Richard A. Chapman/Sun-Times Alyx Pattison, a candidate for alderman in the Second Ward, says the parking meter was a horrible idea, though it made her former law firm a good chunk of money. Nobody likes the parking meter deal—especially at election time. Six and a half years after the City Council signed off on former mayor Richard M. Daley’s plan to sell off the metered parking system, candidates are still campaigning against it....

Sue Kwong This winter, the Reader has set a humble goal for itself: to determine the Greatest Chicago Book Ever Written. We chose 16 books that reflected the wide range of books that have come out of Chicago and the wide range of people who live here and assembled them into an NCAA-style bracket. Then we recruited a crack team of writers, editors, booksellers, and scholars as well as a few Reader staffers to judge each bout....

78/52, which dissects and decodes the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), has received mostly glowing reviews from critics—which makes sense, given that it both validates cineastes’ obsessions and constitutes a fine piece of film criticism itself. Named for the 78 camera setups and 52 splices that Hitchcock employed for a sequence running about three minutes, the documentary feels like an Intro to Cinema Studies class taught by an engaging professor, both wonky and accessible....

ARTIST: Ryan DugganSHOW: Maps & Atlases and Pattern Is Movement at Lincoln Hall on Wed 6/10MORE INFO: ryanduggan.com

You’ve got to give Governor Bruce Rauner this: some parts of his job are complicated. Like negotiating a budget in a political war zone. Or, if he wanted to have a go at it on his own, Rauner could have selected any regular faculty member at any of Illinois’s colleges and universities. Thousands of them would have qualified. So, last October, the council sent Rauner two possible candidates—both experienced members of the FAC—and waited for a response....

Molly Raskin Inside the new Shuga Records The stretch of Milwaukee Avenue between Ashland and Wolcott in Wicker Park is set to welcome two record stores this year. The Reckless Records at 1532 N. Milwaukee is moving south to a larger space at 1379 N. Milwaukee; the new location’s official opening date is still being determined. The other store setting up in the neighborhood, Shuga Records, is opening its shop at at 1272 N....

Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith has made recordings over the past decade that celebrate uplifting movements, such as the Occupy protests and the civil rights struggle, and great jazz musicians, including Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis. At first glance Sun Beans of Shimmering Light, a six-year-old concert recording of a group that played just a handful of times between 2012 and 2015, appears more modest. But in fact, it synthesizes and embodies those two themes....

The locally shot drama Rogers Park, which opens today at the Gene Siskel Film Center for a weeklong run, achieves a commendable sense of intimacy in its portrait of two middle-aged couples facing personal crises. It also conveys what it’s like to live in the title neighborhood, celebrating the diversity of Rogers Park and the variety of careers that are available to people there. The principal characters are a failed novelist working as a librarian (Jonny Mars); his longtime girlfriend (Christine Horn), who works in an alderman’s office; the novelist’s sister (Sara Sevigny), who runs a preschool; and the sister’s husband (Antoine McKay), a former musician who now sells real estate....

This weekend we spring forward, so the days are about to get a whole lot brighter. Celebrate the daylight with something from our list of recommended things to do. Sun 3/8: It’s the ninth annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival, the children’s video contest features short films created by kids that tell the stories of Newbery-winning books like Charlotte’s Web, A Wrinkle in Time, and more. 1:45 PM, Harold Washington Library, Pritzker Auditorium, 400 S....

The Spice Room Ghareeb Nawaz Finalists: Rangoli Classic Indian Dining, Mango Pickle, Tiffin The Indian Kitchen

Insight Studios insightstudiosonline.com As a piercing veteran, I’ve gotten over the adolescent impulse to rebel at the nearest body shop. I still have the urge to get pierced, but these days it’s in the most cautious, mature manner possible. At Insight, “Santi,” aka Juan Santiago, one of Insight Studios’ resident piercers, took hold of my lobes with the calm command of an artist approaching his canvas. The prices are higher than at a Claire’s mall outlet, but it’s worth the extra dough to avoid the unsteady hands of a novice or the impersonality of a piercing gun....

Don’t Fret dontfretart.com Runner-Up: Left Handed Wave

You guys hear about this Black Panther movie? In Rise of the Black Panther, whose third issue hit shelves Wednesday, T’Challa’s story is getting a reboot. Much like Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One, Rise of the Black Panther retells the story of T’Challa’s ascension to Wakanda’s king and protector in a modern age. This time around we see a new king excited to offer up the powers and technology of Wakanda to the world, shunning the secrecy of his ancestors and peers and inviting outsiders in—which ends up welcoming skeptics and threats....

I’ll never forget the first time I walked into a hot-boxed CTA el car. On a weeknight two summers ago, I was heading home from the Grand Red Line station. As the train doors opened, I stepped into a haze of smoke and breathed in the telltale, love-it-or-hate-it aroma of marijuana. A group of teenagers passing a joint were nearly rolling in the aisle with laughter. Not being a weed aficionado myself, I rolled my eyes and headed to the next carriage....

Americano 2211 | Wicker Park Those familiar with Birchwood Kitchen, which closed its doors last fall, will also remember its picturesque ivy-covered back patio. Americano 2211, which opened in April in the same space, retains much of the relaxed, European feel of the former occupant, with a brief menu comprising breakfast dishes, pastries, sandwiches, and salads. There are plans to add an herb garden to the 30-seat patio and to stay open for dinner, allowing for an evening glass of wine out back (a liquor license is in the works)....

We want to begin by thanking editor in chief Anne Elizabeth Moore for deftly navigating us through these first few months of being an independent entity again. We couldn’t have gotten here without her, and we wish her well. Managing editors Sujay Kumar and Karen Hawkins are co-piloting for now, and we all look forward to continuing to prove that independent local journalism can and will survive. Thank you to everyone for showing so much love for last week’s first-ever Plants Issue....

Al Pacino is so famous for going overboard that you can easily forget how good he is at conveying quiet resignation. In The Godfather Part II, Donnie Brasco, The Insider, and large parts of Carlito’s Way, Pacino beautifully embodies a type of wounded masculinity, playing characters who aren’t happy with how their lives have turned out but whose integrity demands they sleep in the bed they’ve made. The actor can communicate years’ worth of disappointment with a sigh, drawn-out line reading, or downcast expression....

Utotem Furniture utotemfurniture.com There used to be a convenience store chain in certain parts of the country called UtoteM, which was bought out by Circle K in the mid-80s. Pilsen’s year-old Utotem Furniture is nothing like those. One of the shop’s three owners, Jordan Grimes, is a furniture designer, and his work is sold in the store. His pieces are rustic, bringing together bits of ancient-looking wood and vintage metal fixtures to create furnishings that feel incredibly modern....