Friday | October 12
Sometimes it’s good to be left in the dark. The 48th Annual Chicago International Film Festival, which premiered yesterday and will run through the 25th, displays an array of the best the cinematic world has to offer in the sure-to-be-packed AMC River East Theatre. Today you can watch Franck Khalfoun’s remake of the 1980s cult classic Maniac, in which Elijah Wood steps into the role of psychotic loner and chronic womanizer/scalper. Or why not check out Tae-kyeong Kim’s Don’t Click, which explores the sinister side of the dot-com generation. 322 East Illinois Street. Screenings from 3–11:15 p.m., $11 regular ticket for students.
The Logan Arts Center has never been shy about openings—new plays, art exhibits (and apocalypses), its inaugural kickoff last spring—but the Logan Launch Festival may prove to be the most jam-packed to date. Bay-area based band Los Cenzontles will begin the festival at noon with their special blend of contemporary and traditional Mexican music with Los Lobos frontman David Hidalgo. After that the day will turn to a frenzy of arts and then to night. Expect performances by the New Budapest Orpheum Society, UBallet, and the Creative Writing Department; talks and Q&As with playwright David Auburn, Artistic Director of Court Theatre Charles Newell, poet Tom Raworth, and architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, who, you know, designed the Center. 915 East 60th Street. 12–11 p.m., free.
Saturday | October 13
Bike for something nobler than Gatorade. Death’s Door Spirits hosts the Will Bike for Booze ride, a 12-mile-long bar hop on wheels and superior option for the health-conscious day-drinker. Participants start at Little Italy neighborhood hang-out Three Aces and wind up at the Boiler Room in Logan Square. There they can lay claim to a commemorative Death’s Door t-shirt and complimentary cocktail. Leaves from 1321 West Taylor Street. 2–4 p.m., $10 (ride limited to 40 people, reserve in advance!).
The Chicago Architecture Foundation presents its second annual Open House Chicago in which 150 buildings throughout the city will be free and open to the public all day. The Wit Hotel is sharing its exclusive rooftop and screening rooms with locals, while the Google building is welcoming visitors to its 13th floor reception area and apparently extant 1920s speakeasy. Several buildings in our own Hyde Park are also participating, including the Hyde Park Historical Society, the Oriental Institute, and Bartlett Hall (no word yet on what that means for the stability of flex dollars). Citywide. Typically 9 a.m.–5 p.m., (double-check hours of building before heading over), free.
Sunday | October 14
It’s time to get your monthly dose of what every doctor is bound to order: fashion, food, and minutia. The October edition of Dose Market is a real stunner, offering free pumpkin ale from Greenbush Brewing, salty honey pie baked by the Sugar Path, Silver Moon Vintage wares (Halloween costume?), and tree-ring cutting boards courtesy of Greta de Perry. All this and so much more whiskey is waiting for you at the River East Art Center. 435 East Illinois Street. 10 a.m.–4 p.m., $8 in advance, $10 at the door.
Sandra Lee revolutionized the sphere of DIY food prep with her concept of “semi-homemade” cooking, wherein 30 percent fresh ingredients are combined with another 70 percent pre-packaged ingredients. Now she’s back with two new shows, the first of which, Restaurant Remakes, promising to reveal some of the most famous dishes of even more famous chefs, premieres tonight. Wolfgang Puck’s “Shanghai Lobster” may make an appearance. Food Network (Your TV). 9 a.m.
Chris Ware—who you might know from his contributions to The New Yorker and This American Life—will discuss and sign his new graphic novel Building Stories at Quimby’s in Wicker Park. The book introduces to the reader a strange and fanciful premise—three households peacefully coexisting in a three-story Chicago apartment building. The landlord lives in one of those apartments. Still not impressed? J.J. Abrams says of Building Stories, “…the only regret you will have in starting it is knowing that it will end.” Too bad the same can’t be said for Lost. 1854 West North Avenue. 5 p.m., free.
