Roland Burris as Mr. Smith? Not a chance

Sometimes fiction is "ripped from today's headlines," as they say. And sometimes headlines are "ripped from yesterday's movies," as I just said.

Gov insults our intelligence with Burris

Democrats keep telling us Roland Burris isn't the problem -- Gov. Blagojevich is the problem.

A new year that could be better . . .

If we had to come up with a slogan for the world on this first day of 2009, it might well be:

Tainted gov making Illinois a national joke

You see Blago bouncing around at that press conference, smirking and cracking wise about enjoying the limelight these past few weeks, and you think:

The 2008 GOOF Awards

Like the Beatles in the 1960s or Michael Jordan in the 1990s, Paris, Lindsay and Britney -- or as I like to call them, PaLitNey -- are on a roll. They "pwn," as the kids like to type. Year after year, these three rule the tabloid world with their escapades, even as their so-called careers remain, for the most part, stuck in neutral. (Although for some reason, a good number of people keep buying Britney's "music," even though in live appearances she demonstrates precious little ability to carry a tune.)

World whizzes by when you're on vacation

Last time I was writing for Page 11, Drew Peterson was totally available, Rod Blagojevich was laughing off rumors of wiretaps, Jay Leno was supposedly heading off to Fox, and the one weather-related thing we didn't have to worry about in the Chicago area was flooding in December.

Chicago claims spotlight in year of great movies
Chicago is Gotham City, and Gotham City is Chicago. That was made very clear in "The Dark Knight," the second installment of Christopher Nolan's masterful reinvention of a "Batman" franchise that had collapsed under the weight of nipply bat-suits and hammy cameos, and the addition of Robin, who's like the Keebler Elf of Superheroes.

Roeper's Top 25 movies of the year
Richard Roeper: Chicago is Gotham City, and Gotham City is Chicago. That was made very clear in "The Dark Knight," the second installment of Christopher Nolan's masterful reinvention of a "Batman" franchise that had collapsed under the weight of nipply bat-suits and hammy cameos, and the addition of Robin, who's like the Keebler Elf of Superheroes. On Nolan's watch, Batman is the best super-anti-hero in modern film history -- and he lives here.