterfeit dough to pay back his brother-in-law’s debts to a whiny drug dealer played by Giovanni Ribisi (who seems to be playing whiny lowlifes almost exclusively these days).

On the ship he has to avoid the prying gaze of the ship’s captain (a delightful J.K. Simmons) while assembling his team and burrowing holes in the hull to stash his illegal cargo.

Mark Wahlberg action thrillers aren’t big on character development. Wahlberg’s role is thinly written, relying mostly on the Mark Wahlberg persona to fill in the details the writers hadn’t taken the time to think of. But it also thankfully doesn’t require Wahlberg to do a lot of heavy lifting. He remains a slightly more talented Keanu Reeves; he functions fine as long as he’s got a tightly structured plot around him.

Meanwhile, poor Kate Beckinsale is utterly wasted as his wife who exists merely to be terrorized by assorted thugs. At least Giovanni Ribisi seems to be enjoying himself.

The film succeeds intermitently despite having the wimpiest and most inept collection of criminals in recent memory. A punch-drunk palooka like Wahlberg looks like he could probably outsmart these nitwits in about five minutes. Thankfully the plot keeps things moving at a nice clip so we don’t have time to dwell on how dumb everyone seems to be.

The ship runs aground in its final act however with plot developments so absurd, some in the preview audience I saw it were chuckling in their chairs instead of sitting on the edge of their seats.

Kaley Cuoco, the host of this year’s show, also has the honor of being nominated for Favorite TV Comedy Actress for her role in “The Big Bang Theory,” which is also up for the Favorite Network TV Comedy award.

“We are thrilled to welcome Kaley as the new host of the People’s Choice Awards,” said executive producer Mark Burnett. “I’m looking forward to working with her on a fun-filled, comedy-packed show in January.”

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is certain to receive a few nods as it leads with nine nominations, including one in the Favorite Movie category, which contends with Bridesmaids, The Help, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

Katy Perry (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Pop artist Katy Perry already feels the love, receiving seven nominations for her music, movie and TV work this past year. She is nominated for Favorite Animated Movie Voice for playing Smurfette in The Smurfs; Favorite TV Guest Star for her appearance in How I Met Your Mother; Favorite Female Artist; Favorite Song of the Year for “E.T.” featuring Kanye West; Favorite Pop Artist; Favorite Music Video for “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.);” and Favorite Tour Headliner. Perry faces fierce competition for the Favorite Female Artist award, contending with Adele, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift. The FOX musical Glee tied Perry, also receiving seven nominations.

Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

With Breaking Dawn: Part 1 topping the box office for weeks, it is no surprise that nominations also went to its stars: Robert Pattinson was nominated for Favorite Movie Actor and Taylor Lautner for Favorite Action Movie Star. More mature actors also received the approval of the viewers, who nominated Julia Roberts and Jennifer Aniston for Favorite Movie Actress, and acting giants George Clooney, Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman, Robert DeNiro and Tom Hanks for Favorite Movie Icon.

This year’s festivities have a little bit of Latin flavor with Cuban rapper Pitbull nominated as Favorite Hip Hop Artist, along with B.O.B, Eminem, Jay-Z and Nicki Minaj. Bruno Mars, an artist with Puerto Rican roots, and Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias are both nominated in the Favorite Male Artist category along with Eminem, Justin Bieber and country artist Blake Shelton

This will be the 38^th celebration of the awards, which according to Fred Nelson, President of People’s Choice, are meant to “reflect the constantly changing popular culture.” The fans’ “passion for entertainment is the heart and soul of the People’s Choice Awards,” he added.

The public determined the nominees and the winners by picking their favorites in 41 categories on the PCA website and through its Facebook page.

See the complete list of nominees.

See photos from last year’s People’s Choice Awards.

People’s Choice Awards
Broadcast by CBS, check local listings
Wednesday January 11, 2012
Nokia Theater
777 Chick Hearn Court
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 763-6020
www.peopleschoice.com

Dena Burroughs lives in Azusa, CA. She is a CSULA graduate with specialties in Creative Writing and Communications. She is also the LA Arts Examiner.

CHICAGO (CBS) — The Old Town School of Folk Music has unveiled its new, state-of-the-art addition.

As WBBM Newsradio’s Regine Schlesinger reports, the revered music school was co-founded in 1957 by singer Win Stracke and multi-instrumentalist Frank Hamilton.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Regine Schlesinger reports

Now, across from its current location at 4544 N. Lincoln Ave. in the Lincoln Square neighborhood, the gleaming new Old Town School East building has opened at 4545 N. Lincoln Ave.

“This is a classic example of how a single cultural entity can take a neighborhood and become an economic engine,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the the building’s dedication.

Subsidized by funding from the State of Illinois, the new $17 million facility will include three dance studios, acoustically-engineered classrooms, and a 150-seat performance space.

The building’s front panels spell out the word “music” in 28 languages, including Braille.

The Old Town School started out in a since-demolished building at 333 W. North Ave. in the eponymous Old Town neighborhood, a stone’s throw from the once-legendary folk clubs on Wells Street.

In 1968, the Old Town School moved to a 13,000 square-foot historic building at 909 W. Armitage Ave. in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, which the school still uses as a secondary location.

In its early days, the Old Town School hosted some of America’s most famous musicians from folk to gospel and blues, including Pete Seeger, Mahalia Jackson and Big Bill Broonzy. It also helped launch the careers of John Prine, Bob Gibson, and Roger McGuinn of the Byrds.

In the 1980s, the Old Town School became known for its Sunday afternoon “Flea Market” radio show, which was broadcast live from the school’s Armitage Avenue headquarters on WBEZ-91.5 FM. The show was hosted by a folk legends Jim Post and later Art Thieme, and hosted performers ranging from the Balkan Rhythm Band to novelty artist Jan Hobson of “Raccoon Song” fame.

But enrollment had begun to decline, the school was nearing bankruptcy in 1981. Fundraising efforts soon brought the school back to profitability, and led to a renovation of the Armitage Avenue building in 1987.

By the 1990s, demand at the Old Town School had grown to the point where the school was supplementing its space by holding some classes in an apartment building down the street at 939 W. Armitage Ave.

Finally, in 1998, the Old Town School opened its current main headquarters in the old Hild Library building, with a 400-seat concert hall and vast additional classroom space. The school also began hosting the Chicago Folk and Roots Festival along Lincoln Avenue and in nearby Welles Park, and has been credited for spurring a revival in the Lincoln Square neighborhood.

And the children of President Barack Obama and Mayor Emanuel just so happen to be among those who have taken classes at the school.

#10 We Bought A Zoo
Few things are sadder than the decline of a once promising filmmaker. Writer Director Cameron Crowe is awash in strained metaphors, and artificial uplift. We Bought A Zoo? More like We Bought A Load Of Crap.

#9 The Big Year
No comedy was more stultifying than this painfully unfunny birdwatching comedy. You’d think Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, and Jack Black could squeeze a few laughs out of anything, but you’d be wrong.

#8 “Jack and Jill/Just Go With It”
Adam Sandler gets a two for one deal on the list this year with his twin terrors “Just Go With It” and “Jack and Jill.” Of the two I’d have to give Jack and Jill the edge since it introduced audiences to one of Sandler’s most annoying characters ever and hastened the decline of the once great Al Pacino.

#7 Alvin And The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
Somehow the Alvin and The Chipmunk movies keep finding a way to get worse. I laughed exactly once in “The Squeakquel.” But in Chipwrecked, my funny bone couldn’t have been safer from tickling if it had been locked away in Fort Knox.

#6 “Hesher”
It’s been all downhill since she won the Oscar, but Natalie Portman hit rock bottom with the insufferable indie comedy “Hesher.” Joseph Gordon-Levitt is an inconsiderate layabout who is supposed to be some kind of rock and roll oracle. He’s supposed to inspire the members of a very depressed family. But all it did was inspire me with rage against the people who subjected me to this.

#5 “Arthur”
Russell Brand’s remake of “Arthur” filled me with a sense of dread before the opening titles were even over.

#4 “Machine Gun Preacher”
Gerard Butler is an ex-con playing Rambo while trying to build an orphanage in Africa. The movie tries to deliver a sincere religious message, but it doesn’t have a clue about religion, faith, or even how to stage a descent action sequence. Butler is hardly turning the other cheek, but the story is so absurd it makes hollywood crap like Rambo look like a documentary.

#3 “The Hangover Part II”
This was essentially the exact same movie all over again, only this time the laughs had been surgically removed. Zach Galifinakis should sue the creators for turning his brilliant comic creation into a fat one joke bore. This is where original humor, or humor of any kind goes to die

#2 New Year’s Eve
A worst of the year list wouldn’t be complete without Katherine Heigl. The holiday themed romantic comedy “New Year’s Eve” seems aimed at those who thought 2010′s “Valentine’s Day” was too deep and hard to follow. The film features a disaster movie quality cavalcade of stars- but the results are just plain disastrous.

#1 Zookeeper
Kevin James never comes within 500 yards of a belly laugh. There’s nary a chuckle, giggle, tee-he, smile, or agreeable moment. Instead we get a diet of lame pratfalls and dumb talking animals. This movie might be fit for prisoners of war, but even then it might constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

The Hyde Park Herald reported this week that the theater building at 5234 S. Harper Ave. has been gutted, and is ready for its transformation.

The University of Chicago, which owns the building, announced in February that the new Harper Theater will screen a mix of art, children’s and wide-release films.

The new 10,419 square-foot theater will feature five screens with digital projection. One screening room will have tables between the seats for lunch and dinner options, the U of C said.

The Hyde Park Herald says theater operator Tony Fox hopes to expand the offerings at the theater beyond movies, from poetry slams to blood drives. Metropolis Coffee has also come in to operate a café in the theater, the Herald reported.

Fox also plans to hopes to serve alcoholic beverages in the theater, although not right away, the Herald reported.

Currently, the Harper Theater cannot legally sell liquor because it is too close to the United Church of Hyde Park, around the corner at 1448 E. 53rd St. But Fox is seeking an exception, the Herald reported.

Students will be offered discounts, as will children and seniors, but general admission will also be below market prices, the U of C said.

The U of C bought the Hyde Park Theater building in 2002, and has been seeking to renovate it as part of a greater plan to revitalize 53rd Street. Fox’s New 400 Theaters company already operates a theater at 6746 N. Sheridan Rd. in the Rogers Park neighborhood.

The U of C is also involved in the renovation of the Harper Court retail complex just across the street from the theater building. The plans for the complex call for about 80,000 square feet of retail space, a new Hyatt Hotel, and a 12-story, 150,000 square-foot office building that will be used by the university. The groundbreaking for the new development was held last month.

The theater building opened in 1915 as the Harper Theater, with a single-screen, 1,201-seat cinema. The theater screened a live production of the play “Enrico IV” by Luigi Pirandello in 1964, and drew record-breaking crowds to see Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein” after a renovation in 1975, but was shuttered in 1983 by Hyde Park Herald publisher and building owner Bruce Sagan.

The theater reopened in 1985, as a three-screen venue, and a fourth screen was added in 1988. By 1990, neighbors were complaining about the teenage audiences that were flooding the theater for R-rated crime movies, the Herald reported.

By the late 1990s, the theater had grown seedy, and was a source of mockery among U of C students.

The Meridian Entertainment Group bought the theater in 1999, only to see it closed by the city the following year due to tax problems at the company.

The theater reopened a second time in the fall of 2000 and remained in business for another year and a half, before finally closing for good in the spring of 2002 when Meridian went out of business, the Herald reported.

The new Harper Theater will open around Thanksgiving of next year, the Hyde Park Herald reported.

By MICHAEL WALTERS
Cantankerous Critic

#10 Rango
A delightful animated western full of refreshing originality. It’s silly enough for kids, but smart enough to entertain adults too.

#9 Project Nim
This fascinating documentary features the famous chimp Nim, and the people who tried to raise him as one of their own. The nature versus nurture debate has never been more invigorating.

#8 Carnage
Brilliant conversation smolders in the tinderbox of a Manhattan apartment. Director Roman Polanski ratchets up the tension as two couples in conflict move past pleasantries into the fundamental philosophical differences that separate us.

#7 The Descendants
Director Alexander Payne and George Clooney are so effective here even the presence of Matthew Lillard can’t ruin this dark comic drama.

#6 Submarine
The best Wes Anderson movie Wes Anderson never made, and I mean that as a compliment.

#5 Melancholia
Director Lars Von Trier delivers a seat rumbling eardrum splitting apocalyptic tale of depression full of some of the most marvelous and disturbing images of the year.

#4 Drive
Cool, calculating, and oh so awesome. The instant cult classic we’ll still be talking about five years from now- with special kudos to Albert Brooks as a brutal gangster.

#3 War Horse
It’s Spielberg at some of his schmaltziest, but this grand sweeping World War I epic works without glossing over the horrors of war. I felt a little silly getting so worked up over a horse, but this galloped away with my heart.

#2 Tree Of Life
Few films are as expansive, visually dazzling, and incorrigibly eccentric as this deeply personal tale from director Terrence Mallick. Not everyone can get on his wavelength, but once you do the experience is eye opening.

#1 The Artist
I never thought a silent film would fly in 2011, but few films filled me such pure joy for the art of filmmaking as “The Artist.” The delightful performances, snappy score, and beautiful cinematography add up to one of the wonderful times at the movies this year.

<strongTwo honorable mentions:

“The Skin I Live In” has a couple of twists that would be right at home in a deranged novella, but it was still one of the most gripping thrillers of the year.

And the biggest surprise of the year – “The Change-Up”
Rarely has such a shoddy looking premise delivered belly laughs so huge. Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds deliver the funniest movie of the year.