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+.
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‘Sin City: A Dame to Kill For’ Breaks No New Ground
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 21, 2014 - 8:44pm- Bruce Willis
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- Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
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Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – When the first “Sin City” (2005) was released – based on the graphic novels by Frank Miller – the conversion of a film to a noir-like comic book atmosphere was pioneering. The sequel “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For” has heightened that look, but this time has much less to say.
‘The Giver’ Takes Too Much From Young Adult Formula
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 15, 2014 - 6:14amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “The Giver” must have seemed a lot newer back when it was written than it does now. The Newberry Medal winning, middle school staple predates many other Young Adult series about oppressive big brother-ish societies. But its filmed adaptation, coming on the heels of “Divergent” and “The Hunger Games,” can’t help but feel like it’s riding their coattails.
‘Snowpiercer’ is a Wild Ride, One-of-a-Kind Dystopia
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 4, 2014 - 1:35pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Travelers. We are travelers in this life, and metaphorically we’re mostly in coach, but sometimes manage to get some first class treatment. What if all this traveling were confined to one vehicle? Imagine a future world contained in a constantly traveling train, and the premise for “Snowpiercer” realizes a one-of-a-kind dystopia.
Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman on Track in ‘The Railway Man’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 18, 2014 - 4:26pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – One of the hidden implications of World War II was the suffering of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) from the millions of soldiers who survived the horrors of that war. The difficulties associated with PTSD are communicated with honor by Colin Firth in “The Railway Man”
Family Secrets, Fine Acting in ‘August: Osage County’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 10, 2014 - 10:02amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There will be inevitable comparisons to the Pulitzer Prize-winning stage version of “August: Osage County” from the thousands of people who have been touched by the stage play. But in giving the film version a chance, there is the same passion, drama and heat of family dysfunction within it, with a dream cast.
Legacy Matters in ‘Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 25, 2013 - 9:39pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The memory of South Africa freedom fighter Nelson Mandela, who passed away on December 5th, is filled with deserved accolades and iconography. Director Justin Chadwick and actor Idris Elba brings the man to human life in the essential “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.”
Life’s Other Plans at Full Disclosure in ‘Philomena’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 27, 2013 - 4:22pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Although “Philomena” sounds like a faraway land, it actually is a name of a real Irish lady, who lost her son through a Catholic adoption service that was designed to hide her out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Judi Dench portrays the title character as an older woman, with Steve Coogan as the reporter trying to help locate the son for her.
Author Remains Elusive in Documentary ‘Salinger’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 20, 2013 - 10:13amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Jerome David Salinger, J.D. to his readers, remains one of the most influential and controversial authors of the 20th Century. Known intuitively for the classic novel “Catcher in the Rye,” he also was known as a reclusive soul. His life and times make up the new documentary, “Salinger.”
Family Emotions Uplift ‘Lee Daniels’ The Butler’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 16, 2013 - 8:11amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In one of the more intriguing ways to frame the 1960s civil rights movement, “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” places the context of that African American struggle through the filter of family dynamics, focusing on the father as a butler in the White House, through six presidents.
Background Singers Get Up Front in ‘20 Feet from Stardom’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 11, 2013 - 6:30pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – One the great points in “20 Feet from Stardom” is that often in our favorite hit songs, we sing along to the background singers rather than the lead vocal (“Sweet home Alabama, Where the skies are so blue…”). These classic songsters come front and center in “20 Feet from Stardom.”