Sid Smith

'Live-in Maid' **** Among Latin Americans of any means at all, live-in domestic help is an everyday part of middle-class life. This is crucial in understanding Argentinean director Jorge Gaggero's...

'Vanaja' *** "Vanaja," a film exploring the tensions of the caste system in contemporary rural India, boasts a compelling story on-screen and off. It tells of a 14-year-old girl who...

THEATER CHRIS JONES finds passion is the driving force on productions big and small Passion has always been the main fuel of the Chicago theater -- a collective institution that...

Years ago, a Chicago director, while preparing a production of "Coriolanus," was repeatedly asked, "Who wrote that?" The question could easily arise again with that same author's "Cymbeline," but at...

The Alma Dance Company, a new classical troupe based in Chicago, will make its debut with the full-length "Frankenstein Ballet," an original work, Nov. 9 and 10 at the North...

Despite original touches, "Cut Sleeve Boys" is mostly a mediocre gay-themed movie plagued by tired humor and slapdash filmmaking. The ethnicity of the lead characters is one novelty. They're London...