Extremely rare pieces from one of the largest private collections of Alexander McQueen’s work are among those to be showcased in an upcoming exhibition at the World Chess Hall of Fame. 

Imagine this life if you will: You are a senior in high school. You can throw a fastball 90-plus miles per hour. You are a starter on a very good basketball team. And you also happen to be one of the better quarterbacks in the Midwest.

There’s something about a courtroom drama that piques our interest—but with shows and movies about lawyers hitting the air waves every week, we wondered what the professionals watch. Here, we’ve asked area attorneys for their all-time favorites. (And we’re adding them to our list!)

With spring weather finally upon us, kids and adults alike are anxious to experience the great outdoors. Lucky for us, St. Louis abounds with family-friendly ways to enjoy natural beauty.

What do Mikhail Gorbachev, Madeleine Albright, Frank McCourt and Walter Cronkite all have in common? They’re among the many famed past speakers at the St. Louis Speakers Series, presented by Maryville University. We spoke with Bill Conrow, the originator of the series, about how it emerged, some memorable moments, and a sneak peek at the 2013-2014 season.

Let me start off by saying that had I written my traditional list of Oscar predictions—for which I have a remarkably accurate record. Well, I would have failed miserably this year. This had to have been one of the most unusual, scattered, unpredictable, Academy Awards I have ever seen. That being said, I am prepared to eat a little crow and perhaps do a little Monday morning-quarterbacking.

New York City Ballet MOVES is coming to St. Louis for the first time since 1994, in conjunction with Dance St. Louis. The touring group of 20 performers will present five pieces that run the gamut, giving viewers the chance to experience the ballet’s diverse repertory without leaving home. We caught up with artistic director and ballet master Jean-Pierre Frohlich in advance of the March 9 and 10 performances at the Fox Theatre.

A telegraph key and $150 links St. Louisan Derek Cohn to Steven Spielberg’s Oscar front-runner, Lincoln. The movie has received widespread critical acclaim and has been nominated for 12 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

I’ve had a lot on my plate this week—not because there is more work to do at the office, or that my social calendar is busier than usual. Rather, I’ve been cramming to get ready for one of my favorite nights of the year: Oscar night. If you feast on films as much as I do, and appreciate the magic that goes into movie-making, there is no better way to celebrate the art than to enjoy the ride that is the Academy Awards.

Across

February is finally here, which means Oscar season is finally here. Nevertheless, the hangover of the January curse still lingers. So I have compiled a list of dos and don’ts, if you are so inclined to head to the theater in the next couple of weeks. These are the dos.

Story: Vera is awakened in the dead of night by a loud pounding on her Greenwich Village apartment door. The unexpected visitor is her 21-year-old grandson Leo, who is filthy and smells from too many days away from soap and shower.

It’s that time of year when A-list actors wait patiently by the phone and  pretend that awards mean nothing (and that approval from colleagues and fans is recognition enough), but hoping against hope that their agent calls to tell them they got an Oscar nomination. The nominations were announced last week, and I must say there were a few surprises…and not the good kind.

Every month of the year has a 'movie personality.' October is set for thrillers and horror, while February is the month for romances. December is family films and Oscar contenders, and July is action—we seem to enjoy seeing things explode in July. But what about January? There’s no big holiday in January to give it a movie theme. Award hopefuls all have been submitted. What kinds of movies get released in January? I will tell you the answer: bad movies.

Story: It’s time again for Margie to look for a job. After repeated warnings about being late to work, she’s just been fired from her job at the Dollar Store in South Boston. Ironically, the man sent to terminate her employment is young Stevie, a fellow resident of this gritty, hardscrabble sector of Boston. Despite her pleas for still another chance, Margie must deal with the reality of finding employment to pay the bills for her and her mentally challenged adult daughter, Joyce.

From marketing your property, to researching communities and negotiating on your behalf, Coldwell Banker Gundaker will be with you every step of the way. During the home buying and selling process, and even after your transaction has closed, their agents will give you the utmost attention, provided by caring experts and backed by a company with outstanding resources, decades of experience and exceptional market strength. Coldwell Banker Gundaker operates 20 offices with nearly 2,000 sales associates serving metropolitan St. Louis and east-central Missouri.

During this time of year, it is an LN tradition to salute local charities and nonprofit organizations that have commemorated milestone anniversaries in 2012. In celebration, we've asked a sampling of them to share some favorite memories, as well as even bigger future plans.

Don’t worry, I won’t tell you how it ends. The good news is, this film is an elegant, artful look at a man who seems to have been put forth by providence. The acting is impeccable—Oscar-worthy, in fact—and Spielberg’s direction equals it. There is, however, another shoe, but I am hesitant to drop it.

They’re still swinging at the ST. LOUIS SYMPHONY over a successful Red Velvet Ball Swings! gala that featured WYNTON MARSALIS and the JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA.