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+.
Movie Review
Film Review: ‘Keep the Lights On’ Plays Like Memory of Doomed Relationship
Submitted by BrianTT on October 26, 2012 - 2:01pmCHICAGO – Ira Sachs’ intimate “Keep the Lights On” is about the intersection of love and addiction and how the two can rarely exist in the same relationship. It is reportedly at least semi-autobiographical and the film undeniably has the feeling of memory, both in its emotional honesty and its episodic nature.
Film Review: Weak Story Wipes Out ‘Chasing Mavericks’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 26, 2012 - 11:55amCHICAGO – After the initial disappointment that “Chasing Mavericks” wasn’t about the pursuit of John McCain archetypes – it’s political season, don’t you know – it was interesting to note that mavericks are water waves, and chasing them means surfing. Hang ten, dudes.
Film Review: John Hawkes’ Honest Work Just Saves ‘The Sessions’
Submitted by BrianTT on October 26, 2012 - 9:09amCHICAGO – Sometimes an actor can deliver on so many levels at once that it makes flaws of a film easier to overlook. I’ll admit that while watching “The Sessions,” I was so caught up in the honest, true performance from the great John Hawkes that I didn’t consider many of the film’s dramatic failings until I began to consider my review.
Film Review: ‘Cloud Atlas’ Reaches For the Sky But Loses Its Way
Submitted by BrianTT on October 25, 2012 - 3:46pmCHICAGO – Not all great works of literature make great works of film. David Mitchell’s “Cloud Atlas” is a masterpiece but Tom Tykwer, Andy & Lana Wachowksi’s “Cloud Atlas” is definitely not. It is an ambitious work with many of Mitchell’s fascinating ideas about the ripple effect of emotion through time left intact but it is a work that frustrates as often as it thrills.
Film Review: Easy Metaphors for WWII in ‘War of the Buttons’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 21, 2012 - 11:24pmCHICAGO – World War II, also known as “The Good War,” had more than its share of darkness and sorrow. As the conflict winds down for a French town in the new film “War of the Buttons,” young love and rival town kid gangs create metaphors for the context of the war in its time and place.
Film Review: Pulse-Pounding Action, Complexity Define ‘Easy Money’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 21, 2012 - 9:32pmCHICAGO – Desperation is the best emotion for formulating action movies. There is something basic and true about a chase, for example, or a heist gone bad, when it’s the “end of the world” for a character or circumstance. “Easy Money” has that vibe, and delivers on some great sequences.
Film Review: ‘Paranormal Activity 4’ Insults Your Horror Intelligence Amid Waning Franchise
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on October 20, 2012 - 8:12pmCHICAGO – Following the first “Paranormal Activity” in 2007, which is most profitable film of all time based on return on investment, filmmakers Jason Blum, Oren Peli and Henry Joost have made a killing for Paramount Pictures.
Film Review: Mary Elizabeth Winstead is Emotionally Wrecked in ‘Smashed’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 19, 2012 - 7:36pmCHICAGO – “Young Drunks in Love” could be the subtitle of the new film “Smashed,’ or maybe “Recovery Can’t Recover All.” Regardless, Mary Elizabeth Winstead gives a career-defining performance as a young adult facing up to that adulthood, and leaving behind everything she has known for a life that’s healthier, but less familiar.
Film Review: Tyler Perry Bores Criminals to Death in ‘Alex Cross’
Submitted by BrianTT on October 19, 2012 - 8:46amCHICAGO – A cinematic lifetime ago, Morgan Freeman injected a bit of class and style into the role of Alex Cross in the adaptations of James Patterson’s “Along Came a Spider” and “Kiss the Girls.” Seventeen years later, director Tyler Perry steps into the shoes of the detective doctor with all the answers in the narcoleptic, horrendous “Alex Cross,” a misfire that makes the Freeman movies look like “The Silence of the Lambs” by comparison.
Film Review: Ava DuVernay’s ‘Middle of Nowhere’ Resonates by Valuing Truth Over Melodrama
Submitted by BrianTT on October 18, 2012 - 4:05pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Ava DuVernay’s Sundance award-winning drama “Middle of Nowhere” is a confident, engaging drama strengthened by genuine, moving performances, particularly the stunningly good one at its center from Emayatzy Corinealdi. The movie sometimes falters due to some melodramatic, on-the-nose dialogue, but there’s an honesty, compassion, and genuine quality here that’s too often missing from adult dramas. It’s a striking debut.