There's a lot of vitriolic ranting out there, but there are literally hundreds of critics on the web who care deeply about film and having something to say about it.

I grew up in Dolton, just south of Chicago, about a 20-minute drive from old Comiskey Park.

I became addicted to the movie-going experience in the 1970s, when I attended multiple screenings of films such as 'Chinatown', 'Jaws', 'Star Wars' and the original 'Rocky'.

Whether it's viewers of the show or readers of my columns and books, I'm consistently impressed with their wit, humor and insight. That goes for about 95 percent of the audience. The other five percent are why the 'Delete' option and restraining orders were invented.

Even though we're a week and a half away from Thanksgiving, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

I loved watching classics such as 'Casablanca' and goofball comedies such as 'How To Murder Your Wife' on WGN-TV.

I've been playing Texas Hold 'em and other forms of poker since I was about 12.