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+.
Patrick McDonald
Entertaining ‘The Martian’ is a Hollywood Space Opera
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 5, 2015 - 1:47pm Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – It’s all based on science, they told us! “The Martian” is an old fashion feel-good movie about the hard working astronauts and scientists of the good old American space program, trying to rescue a stranded spaceman from Mars, aided by a brave cast of astro-colleagues.
Important History in ‘The Black Panthers: Vanguard of a Revolution’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 25, 2015 - 1:08pm Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – If you want to experience the old cliché of “everything old is new again,” look no further than the excellent documentary, “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of a Revolution.” The formation of the famous 1960s political group is rooted in the same issues that came out of Ferguson and Baltimore – the marginalization and harassment of African Americans by law enforcement authority.
‘Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials’ is Dystopian Rambling
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 18, 2015 - 7:50am Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Movie pundits are falling all over themselves to point out there is no maze running in “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials,” so buyer beware! What began in the first film as a new take in the dystopian Young Adult movie genre, has become a scattered, uninteresting mess.
M. Night Shyamalan Offers Chills, Laughs in ‘The Visit’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 15, 2015 - 2:11pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Director and auteur M. Night Shyamalan has been very spotty in the last nine years. “The Sixth Sense” filmmaker has had less of an impact with “After Earth” and “The Last Airbender,” but scores again with the super weird, creepy and funny “The Visit.”
Elisabeth Moss Reigns Supreme in ‘Queen of Earth’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 8, 2015 - 10:16amRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Elisabeth Moss is the ‘Actor of Her Generation.’ She is a true chameleon, and can anchor a lead role while still expressing a twitch of consequence. The subject is depression in “Queen of Earth,” and writer/director Alex Ross Perry is able to honestly portray it through Moss.
Lily Tomlin Fuels the Journey Depicted in ‘Grandma’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 28, 2015 - 11:01am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There is a circumstantial and frank presentation of abortion in the new Paul Weitz film “Grandma,” and it probably could not have resulted the way it did if the story wasn’t anchored by the great Lily Tomlin. She portrays the title character, helping her granddaughter get to the procedure.
Probable Events is the Situation in Tense ‘No Escape’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 26, 2015 - 5:11pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In a very unstable world, and in a sense that these problems are international, we all can be stuck in war at any time – there is no way to get away from it. “No Escape” takes this notion to the extreme, with an American family – led by Owen Wilson – caught in a war zone.
Adolescence Boldly Drawn in ‘Diary of a Teenage Girl’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 14, 2015 - 3:42pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Real boldness, real truth, is hard to fine in teenage stories. The confusing and hormonal time is often trivialized, or used as a prop for unlikely situations. “Diary of a Teenage Girl” pulls no such punches, in a tale of a 15 year old girl having her first love affair – with a 35 year old man.
N.W.A. Influences an Era in ‘Straight Outta Compton’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 13, 2015 - 7:28pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Gangsta rap, like all the revolutionary and society bending genres before it, was formulated from dire frustration and a need to shake up the surroundings that encased their creators. The prime movers of gangsta was the group N.W.A., and their story is told in “Straight Outta Compton.”
‘Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation’ at Top of Its Game
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 31, 2015 - 7:50amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The sensational summer movie season of 2015 still has some pulse pounding tricks up its sleeve, and “Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation” fulfills that sensation with a wham-bam bag of spy games. Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg and Jeremy Renner are back, joined by femme kick-ass Rebecca Ferguson.
