1992

CHICAGO – Before it became a Hollywood franchise, the original “Meet the Parents” was a locally-filmed 1992 indie film co-written, directed and featuring Greg Glienna of Park Ridge, Illinois. That city’s famous Pickwick Theatre will celebrate 30 years of the film with a week long run that begins on Friday, September 20th, 2024, with an appearance at the 7pm show by Glienna, his co-writer/co-star Mary Ruth Clarke and producer Jim Vincent, with moderation by Ian Simmons of Kicking the Seat Vodcast. For ticket info and details, click MEET THE PARENTS.

CHICAGO – Tyrese Gibson is taking this one personally. Originally from the Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles, Gibson is the lead role in the film “1992” (in theaters on August 30th). His character Mercer went through the Watts Uprising in 1965, plus he and his son must navigate the Rodney King Uprising in 1992.

CHICAGO – There was once a Chicago housing project called Cabrini Green, and its legacy was a damning testament to Chicago’s mismanagement of housing for the poor in general. It’s gone now, the victim of gentrification, but its memory lives on in “We Grown Now,” a new release from writer and director Minhal Baig.