We’ve all earned a little weekend, Chicago.
And while we’re not going to discuss the upcoming weather forecast, the city still has plenty to offer for your weekend.
The Oscars are Sunday, and the stars will be out, baby! We’ve got awards predictions, food pairings for your catch-up viewing and a look at the best portrayals of Chicago in Hollywood’s history.
Around town, the reopenings roll on, including a pair of downtown attractions and the surprise return of a legend in Lakeview. Meanwhile, music venues throughout the city are coming back with new ways of operating.
Oh, and we’ve got a review of Topo Chico’s new hard seltzers. Cheers to the weekend.
— Adam Lukach
After a year in purgatory, the beloved Guthrie’s Tavern will be resurrected in its original Wrigleyville location. Matt Baldino, owner of the Commonwealth Tavern in Roscoe Village, bought the bar in January:
“It came down to whether we wanted another crappy condominium building to go up, or to save a piece of Chicago history. I’m a big fan of trying to save a piece of Chicago history. I know some people don’t see bars that way, but I do.”
Get the full rundown on the surprise reopening.
What to watch: Kate Winslet in ‘Mare of Easttown’, a Netflix series about the biggest art heist ever
What are we queuing up for the tube this weekend? We’re glad you asked.
Check out our critics’ picks from this week, including Kate Winslet as a tough, tight-lipped Eastern Pennsylvania police detective, a new Frank Zappa doc, the fascinating AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange,” or the nostalgic “Phineas and Ferb.”
“Mortal Kombat” review: “There’s nothing for you here. Only death.” But it’s also “zippy and reasonably entertaining,” writes critic Michael Phillips.
Local accuracy is not an Oscar category, but if you ask the people who lived the real-life version of any distorted fictional setting, maybe it should be.
Chicago had a couple big turns in major films during 2020, but the local touches were less-than-immersive — not unusual for movies set in our city, writes critic Michael Phillips. Join him for a look at the best and worst film versions of Chicago throughout the years.
With movie theaters closing at every turn, Phillips offered some reluctant Oscar predictions this year
How Chicago’s music venues are safely reopening using a chorus of different approaches
Music venues and other large-capacity performance spaces were the first operations to close down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and they’ve been among the last to reopen. But, finally, after long waits and a lot of patience, many of Chicago’s beloved music venues are opening their doors once again.
Critic Britt Julious looks at which venues are open around the city, and the different methods they’re using to operate in light of the pandemic.
More Top Picks Best Workbenches
Watch this. Eat that. — A riveting, Oscar-nominated documentary demands a good sandwich
Catching up on the nominees in the “Best Documentary” category is always a specific kind of fun, but it’s certainly one that’s easy to get caught bingeing, so make sure you fuel up.
For the riveting Romanian documentary “Collective” — which follows reporters as they uncover stunning corruption following a fatal nightclub fire in Bucharest — try the 64-year-old Romanian Kosher Sausage Company in Rogers Park.
Tiffany Brooks hosts new HGTV design show “$50K Three Ways”
Convicted killer Michael Gargiulo, a Glenview man known as the “Hollywood Ripper,” is the focus of a new TV program as he awaits sentencing
It must be nice to be unafraid of heights. Those who don’t shirk from towering locales can once again enjoy lofty thrills from the Skydeck, located in the building formerly known as the Sears Tower. The experience just underwent a massive renovation its general manager says is “part Chicago museum, part selfie museum, part architectural river tour and part children’s museum.”
Get the full details here — the rest of us will keep our feet planted on the ground.
Martin Scorsese’s latest project — a 1920s crime adaptation of David Grann’s nonfiction “Killers of the Flower Moon” — began filming this week. It tells the true story behind the deaths of at least two dozen members of the Osage Nation who were killed for control over their wealth, which was derived from oil-rich land on their reservation.
Despite the subject, the project has no credited Native screenwriters involved. This is surprising and troubling, writes critic Nina Metz — and likely comes at the expense of a more nuanced, complicated and interesting story.
Everyone’s favorite sparkling water (correctly so) has jumped into the hard seltzer pool, if you will, and early returns on the boozy bubbles are good.
Beer writer Josh Noel samples the lot and gives a rundown of the best flavors of the new Topo Chico, plus what its early sales could mean for future hard seltzer lines.
What’s the best hard seltzer? The worst? Check out our rankings.
Off Color Brewing’s “Beer for” series crafts a new approach to pairing beers
Take a sneak peek of the not-yet-unveiled Chicago Cultural Center renovation
Check out photos of men at work — and we don’t mean the band — as they take early steps to renovate and restore parts of the city’s historic Cultural Center on Randolph Street downtown.
The so-called “People’s Palace” will reopen to the public June 2 with new art exhibitions and visitor amenities. By then, restoration work will be underway and is set to continue until early 2022.
Ramadan recipes to make for Suhoor, Iftar and Eid al-Fitr
Observers of Ramadan know that choosing the right kinds of food is key to help sustain you during holiday fasting.
The Daily Meal has put together a long list of options that will stay your appetite, with recipes for breakfast, dinner and dessert from the Middle East, Mediterranean region, Turkey, Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and more.
Column: Broadway’s capitalist model isn’t perfect, but here’s why it works, and what can be fixed
More Top Picks Best Cooling Mattresses Toppers For Neck Pain
As anti-capitalist sentiment toward Broadway and its commercial side rises anew, critic Chris Jones calls for a closer examination of the system’s many successes throughout the stage’s history.
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