Cover Story
Movies 2019 – The dawning of the Age of Netflix
When film historians look back at 2019, they will note that this was the year when Netflix changed the cinematic landscape for good…or ill, depending on your point of view. Up until this year, the streaming service had only been a minor disruption on the movie landscape by producing its own fare, acquiring others’ work…
Prosecutor quits under fire
A Sangamon County assistant state’s attorney who landed in trouble at a bar last spring has resigned after being pulled over last month on suspicion of drunken driving. University of Illinois Springfield police ended their investigation without arresting or citing Edward Brandt when he refused to perform field sobriety tests after being stopped for driving…
Movies are about moments
Movies are about moments – big moments that erase our cynicism about cinema and remind us of its capacity to dazzle. This happens in a way only possible with a medium that seamlessly combines so many other art forms. These are instances that prompt us to consider things in a different light, to empathize with…
SAA film series offers hope and vision
Each year for almost three decades, the Springfield Art Association has provided a public service to the area’s cultural and cinematic landscape in the form of the Molly Schlich Independent and International Film Series. Starting in January and lasting through March, with Sunday matinees and Tuesday evening screenings at AMC’s Parkway Pointe 8 (3025 Lindbergh…
Salad days
I’ve been accused of being a bit of a Scrooge whenever I climb onto my soapbox and pontificate about the evils of sugary holiday treats. I promised my wife that over the holidays I would stop telling the grandkids that every sugar cookie or piece of candy they consume brings them one step closer to…
Little Women still timely
Do we really need another big screen version of Little Women? What with seven previous adaptations as well as numerous television productions and updates, one would think that Louisa May Alcott’s saga about the March women had been played out. Yet, it could be argued that the novel’s message has never been more timely or…
Joe Stamm Band
Originally from somewhere in Central Illinois with black dirt baked and caked into his soles and soul, Joe Stamm takes country music into the deep places where real feelings and real playing go to hang out together. As a young adult, football was his thing, but when Joe was forced to change careers he discovered…
2020 happens
Hello everyone, and welcome to another new year. Perhaps we should nickname this one the “Year of Hindsight” or maybe “Seen with Perfect Vision” or whatever other interesting thought we can do with the “2020” thing to make it a winner. But for now let’s get prepared for another year of amazing music in our…
Molly Schlich Independent-International Film Series
This year marks the 29th annual Molly Schlich Independent International Film Series. It is sponsored by the Springfield Art Association (SAA) and proceeds benefit the Michael Victor Art Library. The series is named in honor of local resident Molly Schlich, who is passionate about international films and is devoted to bringing entertaining and challenging films…
Free William Dean
William Kent Dean isn’t perfect. If he was, he wouldn’t be locked up at Taylorville Correctional Center, serving 15 years on his third cocaine conviction. He’ll be paroled in September, if he’s still alive. That Dean, 59, isn’t dead is something of a miracle, according to testimony in a recent trial that ended with him…
Editor’s note 01-02-20
How about instead of a health and housing center we find apartments for the up to 130 people who would otherwise be staying in a new emergency homeless complex? The troubled souls who can’t manage their own shelter for one reason or another could be found places to live all around town, a few here,…
Why trust matters
To me, it was a thunderclap. Years ago, when I was in Congress, we were in the midst of a tense, contentious debate. Members had gotten irritated, levying charges back and forth, and tempers were rising. It was starting to look like we might just go off the rails. Then one member stood up, asked…
Letters to the Editor 01-02-20
TRASH, NOT TRUMP My nephew recently brought up the subject of the president at a family event with the seemingly destructive goal of instigating. His loud and bold statements could either be argued for or against, depending on which facts you chose to ignore. I’m going to tell you which facts matter to me in Springfield,…
Putting puzzles together
Thanks to inherited money, Jane Ford can live comfortably and travel. But she says that there’s more to life. What, she thought after realizing that her own future is secure, should I do with money I don’t need? Springfield discovered her generosity last month, when Ford and the Sommer Family Fund, a charity created by…
Medical pot growers just got bigger
Less than two weeks before adult-use recreational marijuana became legal in Illinois, the state Department of Agriculture announced that all 21 cultivation centers that have been licensed to grow medical marijuana are now licensed also to grow for adult use. The final three companies to be approved were Bedford Grow LLC, in Bedford Park, IL…
