Dann Gire
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'Exorcist': The scary movie that opened the eyes of a future film criticDec 26, 2013 5:00 am - William Friedkin's "The Exorcist," the scariest movie ever made, celebrates its 40th anniversary this week. It originally invaded theaters Dec. 26, 1973, as sort of a b...
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Reel life: Dann & Raymond celebrate Paul NewmanDec 25, 2013 5:00 am - Be a-Pauled! Paul Newman could be described as “the man who would be salad king.” Join me and Buffalo Grove film historian Raymond Benson as Dann & Raymond's Movie Club ...
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Scorsese’s ‘Wolf’ a Wall Street comedy with dramatic chopsDec 24, 2013 11:25 pm - Merry Christmas, everyone! Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio have a special present waiting for us at the movie theaters. It’s titled “The Wolf of Wall Street.” It’s...
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Mandela's 'Long Walk' a long, plodding dramaDec 24, 2013 11:00 pm - "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" is a long, long, long movie so dramatically inert that it makes this year's previous Mandela movie, the serviceable but unremarkable "Win...
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Unwitty 'Mitty' misses point of Thurber's fantasiesDec 24, 2013 4:30 am - At the end of Ben Stiller's botched "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," the title character no longer needs daydreams and stops having them, exactly the opposite of James...
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Batavia comedy writer captures Christmas in the suburbs, circa 1980s.Dec 23, 2013 3:00 am - Christmas in the suburbs was magical for Kevin Jakubowski. Growing up in Batavia in the 1980s, he received the gift of his dreams at age 9 - the 8-bit Nintendo Entertai...
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Adios, Uncle Lar, one last timeDec 19, 2013 10:38 am - It was 7 p.m. on a Friday in 1987 at the studios of WLS 890-AM, Chicago’s “Big 89” rock superstation. After an incredible 30-year career in broadcasting — 20 in Chicago ...
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Dann & Raymond salute great caninesDec 19, 2013 5:00 am - Movie club returns! Join me and film historian Raymond Benson as Dann & Raymond's Movie Club rings in the new year at both the Schaumburg and Arlington Heights librarie...
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'Inside' a quest crammed with comic Coenesque quirkinessDec 19, 2013 4:45 am - Oscar Isaac plays the title character in Joel and Ethan Coen's new movie "Inside Llewyn Davis," and his performance bleeds with strained empathy and mysterious reserve. ...
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Coifs, twisty plot, excellent cast give 'Hustle' dramatic muscleDec 19, 2013 4:30 am - David O. Russell's dramatic crime comedy "American Hustle" opens with a perfect tone-setting disclaimer: "Some of this actually happened." And you believe it, because f...