GB Get-Together

Come meet GB staffers at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark (just south of Foster), tonight at 9pm for our monthly get-together. We'll be in the upstairs bar.

We'll have some t-shirts available for $15 ($3 off the site price), and a limited edition silkscreened calendar can be yours free!

Henrik Ibsen preview show @ Neo-Futurarium

The Neo-Futurists present their latest prime-time offering, The Last Two Minutes of the Complete Works of Henrik Ibsen, directed by Greg Allen. Tonight's show is a preview show, and the show opens on Saturday night. Showtime is at 8:00 PM, and each of the shows this week is pay-what-you-can. The play runs at the Neo-Futurarium through March 5. See the Neo-Futurist Website for reservations and more info. Neo-Futurarium: 5153 N. Ashland. (773) 275-5255.

Taste of Check Please! @ WTTW studios

Calling all fans of WTTW's restaurant review program "Check, Please!" Tonight WTTW offers a very special event, Taste of Check Please, which features food from a long list of restaurants that were reviewed on the program. "Check, Please!" host Alpana Singh will preside over the evening, which also includes music, a silent auction, special prizes, and so much more. The event is pretty pricey ($125 for WTTW members and $150 for non-members), but if you're a rabid fan of this program this might just be the event for you. The evening runs from 6:30 to 10:00 at the WTTW studios (5400 N. St. Louis Avenue). Check the WTTW Website for full details.

Wings of Desire @ Film Center

Wings of Desire, the amazing 1987 Wim Wenders film about angels in modern-day Germany, screens tonight at 6:00 PM at the Siskel Film Center, as part of a continuing four-month-long program of German cinema. The film stars Bruno Ganz as an angel who quietly observes humans and their activities, and becomes concerned with two in particular: a beautiful trapeze artist in a travelling circus; and the actor Peter Falk (playing himself). See Roger Ebert's essay on the movie for more details about the plot. (Although, if you haven't seen the movie before, you might want to go without any advance information about the story.) If you miss tonight's screening, the film will also be shown on Tuesday, February 1, at 6:00 PM. Tuesday's screening will include a lecture by Scott Curtis from Northwestern University. Tickets are $9 for the general public, $5 for Film Center members, and $4 for SAIC students. Film Center: 164 N. State. (312) 846-2600.

Art Prostitute Release Party

This Friday, at Chicago's Bucket Rider Gallery, the folks behind Art Prostitute magazine will be in town to celebrate the release of their fifth issue, Still Alive. Featuring work from Gary Baseman, Tiffany Bozic, Kozyndan, and Cody Hudson, this should be a nice way to start off the weekend. The party is free, but a 20-spot in support of the cause gets you a copy of the new issue. If you're lucky, Cody might even sign it for you. What more could you ask for?

The Return of B-Fest

If you like super-bad movies, then you'll love http://www.b-fest.com">B-Fest. I'm pretty sure that most of the films should have a C or D rating, but somebody's gotta enjoy this stuff since it sold out last year. But if the idea of being locked in a movie theater overnight with a gaggle of bad movie fans who won't make fun of you for liking awful, awful films, then you've gotta head over to Evanston's Norris Center. Bring a sleeping bag, leave the booze at home, and your well-developed sense of humor and you'll be fine.
Cinnamon will be attending, with her knitting cause she'll need something to make herself calm when the movies make her want to scream.