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+.
Justin Timberlake
Woody Allen Has Run Out of Ideas with ‘Wonder Wheel’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 10, 2017 - 9:03am Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Woody Allen emptied out his junk drawer of discarded script ideas and somehow managed to convince Kate Winslet to star in it. That’s the gist of the latest “serious Woody” entry in the Oscar winner’s long running career. Woody Allen has had some timeless triumphs, but lately he’s been more about quantity than quality.
‘Trolls’ is Catchier Than it Has a Right to Be
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 4, 2016 - 8:24am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Trolls” isn’t the type of confection that I would normally subject myself to, but at least it didn’t make me want to stick knitting needles in my ears. That’s because “Trolls” aspires to be this season’s “Frozen,” a full blown animated musical jam packed with songs you can’t get out of your head as much as you might try.
‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ Resonates Like Long-Lost Folk Masterpiece
Submitted by BrianTT on December 19, 2013 - 11:18am Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
Films about musicians are remarkably common. Artists from one medium have always loved to put themselves in the well-worn shoes of craftsmen from another. Most of them are stories of an underrated talent rising to the top of his profession, designed for both audience and filmmaker to live vicariously through the protagonist’s success. “Inside Llewyn Davis,” the latest masterpiece from Joel & Ethan Coen, is not one of those stories.
Ben Affleck Can’t Save Limp ‘Runner Runner’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 4, 2013 - 9:03am Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Off shore internet gambling sites, tons of money, glorious glamorous women, parties all the time – how the heck can all of that be dull? The new film “Runner Runner” found a way. Ben Affleck phones it in and Justin Timberlake is name recognition window dressing in this limp drama.
Clint Eastwood Whiffs in ‘Trouble with the Curve’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 21, 2012 - 11:28amRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Clint Eastwood keeps going and going. His reputation as an actor is secure in a long career, and his power as a director is Oscar worthy. His ability to recognize a limp script? Not so much, if “Trouble with the Curve” is a gauge. Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake are along for the pitch.
‘In Time’ With Justin Timberlake Fails to Build on Clever Idea
Submitted by BrianTT on October 28, 2011 - 8:17am Rating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Andrew Niccol has delivered complex, daring science fiction before, most notably in his scripts for “The Truman Show” and “Gattaca.” Sadly, “In Time” will never be mentioned in the same breath with those films. This is a one-idea film and that one idea is poorly executed. With some of the cheesiest, surface-level dialogue of the year, a complete lack of chemistry between the leads, and some of the choppiest action editing of the year, “In Time” is a near disaster.
Mila Kunis, Justin Timberlake Try ‘Friends With Benefits’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 22, 2011 - 12:09am Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – It seems that carnal canoodling without strings attached seems all the rage in romantic comedies these days. The twentysomething set, having seen their share of divorces and break-ups, prefer the Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis method in “Friends with Benefits.”
Cameron Diaz Commits Sin of Boredom in ‘Bad Teacher’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 25, 2011 - 6:59amRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – If you’re going to be bad, be bad. But this is mainstream Hollywood “product,” starring Cameron Diaz, and while the concept of the new film “Bad Teacher” had promise, it eventually fell down on the weight of happy resolutions and the worse mortal sin for a comedy…it was dull.
Dan Aykroyd, Justin Timberlake Sink in Horrible ‘Yogi Bear’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 17, 2010 - 12:27pm Rating: 0.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Yogi Bear,” the latest degradation in the cynical family film 3D marketing universe, has done the improbable. It has taken notable and nostalgic cartoon characters (Yogi and Boo Boo) and turned them into animatronic shills for a post modern bore of a story that wouldn’t work if Fellini were directing it. Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake sell out (I mean lend) their voice talents.
David Fincher’s ‘The Social Network’ is a Rare Masterpiece
Submitted by BrianTT on September 30, 2010 - 3:11pmRating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – So many recent films have been called “masterpieces” by critics that the word doesn’t have the power that it once did. And yet there’s sometimes no better way to describe a film. David Fincher’s “The Social Network,” starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, and Justin Timberlake is a masterpiece.
