Tuesday, the Chicago Bears made a quarterback move. But, it wasn’t the big splash fans were hoping for.
Chicago Bears 7-Round Mock Draft: A post-Andy Dalton dilemmaon March 17, 2021 at 2:00 pm Read More »
It is typical in the life of a Chicago Bears fan to be ashamed of the team. They haven’t achieved greatness in over 30 years outside of a few one-and-done seasons. It has been in large part due to their suspect offense being unable to overcome bad quarterback play. Their defense and running game are […]
The Chicago Bears should be ashamed of themselves – Da Windy City – Da Windy City – A Chicago Sports Site – Bears, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks, Fighting Illini & More
In 2018 Nick Cave opened a new portal into his world with a question-and-answer newsletter titled the Red Hand Files. As queries from fans flooded in, Cave dutifully replied with poetic meditations, splashy Polaroids of his opulent Brighton home, and the occasional errant one-liner that shed new light on the mystique that he’s meticulously cultivated for 40-plus years.…Read More
This week’s featured gig poster was created by Justin Gray, an illustrator and designer from New Jersey.
This week’s featured gig poster was made for Wyoming pop-punk band Teenage Bottlerocket, whose annual Birthday Bash will be livestreamed this year with the help of the people at Riot Fest.…Read More
With this recut on HBO Max, the director adds a darker tone and a whole lot more running time.
Who would you rather spend a day hanging around with — the Justice League or the Avengers? Not necessarily to accompany them on some death-defying, heart-pounding mission to save the universe, but just to be in the same room as they map out a plan, bicker and banter, maybe order some takeout?
I agree. Avengers. They just seem like a lot more fun, am I right?
Even the names reflect that. “We’re the Justice League, we mete out justice.” “Well, we’re the Avengers, and we assemble!”
We’re reminded of just how dark and nearly fun-free the D.C. Movie Universe can be in the long-awaited, heavily hyped, finally released (on HBO Max) “Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” a.k.a. “The Snyder Cut,” which has been the subject of rumors almost since the day Snyder stepped away from the 2017 superhero film in post-production following the death of his daughter, and the reins were turned over to Joss Whedon.
Although Snyder’s supersized mega-movie (the running time is 4 hours and 2 minutes) has its moments of attempted levity, usually courtesy of Ezra Miller’s the Flash and his “gee whiz!” running commentary, this is one bleak film, with the talented cast often looking as if they’re competing to see who can be the most grim-faced, and cinematographer Fabian Wagner painting in saturated colors that make it seem like it’s cloudy and gray even when we’re indoors.
Is this an improvement over the more straightforward and much shorter original? Not to this reviewer, though I was in the minority who actually enjoyed the 2017 film. There’s a LOT of added exposition and more action sequences, and we get an extended epilogue filled with cryptic, post-apocalyptic imagery that’s equal parts fascinating and infuriating — but the Snyder Cut is worth the four-hour trek, thanks in large part to the first-rate CGI and the gritty and game performances from the all-star cast, most notably Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, the aforementioned Ezra Miller as The Flash and Ray Fisher as Cyborg.
“Justice League” is divided into six chapters (if it had been a limited series nobody would even be concerned about that four-hour total running time), with heavy-ass titles such as, “THE AGE OF HEROES,” “BELOVED MOTHER, BELOVED SON” and “SOMETHING DARKER.”
The story picks up after the shocking death of Superman (Henry Cavill) in “Batman v. Superman.” The dastardly alien god Steppenwolf (voiced by the great Ciaran Hinds), who has a big giant hammerhead and loves to talk trash, has come to Earth to collect the “Mother Boxes” (get thee to a therapist!), three devices that can convert energy and reform matter. Combine the three Mother Boxes and you’ll have control over all the planets in all the universes, which is pretty much always the goal of super-powerful alien beings that invade our insignificant little planet, which they always call an insignificant little planet, and when are they going to stop underestimating us! (One of the notable improvements in this version: Steppenwolf has a jazzier, shinier, more badass overall look.)
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Ben Affleck’s Batman — and I still say Affleck makes for a believable Bruce Wayne and a plausible Batman, even though he borrows his growling Batman voice from Christian Bale — is like the player/manager for the Justice League, as he recruits Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), the Flash (Ezra Miller) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) to save the planet, giving more pep talks about teamwork than Affleck did when he played a basketball coach in “The Way Back.” We take numerous deep dives into the back stories of the superheroes, which seems redundant in the cases of Aquaman and Wonder Woman given they’ve had their own movies. We also catch up with key civilian characters, including Amy Adams’ Lois Lane, who is so consumed by grief she hasn’t gone back to work; Diane Lane’s Martha Kent, who has lost the farm and is all alone after the deaths of her husband and her son; Jeremy Irons’ Alfred Pennyworth; Joe Morton’s Silas Stone (father of Victor Stone/Cyborg), and in an all-too-brief appearance, J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon.
The most intriguing/disturbing plot point of “Justice League” is intact from the original, i.e., Batman and the gang figure out a way to bring Clark Kent/Superman back from the dead, so they literally dig him up and electro-charge him awake, but he’s disoriented (and shirtless) and starts tossing them around like rag dolls, until Lois looks deep into those heat-beam missile eyes, takes him back to the Kent family farm, finds a nice flannel shirt for the big guy and helps him remember his true identity — just in time for the big extended battle against Steppenwolf, which the Justice League has no chance of winning without Superman coming off the bench in the fourth quarter.
With an ambitiously elegiac score and those hyper-real, saturated visuals, this “Justice League” often plays like an extended dream that periodically turns into a nightmare. (There’s even talk of dreams, and an actual dream segment.) Nearly all of the story takes place on Earth, but it’s an Earth where Atlantis is real and that wondrous woman with the magical lasso is 5,000 years old, and you can bring back the most super of superheroes from the dead. Like Superman when he’s first brought back to life, the new “Justice League” isn’t necessarily better than the original, but it’s different and darker, markedly so.
An 18-year-old man was shot about 8 p.m. in the 2600 block of South St. Louis Avenue.
Three people were shot Tuesday in Chicago, including a man who was shot in Little Village on the Southwest Side.
About 8 p.m., the 18-year-old was in the 2600 block of South St. Louis Avenue when someone opened fire and struck him in the chest, Chicago police said. The man took himself to Mt. Sinai Hospital, where he was in critical condition.
A man was shot in West Chesterfield on the South Side. He was in the street about 6:15 p.m. in the 300 block of East 90th Street when someone opened fire, striking him in the knee, police said. The 20-year-old was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition.
About fifteen minutes prior a man was wounded in a shooting blocks away in West Chesterfield on the South Side. He was on the sidewalk about 6 p.m. in the 300 block of East 89th Street, police said. The 29-year-old took himself to Stroger Hospital with a gunshot wound to the shoulder. He was in good condition.
Ten people were shot, one fatally, citywide Monday.
3 shot Tuesday in ChicagoSun-Times Wireon March 17, 2021 at 7:25 am Read More »
The 16-year-olds are due in juvenile court Wednesday.
Two teen boys have been charged with a carjacking in January in Little Village on the Southwest Side.
Both teens, 16, have been charged with a felony counts of aggravated vehicular hijacking with a firearm, according to Chicago police.
About 7:20 p.m. Jan. 10, the two boys allegedly approached a 33-year-old man in the 3100 block of South Springfield Avenue, flashed a gun and demanded his Chevy Cruze, police said. The man complied and the boys fled in his car.
An investigation led officers to the boys, and they were taken into custody Tuesday, police said.
They are due in juvenile court Wednesday.
A series of shootings at three Atlanta area massage parlors left eight people dead and raised fears that the attack was another hate crime against Asian Americans.
ATLANTA — A series of shootings over nearly an hour at three Atlanta area massage parlors left eight people dead and raised fears that the attack was yet another hate crime against people of Asian descent.
Police arrested a 21-year-old Georgia man and said the motive wasn’t immediately known, though many of the victims were women of Asian descent.
The attacks began Tuesday evening, when five people were shot at Youngs Asian Massage Parlor in Acworth, about 30 miles north of Atlanta, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Jay Baker said. Two people died at the scene, and three were taken to a hospital where two died, Baker said.
About an hour later, police responding to a call about a robbery found three women dead from apparent gunshot wounds at Gold Spa in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood, which is home to many tattoo parlors and strip clubs. While there, the officers learned of a call reporting shots fired at another spa across the street, Aromatherapy Spa, and found a woman who appeared to have been shot dead.
“It appears that they may be Asian,” Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden has been briefed on the “horrific shootings” and administration officials have been in contact with the mayor’s office and the FBI.
Surveillance video recorded a man pulling up to the Acworth business about 10 minutes before the attack there, authorities said. The same car was spotted outside the Atlanta businesses. A manhunt was launched, and Robert Aaron Long, of Woodstock, was taken into custody in Crisp County, about 150 miles south of Atlanta, Baker said.
Video evidence “suggests it is extremely likely our suspect is the same as Cherokee County’s, who is in custody,” Atlanta police said in a statement. Authorities haven’t specified charges.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that its diplomats in Atlanta have confirmed with police that four of the victims who died were women of Korean descent. The ministry said its Consulate General in Atlanta is trying to confirm the nationality of the women.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in South Korea meeting with Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, mentioned the killings during an opening statement.
“We are horrified by this violence which has no place in America or anywhere,” he said, noting that four of the women were believed to be of Korean descent.
The killings came amid a recent wave of attacks against Asian Americans that coincided with the spread of the coronavirus across the United States.
“Our entire family is praying for the victims of these horrific acts of violence,” Gov. Brian Kemp said Tuesday evening on Twitter.
FBI spokesman Kevin Rowson said the agency was assisting Atlanta and Cherokee County authorities in the investigation.
Crisp County Sheriff Billy Hancock said in a video posted on Facebook that his deputies and state troopers were notified Tuesday night that a murder suspect out of north Georgia was headed toward their county. Deputies and troopers set up along the interstate and “made contact with the suspect,” he said.
A state trooper performed a PIT, or pursuit intervention technique, maneuver, “which caused the vehicle to spin out of control,” Hancock said. Long was then taken into custody and was being held in the Crisp County jail for Cherokee County authorities who were expected to arrive soon to continue their investigation.
Due to the shootings, Atlanta police said they dispatched officers to check nearby similar businesses and increased patrols in the area.
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Associated Press writers Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to the this story.
