September 2017

Film Review: Gunplay & Violence Fuel Heroics in ‘American Assassin’

American Assassin

CHICAGO – There was another mass shooting (eight dead) in Texas this week, but it was underreported because it didn’t involve “undesirables” and just seemed like another week in America. This blithe attitude towards guns, gunplay and violence continues in the movies, this week with the overindulgent release “American Assassin.”

Gunplay & Violence Fuel Heroics in ‘American Assassin’

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 3.0/5.0
Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – There was another mass shooting (eight dead) in Texas this week, but it was underreported because it didn’t involve “undesirables” and just seemed like another week in America. This blithe attitude towards guns, gunplay and violence continues in the movies, this week with the overindulgent release “American Assassin.”

Awards Show Video: 2017 48 Hour Film Project at Music Box Theatre

CHICAGO – HollywoodChicago.com presents the 2017 48 Hour Film Project Chicago awards and red carpet at the Music Box Theatre on Sept. 14, 2017.

Kalopsia Films won Best Film of 2017. Their film, “Hammersmith: Hurdle of Dreams,” will go on to represent Chicago against all of the other city winners around the world at Filmapalooza 2018.

HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 75 Pairs of Passes to ‘Stronger’ With Jake Gyllenhaal

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 75 pairs of advance-screening movie passes up for grabs to the new film “Stronger” starring Jake Gyllenhaal based on the inspiring true story of the Boston Marathon bombing!

Film Review: M is for the Many Things ‘mother!’ Gave Me

CHICAGO – In a film that is unsettlingly and regally composed with deep purpose and symbolism, “mother!” fulfills the nature of what it proposes to communicate within layers of essentially rendered storytelling and cinematic perspective. It can potentially change your overall point of view.

M is for the Many Things ‘mother!’ Gave Me

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 4.5/5.0
Rating: 4.5/5.0

CHICAGO – In a film that is unsettlingly and regally composed with deep purpose and symbolism, “mother!” fulfills the nature of what it proposes to communicate within layers of essentially rendered storytelling and cinematic perspective. It can potentially change your overall point of view.

Film Review: You’ll Be Counting the Minutes Until You Too Can Be ‘Home Again’

homeagainmain

CHICAGO – Seeing so many films on a daily basis, you would think that I would grow tired of them. I don’t. Instead, I begin to notice the same formulas in films, like the one in “Home Again”. Unfortunately for “Home Again” you’ll spend most of the film wondering just how much longer before you can be the same.

HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 50 Pairs of Advance TV Passes to FOX’s ‘Ghosted,’ ‘The Gifted,’ ‘The Orville’

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: TV, we have 50 pairs of advance-screening TV premiere tickets up for grabs to the new FOX shows “The Gifted,” “Ghosted” and “The Orville”! Our winners will enjoy free concessions and will see episode one of all three shows before anyone else!

Film Feature: HollywoodChicago.com Tackles Pro Football Films

CHICAGO – It’s the opening Sunday of the NFL, and what better time to celebrate the films that celebrate the sport that celebrate the ballers. Film history has a steroid-free stack of pro football films in all categories. Patrick McDonald, Jon Lennon Espino and Spike Walters of HollywoodChicago.com take on three prime examples.

You’ll Be Counting the Minutes Until You Too Can Be ‘Home Again’

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 1.0/5.0
Rating: 1.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Seeing so many films on a daily basis, you would think that I would grow tired of them. I don’t. Instead, I begin to notice the same formulas in films, like the one in “Home Again”. Unfortunately for “Home Again” you’ll spend most of the film wondering just how much longer before you can be the same.

Podtalk: Katelyn Zenie of the Femme Filmmaker Showcase in Chicago on Sept. 9, 2017

Femme Filmmakers Showcase

CHICAGO – The film community is flourishing in Chicago, and this weekend boasts of another cinema event. The Femme Filmmaker Showcase will screen three blocks of short films, all either created by women filmmakers or with women centric themes, on Saturday, September 9th, 2017. This will also be an evening of networking, and tours will be provided at one of the latest studio spaces in Chicago, 2112/Fort Knox Studios.

Podtalk: Andrea Thompson, Founder of Milwaukee Women’s Film Festival, Sept. 8-10, 2017

Milwaukee Women's Film Festival

CHICAGO – The State of Wisconsin will have an international film showcase this weekend, as the 2017 Milwaukee Women’s Film’s Festival opens on Friday, September 8th, and runs through Sunday, September 10th. The Founder and Executive Director of the Festival is Andrea Thompson, and her and her team has programmed a weekend’s worth of feature and short films that are made by women, and celebrates the art of film through the perspective and variations of the female spirit.

HollywoodChicago.com ESP, En Español: ‘IT' y 'Home Again

CHICAGO – Cada semana, HollywoodChicago.com le traerá las criticas de las películas que hemos visto y que están saliendo esa semana, pero en español. HollywoodChicago.com ESP no sólo representa HollywoodChicago.com Espanol, sino también Esta Semana en Peliculas. Esta semana tenemos una película donde los niños actúan como adultos mientras enfrentan sus peores temores (IT), y luego tenemos una película donde los adultos y sus miedos los hacen actuar como niños (‘Home Again’).

Film Review: Effective Scare Factor & Teenage Traumas Define ‘IT’

CHICAGO – “IT” is the kind of film that relies on jump-scares and ghastly images a bit too much, but behind it all is a quirky story – based on a Stephen King novel – about that time in childhood where becoming a teenager and finding a way within the change is adventurous and unsettling.

Effective Scare Factor & Teenage Traumas Define ‘IT’

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 3.5/5.0
Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – “IT” is the kind of film that relies on jump-scares and ghastly images a bit too much, but behind it all is a quirky story – based on a Stephen King novel – about that time in childhood where becoming a teenager and finding a way within the change is adventurous and unsettling.

Podtalk: Richard Dreyfuss of ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’

CHICAGO – The 40th anniversary edition of ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind,’ directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Richard Dreyfuss, is in a limited run in theaters now. What better time to resurrect a 2009 HollywoodChicago.com interview with Dreyfuss, and publish it as a podcast talk.

Podtalk: Brian Zahm on ‘Marquee’ at Chicago’s Millennium Park Film Series on Sept 5, 2017

Marquee

CHICAGO – When the filmmaker faces his biggest screen, what will his art mean? Director Brian Zahm is about to find out, as he screens his short film “Marquee” on the state-of-the-art 40 foot LED screen at Chicago’s Millennium Park Summer Film Series on September 5th, 2017 (6:30pm). The short will be an appetizer for the main event, the screening of “Wayne’s World” as the feature presentation. The program will be the final films in the popular series at Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.

Podtalk: Nnamdi Ngwe on ‘Rap Skool’ at the Midwest Independent Film Fest on Sept. 5, 2017

Midwest TV Pilot

CHICAGO – On one of the most exciting Tuesday nights of the year-round Midwest Independent Film Festival is the Midwest Pilot Showcase on September 5th, 2017. Seven full TV pilots will see the light of screen, all with a diversity of form and story. Among the pilots in the showcase is “Rap Skool,” a hilarious parody/comedy about a class of wannabe street rhymers. Co-created by twin brothers Amechi and Nnamdi Ngwe, this Chicago-based show is packed with laughs.

Film/TV News: Richard Anderson, Oscar Goldman in ‘The Six Million Dollar Man,’ Dies at 91

Richard Anderson, photo by Joe Arce

LOS ANGELES – We can’t rebuild him, but we can honor him. Richard Anderson, best known for portraying Oscar Goldman, the aide de camp of Steve Austin (Lee Majors) in “The Six Million Man,” died on August 31st, 2017 at age 91. The versatile character actor was one of the few remaining performers that came up through the old studio system, in this case the dream factory known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Film Review: American Legal System is Put on Trial in ‘Crown Heights’

CHICAGO – There is no justice for the poor. That should be carved in stone on courthouses beside all the platitudes of American “equality” and “law.” In an eye-opening narrative film based on a true story, “Crown Heights” explores just how an impoverished individual can be found guilty and imprisoned unjustly for years.

American Legal System is Put on Trial in ‘Crown Heights’

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 4.0/5.0
Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – There is no justice for the poor. That should be carved in stone on courthouses beside all the platitudes of American “equality” and “law.” In an eye-opening narrative film based on a true story, “Crown Heights” explores just how an impoverished individual can be found guilty and imprisoned unjustly for years.

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  • Manhunt

    CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.

  • Topdog/Underdog, Invictus Theatre

    CHICAGO – When two brothers confront the sins of each other and it expands into a psychology of an entire race, it’s at a stage play found in Chicago’s Invictus Theatre Company production of “Topdog/Underdog,” now at their new home at the Windy City Playhouse through March 31st, 2024. Click TD/UD for tickets/info.

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