Justin Timberlake

Interview: Director Robert Lorenz Pitches ‘Trouble with the Curve’

CHICAGO – Baseball gets the metaphor-for-life treatment once again in “Trouble with the Curve,’ starring Clint Eastwood and Amy Adams. Eastwood plays an aging baseball scout estranged from his daughter (Adams) and seeks redemption in both arenas of his life. Making his directorial debut is Robert Lorenz, who has worked with Eastwood since “Bridges of Madison County.’

DVD Review: ‘In Time’ Wastes Timely Premise With Unsatisfying Script

In Time DVD

CHICAGO – During last year’s groundswell of Occupy protests, several films and television shows attempted to exploit the class divide for the purposes of entertainment. Only ABC’s irresistible soaper, “Revenge,” fared equally well with critics and audiences, who embraced it as a guiltily pleasurable fantasy in which the rich are brought to justice. Too bad that premise is so rarely a reality.

Blu-ray Review: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis Elevate ‘Friends With Benefits’

Friends with Benefits

CHICAGO – There’s a spirit and energy in Will Gluck’s “Friends With Benefits” that’s infectious enough to get it over some of its screenwriting humps. It’s a film that features two beautiful people dancing to a Michael Buble flash mob in the middle of Times Square. If those beautiful people were Josh Duhamel and Katherine Heigl, most critics would have audibly retched. But Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis are so remarkably charismatic that they make the cliches of “Friends With Benefits,” recently released on Blu-ray and DVD, much easier to take.

Film Review: ‘In Time’ Fails to Build on Clever Idea

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.

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Bad Teacher’ With Cameron Diaz Isn’t Very Good

Bad Teacher

CHICAGO – Everyone in “Bad Teacher” is talented and they all do good work here but it’s one of those weird films that never develops an overall comic timing. Every time it feels like it’s about to find a groove and develop a rhythm, there’s a scene that just doesn’t work. It’s a moderately entertaining rental that isn’t nearly as entertaining as its trailers made it out to be.

HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 30 Pairs of Chicago Passes to ‘In Time’ With Justin Timberlake

CHICAGO – In our latest futuristic thriller edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 30 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of “In Time” starring Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried and Cillian Murphy!

Film Review: Mila Kunis, Justin Timberlake Try ‘Friends With Benefits’

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.”

Film Review: Cameron Diaz Commits Sin of Boredom in ‘Bad Teacher’

Bad Teacher

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.

Blu-Ray Review: Goofy, Weird ‘Yogi Bear’ Misses For All Audiences

Yogi Bear

CHICAGO – I must admit that I was dreading “Yogi Bear” like most teenagers dread 3rd period Calculus. I have avoided the “Alvin and the Chipmunks” movies with just cause and can’t stand the new trend of CGI characters talking to human ones in kids movies. They’re usually pale excuses for family entertainment and the previews for “Yogi Bear” made my stomach turn. So consider it faint praise when I say it’s not THAT bad. Oh, it’s still bad and you can do a lot better for your family movie dollar but it’s more forgettable than truly wretched.

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TV, DVD, BLU-RAY & THEATER REVIEWS

  • 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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