Events on Friday, July 24

<em>The French Connection</em> (1971)

Film

The French Connection

Friday 7/24 @ Max Palevsky Cinema

William Friedkin's fact-based classic The French Connection still trumps the modern-day, testosterone-drenched cop flick. Detective Popeye Doyle (Gene Hackman) comes across... 

Akron/Family w/ Icy Demons and Mittens on Strings

Music

Akron/Family

Friday 7/24 @ Bottom Lounge

Since their first arrival on the freak-folk scene in 2002, Brooklyn's Akron/Family have been voracious experimentalists, blending jazz meanderings and proggy... 

Ongoing Events

<em>A Tribute to the Black Crooners (Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow)</em>

Music

A Tribute to the Black Crooners (Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow)

Friday 7/24 @ Black Ensemble Theater

News of R&B superstar Maxwell's return after a long hiatus is a reminder of times past, and not just his previous... 

Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary

City Gems

Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary

Friday 7/24 @ Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary

If nothing else, taking up birdwatching gives you a convenient excuse to bring terms like "Magnificent Frigatebird" and "Purple Gallinule" into... 

<em>MP3 II</em>: Curtis Mann, John Opera, and Stacia Yeapanis

Art: Photography

MP3 II: Curtis Mann, John Opera, and Stacia Yeapanis

Friday 7/24 @ Museum of Contemporary Photography

MP3 II presents works by three Midwest-based photographers, their divergent approaches united by the transformative nature of their pieces. Curtis Mann... 

Graceland Cemetery

City Gems

Graceland Cemetery

Friday 7/24 @ Graceland Cemetery

Hidden away on Chicago's north side, this secret memento of the city's architectural history is a large, rambling Victorian-style cemetery. Filled... 

The Wrens

Music

The Wrens

Friday 7/24 @ Schubas

The Wrens have been promising a new album for ages, but it might actually be just around the corner — well,... 

<em>The Hurt Locker</em>

Film

The Hurt Locker

Friday 7/24 @ Landmark Century Centre Cinema

Famous for sensational thrillers like Point Break, filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow stakes a new claim as a serious-minded action auteur with The... 

<em>Rod Blagojevich Superstar!</em>

Comedy

Rod Blagojevich Superstar!

Friday 7/24 @ Chicago Shakespeare Theater

The freshly ousted governor of Illinois exploited its top job, squandered its treasure, hamstrung its legislature, and tarnished its reputation. Rod... 

<em>Cy Twombly: The Natural World, Selected Works 2000&ndash;2007</em>

Art

Cy Twombly

Friday 7/24 @ The Art Institute of Chicago

Keeping to his own path, Cy Twombly has developed a singular idiom over five decades. His energetic paintings are marked by... 

<em>Chic Chicago: Couture Treasures from the Chicago History Museum</em>

Special Event

Chic Chicago

Friday 7/24 @ Chicago History Museum

In this glittering costume exhibition, the Chicago History Museum presents a rarely seen collection of haute couture fashions designed for the... 

Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool

City Gems

Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool

Friday 7/24 @ Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool

Escape the roaring cars on Lake Shore Drive and the crowds at Lincoln Park Zoo by slipping through the unobtrusive entrance... 

<em>America: All Better!</em>

Comedy

America: All Better!

Friday 7/24 @ The Second City

The 2008 election may have delivered a ray of hope, but storm clouds still hang above us. That's the uneasy premise... 

<em>Soul Power</em>

Film: Documentary

Soul Power

Friday 7/24 @ AMC Loews Pipers Alley 4

Soul Power documents the Zaire '74 all-star concert that set the stage for Muhammad Ali and George Foreman's legendary Rumble in... 

Prairie Avenue House Museums

Get Social

Prairie Avenue House Museums

Friday 7/24 @ Glessner House Museum

Chicago's historic Prairie Avenue district — the site of the 1812 Fort Dearborn Massacre — became known after the Great Chicago... 

Clare E. Rojas: <em>Believe Me</em>

Art

Clare Rojas

Friday 7/24 @ Kavi Gupta Gallery

For her second exhibition at Kavi Gupta Gallery, Clare Rojas returns with a carefully conceived installation of her distinctive gouache paintings,... 

<em>Chicago Model City</em>

Art

Chicago Model City

Friday 7/24 @ Chicago Architecture Foundation

As the city celebrates the centennial of Daniel Burnham's Plan of Chicago (if you don't think it's brilliant, try navigating a... 

<em>The Room</em> (2003)

Film

The Room

Friday 7/24 @ Music Box Theatre

Perhaps the most unintentionally funny film since Troll 2, Tommy Wiseau's The Room has gone from LA cult item (where it... 

<em>Three Monkeys</em>

Film

Three Monkeys

Friday 7/24 @ Music Box Theatre

Visual catchphrases borrowed from Lynch, Bergman, and Billy Wilder get a thoroughly modern treatment in the Turkish noir Three Monkeys, a... 

<em>Studs Terkel's Not Working</em>

Comedy

Studs Terkel's Not Working

Friday 7/24 @ The Second City e.t.c.

After taking aim at Obama, Hillary and McCain in its recent shows, the Second City looks homeward with a heaping helping... 

<em>Pop Sizzle Hum</em> & <em>Single Channels</em>

Art

Pop Sizzle Hum & Single Channels

Friday 7/24 @ Tony Wight Gallery

A crop of painting-focused group shows has sprouted in the West Loop this summer. While you'll find some appealing works in... 

<em>The Big World: Recent Art from China</em>

Art

The Big World: Recent Art from China

Friday 7/24 @ Chicago Cultural Center

Since the Chicago Cultural Center last presented an exhibition of recent art from China 12 years ago, the country has experienced... 

Baby Wants Candy

Comedy

Baby Wants Candy

Friday 7/24 @ Apollo Theater

Whether you love or fear musicals, you can delight in Baby Wants Candy, a fully improvised comedy show with song, dance,... 

David Horvitz: <em>Impossible to See the Whole Thing at the Same Time</em>

Art

David Horvitz

Friday 7/24 @ Believe Inn

David Horvitz draws inspiration from "rabble-rousers, mischief makers, saboteurs," and other kinds of rascally figures, and his retooled version of '60s-style... 

25th Annual Newberry Library Book Fair

Festival: Fair

Newberry Library Book Fair

Friday 7/24 @ The Newberry Library

For book lovers, nothing says heaven on earth more than a used-book sale. But the Newberry Library's Book Fair practically promises... 

<em>Your Pal, Cliff: Selections from the H.C. Westermann Study Collection</em>

Art

H.C. Westermann

Friday 7/24 @ Smart Museum of Art

A remarkable artist with a sensibility all his own, H.C. Westermann pursued themes of love, death, and catastrophe in his works... 

Harry Potter: The Exhibition

Special Event

Harry Potter: The Exhibition

Friday 7/24 @ Museum of Science and Industry

Raised eyebrows and a few chuckles greeted the 1990s announcement that an exhibit of Star Wars movie memorabilia would tour such... 

<em>Whatever Works</em>

Film

Whatever Works

Friday 7/24 @ Various locations

Long ago, Woody Allen owned up: his one regret in life was that he was not someone else. Yet, for the... 

The Picture Tells the Story: The Drawings of Joseph E. Yoakum

Art

The Picture Tells the Story: The Drawings of Joseph E. Yoakum

Friday 7/24 @ Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art

An exhibition of Joseph Yoakum’s visionary landscapes, curated by Mark Pascale, caretaker of Whitney Halstead’s collection bequeathed to the Art Institute... 

Bertha Honoré Palmer

Special Event

Bertha Honoré Palmer

Friday 7/24 @ Chicago History Museum

Bertha Palmer reigned as the queen of Chicago society, but her influence was known around the world.  She was a champion...