Jeremy and Paco talk about A Working Man (2025), directed by David Ayer.

First Impressions is a new episode format where we talk about recently released Chicago movies. Let us know any that are coming up!

Suggestions, comments, complaints, hate mail, and all other correspondence can be sent to [email protected]

Art by ⁠⁠⁠Lily Bacon⁠⁠⁠

Music by⁠⁠⁠ newest_latest⁠⁠

Further reading and sources:

• ⁠‘I’ll Do What I Have to Do to Survive’: David Ayer faced a “dark night of the soul” after the controversy of Suicide Squad. It changed his career.⁠ | Bilge Ebiri, Vulture
• "A Working Man" review⁠ | Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com
• ⁠Harsh Times, Ayer's first film, is available on Tubi

Jeremy and Paco are joined by author Noah Gittell to talk about Eight Men Out (1988), directed by John Sayles.

Art by ⁠⁠Lily Bacon⁠⁠

Music by⁠⁠ newest_latest⁠

Eight Men Out is screening at the Music Box on 35mm on March 23, introduced by Noah! You can buy your tickets here.

Further reading and sources:

• Baseball: The Movie | Noah Gittell
• Eight Men Out | Eliot Asinof
• The Betrayal | Charles Fountain
• “It Ain’t So, Kid, It Just Ain’t So:” History’s Apology to “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, Charles Comiskey and Chicago’s Black Sox | Daniel J. Voelker and Paul A. Duffy, originally in Chicago Lawyer magazine
• `Eight Men Out' - Film gets a fix on the real story behind the 1919 Black Sox scandal | Dave Hoekstra, Sun-Times, November 29, 1987

• Decency and Muck: The Visions of John Sayles and Oliver Stone
  
• 
   “Sports Films, History, and Identity.” | Aaron Baker, Journal of Sport History 25, no. 2 (1998): 217–33.
• “Trades Sink Sox to Lowest Payroll.” | Dave Van Dyck, Chicago Sun-Times, September 2, 1988
• "A Conversation Between Eric Foner and John Sayles,” from Past Imperfect: History according to the movies | Edited by Ted Mico, John Miller₋Monzon, and David Rubel
  

Jeremy and Paco are joined by journalist Siri Chilukuri to talk about 1997’s My Best Friend’s Wedding, directed by P.J. Hogan.  

Art by ⁠Lily Bacon⁠

Music by⁠ newest_latest

Further reading and sources:

• What Exactly Is Michael’s Job in ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’? | Rodger Sherman, The Ringer

• Ron Bass, Screenwriting Machine | Elaine Dutka, L.A. Times

• Novelist Bolu Babalola Explains 'My Best Friend's Wedding' | Kerensa Cadenas, The Thrillist

• ‘She Was Committed to the Dark Side’ How My Best Friend’s: Wedding messed with Julia Roberts’s image and changed rom-coms for good | Scott Meslow, Vulture 

• ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ Is a Rom-Com You Can Still Talk About for Hours | Jake Kring-Schreifels, The Ringer

• White Sox engineered infamous 'White Flag trade' 20 years ago | Paul Sullivan, The Chicago Tribune

• Romance Labor: on Sean Baker’s Anora | Marla Cruz, Angel Food magazine

• Convicts on the payroll | Editorial, Chicago Sun-Times via Chicago Public Library archives

• Coyote menace on rise in area | David Southwell, Chicago Sun-Times via Chicago Public Library archives

• Parents face fines, car impoundment - Curfew crackdown | Fran Spielman, Chicago Sun-Times via Chicago Public Library archives

Jeremy and Paco are joined by film critic Matt Cipolla to talk about the 1988 classic, Child’s Play, directed by Tom Holland, and the Chucky series more generally. 

Art by Lily Bacon

Music by newest_latest

Further reading and sources:

“She Just Had an Accident”: “Seed of Chucky” at 20 | Matt Cipolla

Howard Medley’s Bad Move | Ben Joravsky

Reign of Chucky: The True Hollywood Story of a Not So Good Guy | Dustin McNeill and Travis Mullins 

Suggestions, questions, feedback, and hate mail can be sent to [email protected]