The 3-D action fantasy "Epic" gains major bump-ups from witty visuals and pithy jokes (a bit about a fruitfly's life-span is a classic), Danny Elfman's superbly wrought score — buttressing the action with aural thrills and celestial spirituality — and from Christoph Waltz's unnerving vocal hissings as Mandrake, the Lord Voldemort of this story, all about an enchanted forest under...

This time "you're fired" is more than a Donald Trump catchphrase. Fox is turning the firing of real people from real jobs into entertainment. And they start it off in Downers Grove. “Does Someone Have to Go?” airs at 7 p.m. Thursday. On the show, cameras go into small businesses and employees are compelled to rat out underperforming colleagues. At the end, they choose one co-worker to...

Palatine's Alley 64 touts cold beer and warm service — and delivers on both counts. And as summer revs up, both are welcome draws for this biker-themed bar on Rand Road that also boasts a strong menu to boot. It's very casual with outdoor seating available in good weather. The bar also sponsors theme nights, like car shows on Wednesday and bike night Thursday.

How can I remove a large section of lawn that I want to turn into a garden bed?

This may be hard to believe in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, but an annual list of the best beaches in the country has a New York beach ranked No. 1. Less surprisingly, that beach is in East Hampton, the vacation playground for the rich and famous. In an announcement that coincides annually with the unofficial start of summer, coastal expert Stephen P. Leatherman on Friday released the 23rd...

From the moment he first appeared in "Devil in a Blue Dress" in 1990, Easy Rawlins was an instant favorite. So the disappointment was palpable when the black private detective drove his car off a cliff at the conclusion of "Blonde Faith," the eleventh novel in the series. But now Easy is back in "Little Green," where we find him awakening from a two-monthlong coma to discover, as usual, that...

Dread hearing your kids whine "I'm bored" this summer? Well, we have five new family-friendly attractions -- everything from a laser-light show to a new concert venue -- that will keep families busy over the next few months.

Metropolis Performing Arts Centre subscribers are certainly familiar with the relationship revue. In fact, these lighthearted romps — which typically clock in at 90 minutes or less — have become the bread and butter of the Arlington Heights theater's season. The latest of these pleasantly innocuous confections is “Five Course Love,” a lukewarm effort by...

Carol Burnett, who became famous for playing a variety of characters in sketch-comedy routines on her namesake television show, was named the winner of the nation’s top humor prize on Tuesday. The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts said Burnett will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Oct. 20 in Washington. A gala performance featuring top names in comedy will be taped and...

A proposal to convert a house into a mosque is back before DuPage County's zoning board of appeals after a federal judge ordered that the county take another look at the project. “The decision to reject ICWS didn't comply with the law,” said Mark Daniel, the attorney representing the center. “They (county officials) have a chance to fix it.”