The Criterion Collection released a 4K digital restoration of Medium Cool on May 21.

Haskell Wexler had already won the first of two cinematography Oscars (1966's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and '76's Bound for Glory) when he decided to return to the place of his birth, Chicago, and direct his first fiction feature, Medium Cool (1969). Written by Wexler, then 46, the counterculture classic remains a vibrant hybrid: characters (many of them non-actors) are put in the midst of real events, most famously the chaos of the '68 Democratic National Convention riots in Grant Park. Wexler himself was tear-gassed during filming.

Against that backdrop of social and political unrest, a hard-bitten television news cameraman pursues an Uptown Appalachian woman and awakens to a number of insights about the media, namely that the electronic eye dehumanizes its subjects, keeping TV producers and viewers at a dispassionate arm's length from the impact of the events captured. Speaking directly into Wexler's lens, an African-American activist schools the movie's cameraman, John Cassellis (Robert Forster)—and, in turn, the audience: "When you come in here and you say you've come to do something of human interest, it makes one wonder whether you're going to do something of interest to other humans or whether you consider the person human in whom you're interested."

Yesterday, the Criterion Collection released a restored 4K digital transfer of Medium Cool, along with extras including a commentary track from Wexler, excerpts from the documentary “Look Out, Haskell, It’s Real!” by historian Paul Cronin and "Medium Cool Revisited," a short film essay by Wexler comparing what he saw in '68 to the demonstrations during last year's NATO summit in Chicago.

We phoned the 91-year-old—whose cinematography résumé includes In the Heat of the Night and Days of Heaven—at his Los Angeles office to talk about the making of Medium Cool, his beloved hometown and how Studs Terkel became "Our Man in Chicago."

Read the interview in Film.

I'm seven-plus months pregnant and let me tell you, I have seen some weird shit marketed to parents, most of which just make me more nervous about my son's impending arrival (will he harbor years of resentment if I don't buy a contraption that warms his baby wipes?). But when I heard about a new album that takes White Stripes songs, removes any trace of testosterone-laden guitar, adds xylophones and bells, and calls the result "lullabies," I was intrigued. Let’s be real, though: Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of the White Stripes isn’t for babies, it’s for parents. So they don’t stuff diapers in their ears when they hear “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” for the 107th time. And so they can feel kinda cool, at a time when they couldn’t be any less cool.

So how does “Seven Nation Army” sound without Jack White’s iconic intro riff and Meg White’s thump-thump-thump? Quite pleasant, actually. The xylophones and bells conjure a Jamaican beachside vacation…with a German bell choir. Same goes for “The Hardest Button to Button,” “My Doorbell” (I especially appreciate the kazoo action on that track) and the other nine songs taken from the White Stripes’ oeuvre. The album’s a great way to introduce one of my favorite bands to my son, without subjecting him to the frightening, ghostly visage of Jack White just yet.

Michael Palascak

1. Michael Palascak
Stand-up Michael Palascak finally moved out of his parents' house in the suburbs—formerly the source of much of his comedy—and all the way to Los Angeles, scoring his first Comedy Central special last year. Head out to Rosemont to find out what he jokes about these days. Zanies Rosemont. May 22, 23. 8pm. $20.

2. The Timey Wimey Fantastic Brilliant Extravaganza (Geronimo!)
Bring your sonic screwdriver to this affectionate tribute to a certain time-traveling doctor and his companions, penned by brothers Justin and McKenzie Gerber. Right Brain Project. May 24, 25 10:30pm; May 26 3pm. $15, kids 12 and under $10.

3. Improvised Star Trek
Now that you've seen Into Darkness, make the Trek to iO for a night of improvised nerdiness set in the sci-fi franchise's Next Generation era. iO Del Close Theater. May 24. Midnight. $5.

4. Chigaygo
The Laugh Factory slates a new weekly night of queer and queer-friendly comics, produced and hosted by Scott Duff. The inaugural outing features Jessica Halem, Archer Coe, Joel Kim Booster, Kenny DeForest, Gwen La Roka and Marc 'DJ Moose' Moder, with proceeds benefiting the Lesbian Community Care Project. Laugh Factory. May 27. 8pm. $17.

5. Two Hour Comedy Hour
Two hours is a lot of stand-up, but the room is a charming one and the producers keep the audience involved with games. Gallery Cabaret. May 25. 7pm. Free.

Amalia Pica, Eavesdropping (version #2), 2011. Photo: Robert Wedemeyer.

ART & DESIGN
Amalia Pica In her first major solo museum exhibition (co-organized by the MCA and the MIT List Visual Arts Center), the London-based Argentine artist examines communication—in particular, the act of listening—and civic participation through drawings, sculptures, installations, projections, large-scale photographic prints and live performances. Incorporating simple materials such as flags, banners, confetti and brightly colored drinking glasses, her works are not only thoughtful but beautiful to behold. Museum of Contemporary Art. 10am–8pm.

MUSEUMS
"Welcome to the Universe" The Grainger Sky Theater's second screening to be made in-house takes you a billion light years away and back to Earth, where you can zoom in on landforms rendered with NASA data that's updated weekly. Much like in the domed theater's original incarnation, a live staffer helms the daily presentations. (Screens about five times a day. Price including admission $28, kids $22.) Adler Planetarium. 9:30am-4pm.