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-Renaud Jean Baptiste Jr.

NBA All-Star Weekend kicked off in high gear yesterday, as various celebs from the sports and entertainment world put their athleticism on display in the 2015 Sprint Celebrity game. Kevin Hart, Ansel Elgort, Anthony Anderson, and Common were just some of the names on hand trying to lead their respective team to victory.

The game was played at the world famous Madison Square Garden and was nothing short of entertaining. Nick Cannon squared off with Hart in an old-school dance battle prior to tip-off, Keke Palmer gave an impressive rendition of the National Anthem and there was even a Dave Chappelle sighting. Check out our thoughts on the night, along with some pics and social media highlights.

The Real Mvp

Wnba star Skylar Diggins, scored 13 points and lead her West squad to the promise land. But that wasn’t enough to land her Mvp, as Hart took...

-Renaud Jean Baptiste Jr.

NBA All-Star Weekend kicked off in high gear yesterday, as various celebs from the sports and entertainment world put their athleticism on display in the 2015 Sprint Celebrity game. Kevin Hart, Ansel Elgort, Anthony Anderson, and Common were just some of the names on hand trying to lead their respective team to victory.

The game was played at the world famous Madison Square Garden and was nothing short of entertaining. Nick Cannon squared off with Hart in an old-school dance battle prior to tip-off, Keke Palmer gave an impressive rendition of the National Anthem and there was even a Dave Chappelle sighting. Check out our thoughts on the night, along with some pics and social media highlights.

The Real Mvp

Wnba star Skylar Diggins, scored 13 points and lead her West squad to the promise land. But that wasn’t enough to land her Mvp, as Hart took...

“The finacialization of the capitalist economy implies a growing abstraction of work from its useful function, and of language from its bodily dimension. Desire is diverted from physical contact and invested in the abstract field of simulated seduction, in the infinite space of the image.”

—Franco “Bifo” Berardi in The Uprising, On Poetry and Finance

For those who came of age in the nondescript 2000s, an era characterised by securitarian paranoia and lack of future prospects, Joe Swanberg’s Lol (2006) might as well read as their very own (purposeless) existential manifesto. A generational pamphlet that, in tune with its times, neither affirms nor negates, let alone criticizes, its predicament, but simply registers the vacuum within which it occurs. It is the Western vacuum of the 21st century whose first decade was marked by a tangible curb in the forward surge of pop cultural history. Cinema, but also music and literature,...

Grammy Gallagher blew us away on last week's five star episode of Shameless. In the latest installment, meanwhile ("A Bottle of Jean Nate") Grammy continued to stun us with her shifty ways. 

The only thing shadier than Grammy's actions is the fact that Frank is putting actual effort into taking care of her. Sure, he may complain and want to have her locked up, but when it comes down to it Grammy is really the only one with any pull over Frank.

I hadn't realized Grammy was that sick that she was wearing diapers. Last week she seemed like she was still able to be out and about a little bit. She was able to threaten a young surgeon, hit up The Alibi, and teach a 10-year old how to make meth, so is changing her own Depends or powdering her own boobs that much more rigorous?

Just wondering, obviously,...

Chicago – Few filmmakers have proven to be as effortlessly prolific as Chicago-based writer/director/producer/actor Joe Swanberg. Since 2005, he’s released one directorial feature per year, with the exception of 2010. This year, he could potentially release seven pictures (three of them have already made the festival rounds). “Uncle Kent” played at Sundance, while “Silver Bullets” and “Art History” were screened at Berlinale.

“Kent,” which opens April 29 at the Gene Siskel Film Center, stars Kent Osborne (of “Hannah Takes the Stairs”) as a fortysomething animator who falls for the woman (Jennifer Prediger) he met on Chatroulette. It’s Swanberg’s latest exploration of relationships enhanced and hindered by technology, as well as one of the filmmaker’s most singular character portraits. Both “Bullets” and “History” are about the creative process of filmmaking, with Swanberg and his crew playing semi-fictionalized versions of themselves. Hollywood Chicago spoke with Swanberg about his various new projects,...

As a way of celebrating this year's nominees for the Spirit Awards in the weeks leading up to the ceremony, we reached out to as many as we could in an effort to better understand what went into their films, what they've gotten out of the experience, and where they've found their inspiration, both in regards to their work and other works of art that might've inspired them from the past year. Their answers will be published on a daily basis throughout February.

When "Lovers of Hate" opens in New York at the reRun Gastropub Theater this Valentine's Day weekend beginning this evening, it is indicative of two things: one, the sick sense of humor of the theater's programmers since Bryan Poyser's comedy is anything but romantic and that Poyser is indeed quite worthy of the John Cassavetes Award at this year's Spirit Awards since "Lovers of Hate" is...

Rating: 3.5/5

Writers: Kent Osborne, Joe Swanberg

Director: Joe Swanberg

Cast: Kevin Bewersdorf, Josephine Decker, Kent Osborne

Sometimes, while someone may see a specific film if the title of “Sundance Official Selection” grace its DVD cover or theatrical poster, a stigma may also come along with that. To the untrained eye, many Sundance releases may come off as trite, neo-pretentious pieces of “art” film filmmaking, that rely on heavy handed themes instead of solid, interesting, or compelling narratives. However, then there are films like Uncle Kent. Then there are films that actually work as something more than just a feature film. Even if that ultimately means a flawed, but compelling feature.

Read more on Sundance 2011 Review: Uncle Kent…...

Director: Joe Swanberg Writers: Kent Osborne, Joe Swanberg Starring: Kevin Bewersdorf, Josephine Decker, Kent Osborne, Joe Swanberg, Jennifer Prediger Kent (Kent Osborne) is a single, 40 year-old cartoonist who lives alone with his fluffy and sometimes finicky cat in Los Angeles. He spends most of his work days sketching cartoons alongside his friend, Kev (Kevin Bewersdorf), and most of his non-working hours taking hits from his bong and chatting with people on Chatroulette. A cute environmental journalist named Kate (Jennifer Prediger), one of Kent's Chatroulette acquaintances, crashes at Kent’s house for the weekend. Kent is well aware that Kate is currently in a long-term relationship, but he is unabashedly attracted to her intelligence, sense of humor, flirtatiousness and openness nonetheless. It does not help Kent’s state-of-mind that his time spent with Kate grows increasingly sexually charged: conversing frankly about masturbation and homoerotic fantasies, posing for raunchy photos and picking...

Directors: Ben Chace, Sam Fleischner Writers: Ben Chace, Sam Fleischner Starring: Sean Bones, Norah Jones, Carl Bradshaw, Kevin Bewersdorf, Mark Gibbs The story -- not of the film itself but of its conception -- goes that Ben Chace won a cruise to Jamaica in a raffle and he invited his childhood friend Sam Fleischner along for the vacation. Chace and Fleischner, both young filmmakers, decided to turn the trip into their next film project. Two additional cruise tickets were purchased for their actor Sean Bones and audio guy/actor Kevin Bewersdorf. The foursome sailed for one week; then, once in Jamaica, they were joined by producer Katina Hubbard for two weeks of production. The narrative of Wah Do Dem starts off quite similarly. Brooklyn hipster Max (Sean Bones) recently won a cruise for two to Jamaica. His plan was to take his girlfriend Willow (Norah Jones, in an all too brief cameo) along with him.

The 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival just wrapped up on June 28 and the Independent Film Alliance has announced the award-winners at this year's festival. Take a look at the full list of award winners below.

Target Filmmaker Award (for Best Narrative Feature)

Winner: Wah Do Dem (What They Do) written and directed by Sam Fleischner & Ben Chace

Producers: Sam Fleischner, Katina Hubbard, Ben Chace, Martha Lapham, Henry Kasdon

Cast: Sean Bones, Norah Jones, Kevin Bewersdorf, Carl Bradshaw

Film Description: Max's dream Caribbean cruise becomes a solitary odyssey after his girlfriend dumps him days before their departure. Now, he'll have to go with the Jamaican flow in this disarming and incisive debut feature.

The Target Filmmaker Award carries an unrestricted cash prize of $50,000 funded by Target, offering the financial means to help filmmakers transfer their vision to the screen. The award recognizes the finest narrative film in competition, and is given to the director.