They’re back! Four years after the final show of the series aired, the favorite television series on HBO has returned in the form of a movie that came to theatres nationwide May 30, 2008. New Line Cinema presents the movie Sex and the City , bringing back the four strongwilled females of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte in the romantic comedy cinema. Just what was going to happen and how it would end was the secret that was kept quiet until the movie was finally released. A secret that was so big that they premiered the movie to an audience on the Oprah show in the beginning of May, and they cut off the movie before the ending could be revealed. Movie premieres had been going on through the entire month of May, and even went global in events such as the premiere on May 12, 2008 in London, just two weeks before the big debut that took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Tuesday May 27, 2008.

Wanted is an action packed movie filled with heart-stopping adrenalin rushes -–comparable to the Matrix with its graphics and stunning futuristic action. Although this movie is placed in present time—it creates a futuristic twist to everyday life. Wesley Gibson, played by, James McAvoy, is a 25-year-old accountant working his 9 to 5 shift, tired of his life, yearning for something exciting. While at a local grocery, Wes is intercepted by a member of what he later finds out to be the Fraternity of Assassins: Fox, played by the sexy, seductive Angelina Jolie. The head of the Fraternity, played by the dashing Morgan Freeman, sees the Wes’ internal potential.

Wes is trained by the best to fight—and to control the curve of a bullet. He is put through a number of battling tests to improve his agility and control—all driven by the death of his father. No words can describe this film. One has to experience it by watching it. A majority of this movie was filmed in our very city of Chicago. It is a great movie that keeps you at the edge of your seat. I give this film a 4.75 out of 5. This is definitely a film to see, especially when the action is comparable to the Matrix.

Schindler’s List is a powerful film recounting the events of the Holocaust that took place during World War II. With a runtime of 195 minutes, the black-and-white movie tells the true story of Oskar Schindler, a crooked scam artist who, in the end, saves the lives of over 1,000 Jewish people. Schindler’s List is directed by Steven Spielberg, a mastermind when it comes to films. With the top notch cast of Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, and Ralph Fiennes, this 1993 film has quickly become a classic.

In the movie, Oskar Schindler (Neeson) is seemingly a scammer looking to make money on the slave labor of Jewish workers in Krakow. He hires Itzhak Stern (Kingsley) to run the operation and hire the Jewish laborers. All seems well until the Nazi party decides to move the Jewish people from the ghettos into the concentration camps. By doing so, Schindler fears his business will fold and bribes the SS into allowing some of the workers to help him keep his business afloat. He in turn saves these Jewish workers from a most certain death, seemingly his plan all along.

Throughout the movie, as he is subjected to the sights of the inhumane acts of the Nazi party, Schindler has no choice but to do all he can to help the Jewish people from the carnage of genocide. He bribes an official in the SS, Amon Goeth (Fiennes), and makes a list of Jewish workers who will be transported from the concentration camps to a safe location in Oskar’s home town in Czechoslovakia.

The film itself is well-directed and the performance delivered by the actors is amazing. Schindler’s List won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and has won 63 other awards with 21 other nominations. The movie takes the viewer by surprise and draws them into the harsh reality of the Holocaust. I give this film 9 out of 10.

The dawn of music spawned the dawn of musically- inclined imposters; "musicians" easily recognized as the artificial flavoring to soda-pop tunes. Well, on the opposite side of the spectrum sits singer/songwriter Joey DeGraw. Having forged an impressive presence on the harmonic streets of New York, DeGraw is picking up his steel guitar and hitting the road. After writing with Grammy winner Diane Warren, "Do You Feel Me" and "Because You Loved Me," as well as working with Joss Stone on her latest album, it seems credibility has inched it's way into the back pocket of his signature blue jeans. The necessity of singing about love and broken hearts is passed by the impending need to address politics with the agressive vocals in "Your Last Day" and a glimpse into reality for newbies entering the music industry with "Miracle of Mind" from his debut album Midnight Audio (2005).

Rock and Roll meets Southern comfort as DeGraw makes his way across the country promoting new tunes; seasoned with the likes of Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Chris Whitley and the Beatles. Look for Joey DeGraw and his band as they set off on a multi-city national tour with Tony Lucca this September.

Recently, I had the opportunity to check out a band from my birthplace play a small, local show here in the city of Chicago. The band was Eric and the Happy Thoughts, and the show was amazing. Shows like this, which take place in some dirty little bar that you’ve never heard of, testament to the fact that I don’t even remember the name of the bar in which this show took place, are often the best. I couldn’t smell anything but sweat, I couldn’t order anything to drink but beer, and I couldn’t do anything but dance.

The bands sound is kind of throwback, they have a garage sound, but not in the vein of bands like Nirvana that usually come to mind when you hear the word “garage.” Instead, they put a dirty garage sound together with pop music, which comes out heavily in Eric’s songwriting, to make a very unique sound. Eric and the Happy Thoughts is one of those bands that proves two guitars and a drum set are all you need to make rock n’ roll. Eric and the Happy Thoughts hail from the rock n’ roll scene in Lafayette, Indiana, and includes members Eric LaGrange (vocals and guitar,) Trent Downey (drums,) and Jordan Allen (vocals and bass.)

They will be on tour supporting their upcoming release on Bubbledump records starting July 10, and the closing show of their tour will take place in Chicago at the Empty Bottle on July 26. I promise you, bands like Eric and the Happy Thoughts, and small venues like the Empty Bottle, are where real rock n’ roll is made. Do yourself a favor and check out their show on July 26, and while you are at it, hit them up on Myspace too @ http://www.myspace.com/thehappythoughtsmusic.