Got MILK? You better.

Shlomi Rabi, NBC5 Street Team

Community leader and activist Harvey Milk would open his rallies with an introduction, followed by a frank revelation of his intention: “I am here to recruit you.” It was that very same unassuming approach that made him popular, accessible, and influential, as evidenced in Gus Van Sant’s latest biopic, Milk. The movie stars a brilliant Sean Pean as California’s first openly gay elected official. The marriage of Van Sant and Penn is perfect, as together they carve a most vulnerable and believable character without taking the oh-too-easy bait to sanctify a hero. Simply put, Penn’s Milk is as flawed as he is heroic. It is also the battery of other actors—a beguiling James Franco with whom Penn shares heart-breaking chemistry, a scene-stealing Diego Luna, a wonderfully nuanced Emile Hirsch, a sensational Josh Brolin, and a terrific Allison Pill—who make the film such a treat.

Given the film’s emphasis on community, leadership, and opposition to the kind of inane divisiveness that has precluded this country from evolving, the movie feels eerily germane. A significant portion of Milk is devoted to the community’s struggle against the fear of Otherness as spewed by beauty-queen-cum-self-righteous-hate-monger Anita Bryant, and California’s Proposition 6, which would have called for the immediate professional termination of gay—and gay-sympathizing, no less—teachers. Given today’s political atmosphere, the proximity to the election, and California’s current battle over Proposition 8, Milk is as telling of its period as much as it is of ours. Overall, it is an excellent epic that should demand no recruitment, but simply feel the love of free will.

Click here to view a promotional video.

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Eddie Vedder + The Stanley Cup = A Perfect Evening!

Cara Carriveau, NBC5 Street Team

I love my husband more than words can say. Seeing him happy makes me so happy. Without a doubt his favorite rocker is Eddie Vedder and his favorite sport to watch is hockey – specifically, the Detroit Red Wings. As he would say to anyone who questions his loyalty to the Wings…two words: Stanley Cup. Lot’s of ‘em. So what a thrill it was to be with him last night as he got to experience them both together.

Pearl Jam is an amazing band to see live and I’m happy to say we’ve had the pleasure many, many times. Part of the appeal is not only the band but also the fans – everyone seems to be instant friends at every show which is pretty cool. We saw Vedder with The Who and on another occasion with Robert Plant (my all time favorite rocker) at the House of Blues – wow, those were spectacular shows. We were pleasantly surprised to see Vedder walk out onstage during a Springsteen concert at The United Center a few years ago (absolutely the highlight of that show even though he sang my least favorite Springsteen tune, “My Hometown”). But this was a rare Eddie Vedder solo tour and we were ecstatic to be at the closing night in Chicago.

We made it to our seats in the Auditorium Theatre about 10 minutes before Eddie Vedder hit the stage, just in time to see Chris Chelios walk out onto a balcony holding the Stanley Cup! The crowd went absolutely crazy. My first thought was “does he carry that thing around every where he goes?” and my second thought was “I want to touch it!” but unfortunately we were too far away.

Eddie Vedder was in top form, his voice and guitar playing perfect and his interaction with the crowd at times halarious. At one point he told a drunk heckler to shut the F-up, then said “That was impolite. I meant to say shut the F-up…please.” Later in the show he said he wasn’t going to get “too political” and then someone walked behind him on stage with a massive “Vote For Barack Obama” sign. Vedder wore a white lab coat, making him look either like a crazy scientist or the musical genius he is. Included in his song selection were many mainstream and deeper Pearl Jam songs, four Who covers and selections from his soundtrack to the 2007 film ”Into the Wild.” After the last encore he brought out “Into The Wild” director Sean Penn (who it turns out was singing backup onstage – I was too far away to realize it), opener Liam Finn, and many other people he credited with making his solo tour such a great success.

Excellent show. But the best part was seeing my husband smile nonstop for hours, from the time he saw the Stanley Cup until his head hit the pillow when we got home.

(There’s already video popping up on the internet from last night’s show)

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