News

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the Waldorf Declaration, which on November 25, 1947, officially launched the Hollywood Blacklist. On that day, the heads of the major studios, with a few notable exceptions, agreed after a contentious two-day conference at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City to ban the Hollywood Ten and to not “knowingly” employ Communists.

And so began one of the darkest chapters in Hollywood’s history.

Related Story Hollywood Blacklist: 75th Anniversary Of The Waldorf Declaration – Photo Gallery Related Story Donald Anthony St. Claire Dies: 'The Amazing Race' Oldest Competitor Was 87 Related Story Irene Cara Remembered By Colleagues, Friends And Fans

Just a few weeks earlier, the Hollywood Ten had denounced and refused to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee and later were sent to federal prison for contempt of Congress.

“We will forthwith discharge or suspend without compensation those in our employ,” the Waldorf Declaration stated,...

Chicago – Sometimes, a simple will of the heart is like a drop of water in the ocean, which ripples so profoundly that it affects the tides. That will is illustrated in the heartbeat of “Batkid Begins,” the story of Miles Scott, a little boy fighting an illness, who wished to be The Batman.

Rating: 5.0/5.0

What happened next can only be described as a miracle. The desire of the boy was brought to the Make-a-Wish Foundation, who considers the requests of ill children and tries to fulfill them. As the mechanics for the transformation of Miles Scott to Batkid began to fall into place, something else occurred, based in part in our new era of technology. The details and the complexities of making the dream happen began to light up the Twitter sphere, through the Foundation and the participants in the wish. This drew interest from more volunteers, which led to donations of props and performances,...

Chicago – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 20 pairs of advance-screening movie passes up for grabs to the new film festival hit documentary “Batkid Begins” – the true story of a 5-year-old cancer patient’s wish come true!

“Batkid Begins,” which opens in Chicago on July 10, 2015 and is rated “PG,” stars Miles Scott as Batkid, Ron Oppenheimer as Superman, Or Oppenheimer as Catwoman, Eric Johnston as Batman and Mike Jutan as The Penguin from writer and director Dana Nachman and writer Kurt Kuenne.

The film won awards at the Ashland Independent Film Festival, Dallas International Film Festival and Heartland Film, was nominated at the Cleveland International Film Festival and was an official selection at the Chicago Critics Film Festival.

To win your free passes to “Batkid Begins” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just get interactive with our social media widget below. That’s it! This screening is on Thursday, July 9, 2015 at 7 p.

We all remember the day Batkid saved Gotham City (San Francisco) from the clutches of villainy, but this burst of uncontrollable joy deserves more than one single day of recognition. We’ve become a culture of attention-deficit drones who only care about what’s “trending,” which is why Batkid Begins is the documentary we need right now.

Fair warning: you will cry all over again. Not out of sadness, but because one boy’s dream gave the world something to smile about. Civilization shut down for an entire day to watch a pint-sized, leukemia-stricken boy named Miles act out his wildest fantasy…but his request did far more for humanity than Make-a-Wish workers could have Ever imagined. Good nature is infectious, and we need daily reminders like Batkid Begins to make sure our humanitarian side isn’t overtaken by life’s obsessively negative grasp.

When asked by the Make-a-Wish organization,...