Darcel Rockett – Page 53

I've been rewatching this dramedy that ran for two seasons from 2003 to 2004, and it is as sardonic and easy-to-watch as I remembered. The premise: An apathetic 18-year-old (played by a wonderfully deadpan Ellen Muth) is killed by a piece of airplane equipment falling from the sky — a toilet seat, to be exact — and enters the afterlife equivalent of annoying temp work, helping recently deceased souls leave their bodies to move on to the next realm. She and her small group of "colleagues" (including the marvelous Jasmine Guy) have none of the perks you'd expect: They still more or less have to live on earth, scrambling for housing, but minus any meaningful human connections. Mandy Patinkin plays her boss (of sorts), who calls her "pumpkin" but cuts her zero slack. It might be my favorite (and least-known) show from creator Bryan Fuller, who would later go on to create "Pushing Daisies" and "Hannibal." (Tubi, Amazon Prime, VOD) — Nina Metz

What to watch: Issa Rae’s ‘Insecure’, final season of ‘Homeland’ and John Oliver’s talk show

March 7, 2021 at 12:26 p.m.

Wondering what to watch this week? Check out our weekly film and TV recommendations. We want to know what you're streaming, too. Click here to share your picks with us....

Author Nancy Johnson and her new novel "The Kindest Lie" in her South Loop home, Feb. 17, 2021.

‘The Kindest Lie’: Chicago novelist Nancy Johnson talks class, redemption and race

March 2, 2021 at 11:45 a.m.

Debut author Nancy Johnson wanted to tell human interest stories when she was a broadcast news journalist years ago, but she recalls there were too few opportunities to do that....

Rod Moyer says goodbye to his daughter, Ra'Nhi, 6, a kindergartener, outside Saucedo Scholastic Academy on March 1, 2021, as Chicago Public Schools opened to tens of thousands of kindergarten through fifth graders.

Back to school, but not quite back to normal, as CPS students return to classrooms after yearlong closure: ‘The kids need this’

March 1, 2021 at 6:08 p.m.

They arrived on foot, in cars and on buses, with tears, excitement and face masks. They were greeted by enthusiastic teachers, temperature checks and distanced desks. Most had not been...

Rod Moyer says goodbye to his daughter, Ra'Nhi, 6, a kindergartner, outside Saucedo Scholastic Academy on March 1, 2021, as Chicago Public Schools opened to tens of thousands of kindergarten through fifth graders.

‘I pray this works out’: What CPS parents are saying about their kids going back to school

March 1, 2021 at 2:26 p.m.

About 37,000 children who attend kindergarten to fifth grade in Chicago Public Schools were eligible to return to classrooms for the first time since the coronavirus abruptly shut down schools...

El artista Santiago X trabaja en la configuración del montículo Serpent Twin, una instalación pública de movimiento de tierras a gran escala en la reserva forestal Schiller Woods-West en Schiller Park el 9 de octubre de 2019.

La instalación de movimientos de tierra de serpientes en espiral del artista Santiago X y el Centro Indígena Americano está prevista para Horner Park

March 1, 2021 at 10:25 a.m.

Se necesita un pueblo para construir una serpiente. Es por eso que el American Indian Center (AIC) se acerca a la comunidad con una campaña de GoFundMe para ayudar a...

Even with Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan front and center, little in the trailer of "The Dig" seemed particularly promising, but I gave it a go and it's good. Some of it's true, too: Along the east coast of Britain in 1939, with war clouds looming, self-taught Suffolk archeologist Basil Brown was hired by ailing widow Edith Pretty to discover if anything of value lay beneath the earth mounds on her property. There was indeed, and the remains and artifacts of a sixth-century Anglo-Saxon burial ship stunned the world. Fiennes is Basil; Mulligan is Edith; around the halfway point of director Simon Stone's film, the focus (for better or worse) shifts to others in the orbit of the excavation effort, particularly characters played by Lily James and Johnny Flynn. Based on the 2007 novel by John Preston, "The Dig" freely mixes fact and invention, overloading the crises a bit but generally succeeding. A fair amount of screenwriter Moira Buffini's dialogue plays out as Terrence Malick-styled voiceover, while the camera focuses on the stark beauty of the surroundings, and men and women actually doing the work. The results are trim, well-made and quite moving. So much for my prejudgments. (Netflix) — Michael Phillips

What we’re watching: Stanley Tucci adventures to Italy, ‘When Calls the Heart’ and the friendly Muppets

February 26, 2021 at 7:00 a.m.

Wondering what to watch this week? Check out our weekly film and TV recommendations. We want to know what you're streaming, too. Click here to share your picks with us....

Patrick Jagoda, professor of English and cinema and media studies at the University of Chicago, chats with creative partner Ashlyn Sparrow, of the Weston Game Lab at the University of Chicago, on Feb. 24, 2021.

‘Grand Theft Auto’ blamed for recent surge in carjackings in Chicago. Gaming experts object to proposed Illinois sales ban.

February 25, 2021 at 6:00 p.m.

Wait, did you feel that shift in the pop culture universe this week? It was Monday, when Democratic state Rep. Marcus Evans (33rd) spoke out at a news conference citing...

Artist Santiago X uses a basket to move earth for his installation at Schiller Woods.

Coiled snake earthworks installation from artist Santiago X and the American Indian Center is planned for Horner Park

March 2, 2021 at 12:29 p.m.

It takes a village to build a serpent. That's why the American Indian Center is reaching out to the community with a GoFundMe campaign to help build the Coil Mound,...

Cecil McDonald, Jr., on Feb. 19, 2021, at the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago where his exhibit "Cuts and Beats" will be on display until June 12, 2021.

Cecil McDonald Jr. brings ‘Cuts and Beats’ to the Hyde Park Art Center, a work meant to subvert racist representation of Black artists in history.

February 25, 2021 at 12:22 p.m.

Walking into the Kanter McCormick Gallery at the Hyde Park Art Center, what looks like a large antique Grammy Award greets you. The gramophone horn planted in African purple heartwood...

Kathy McLoyd, director of nursing at Howard Brown Health, gives registered nurse Deeyana Boyd her first shot of COVID-19 vaccine Feb. 13, 2021, at Trinity United Church of Christ on the South Side of Chicago.

Suburban residents are getting COVID-19 vaccine appointments on Chicago’s South and West sides. But should they?

February 22, 2021 at 3:42 p.m.

Within the first couple days of vaccinating seniors and essential workers on the South Side of Chicago late last month, doctors at Howard Brown Health noticed something unusual: patients traveling...

All Stories