Patrick McDonald

CHICAGO – The show business life is ripe for drama, and the new film “Beyond the Lights” explores the difficulties of the the superstar reaches of the music business, through a Beyoncé-type singer. Actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays Noni, and the film’s director is Gina Prince-Bythewood (“Love & Basketball”).

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Gene Simmons and the tongue that sold 100 million albums.

CHICAGO – Tongues were wagging as Gene Simmons, “The Demon” of the rock band KISS, made an appearance in Downers Grove, Ill., to greet fans and sign his new book “Me, Inc.: Build an Army of One, Unleash Your Inner Rock God, Win in Life and Business”. The appearance was took place on October 28th, 2014, at the Tivoli Theater and was sponsored by Anderson’s Bookshop of Napervillle, Ill.

CHICAGO – Glen Campbell, the singer, actor and personality, is ingrained into a certain late 1960s/early ‘70s ethos. His sunny disposition and clean pop music rhetoric crossed over from country to the mainstream, and in that other era he could seriously call his television show “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour.” Today, he fights a losing battle against Alzheimer’s Disease in the emotional documentary, “Glen Campbell, I’ll Be Me.”

CHICAGO – Apparently “Laggies” is a term which does mean one is “lagging behind” in the growing-up-to-be-an-adult requirement. The term is the title of a new comedy, which places the main character in a high concept situation, which only resides in the parallel universe of movieland.

CHICAGO – It is most likely that movie goers were asking the same question of Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” in 1968, but Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” belongs to its own category of what-is-the-meaning, because it tries to combine pseudo-science with psycho-babble, which clashes into meaninglessness. But the visuals are stunning, and there are moments of fulfillment, especially in a big screen IMAX format.

CHICAGO – What better way to get over the post-election hangover than hearing from the progressive lion, Michael Moore. Moore was on the Red Carpet at the 50th Chicago International Film Festival, and ran into an old friend, Chaz Ebert.

CHICAGO – Cindy Crawford is one of the great supermodels, and while she acknowledges her one-of-a-kind beauty, it was also her intelligence and hard work that created her successful modeling and business careers. Ms. Crawford is also the Charity Challenge Ambassador for the Art Van furniture stores.

CHICAGO – Melissa Gilbert has grown up a bit since portraying Laura Ingalls on the 1970s TV classic “Little House on the Prairie,” but her roots aren’t far behind. She’s just released “My Prairie Cookbook: Memories and Frontier Food from My Little House to Yours,” and appeared last month at North Central College in Naperville, Ill. – at an event sponsored by Anderson’s Bookshop – to greet admirers and sign her new menu planner.

CHICAGO – This film can be defined as “Network” meets Norman Bates, but it also exposes virtually all our modern sins, in a chilling story about a loser who spouts business self help while taping bloody crimes that sell on the morning news. Jake Gyllenhaal is the “Nightcrawler.”

CHICAGO – Some say, to use a FOX News term, that America is “post-racial.” The election of Barack Obama is supposed to have ended the debate on race, and any marginalization because of race. Of course, that is not possible in society and culture, and it’s articulated in writer/director Justin Simien’s new film, “Dear White People.”