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
Interview: Director Pierre Morel on Sean Penn, Liam Neeson & His Latest ‘The Gunman’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 20, 2015 - 10:10amCHICAGO – There were basically two careers for Pierre Morel, before he directed the mega-hit “Taken,” starring Liam Neeson, and afterward. The French-born cinematographer, camera operator and now director is releasing “The Gunman,” an action film that stars Sean Penn. Like “Taken,” the motivations for the action are based in the real world, and “The Gunman” travels to Africa, London and Barcelona on his way to redeeming his soul.
Interview: Director Robert Kenner Calls Out ‘Merchants of Doubt’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 13, 2015 - 2:05pmCHICAGO – In the War on Truth, there is no more fertile battleground that the United States. As special interests and corporations continue to pour money into their agendas, the traditional information delivery systems – print, broadcast and the internet – are capitulating to liars for the sake of dollars and both-sides-do-it reporting. Director Robert Kenner profiles these “Merchants of Doubt” in his new documentary.
Film Review: Bad Luck of the Irish Was in Belfast During ‘’71’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 13, 2015 - 11:33amCHICAGO – Sectarian violence and terrorism were the norm in the days of the late 1960s and early ‘70s in Northern Ireland. Often mistook for a religious clash between Catholics and Protestants in the region, the conflict was actually about keeping the industrial region either part of Britain or part of Ireland. The extreme nature of the conflict is tensely played out in “’71,” the year when it all boiled over.
Film Review: Pre-Apocalyptic Darkness Found in ‘Maps to the Stars’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 11, 2015 - 10:54amCHICAGO – There is a moral darkness in director David Cronenberg’s “Maps to the Stars” that is hard to shake. It is filled with circumstance and souls right at the edge of insanity, polluted by an atmosphere that doesn’t give them much of a chance. The apocalypse is now, and living in Los Angeles.
Theater Interview: Actor Jerod Haynes Shines in ‘The Royale’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 9, 2015 - 6:26pmCHICAGO – One of the most well-received 2015 theater performances in Chicago has been from actor Jerod Haynes as boxer Jay Jackson, in American Theater Co’s production of “The Royale.” Inspired by real life boxer Jack Johnson, the play is about setting up an early 1900s heavyweight championship, for the first time in U.S. history, between a black and white boxer.
Film Review: ‘Unfinished Business’ is an Unfunny Vocation
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 6, 2015 - 6:27pmCHICAGO – Have you ever seen a film where they throw everything against a wall to see what sticks? The appropriately titled “Unfinished Business” is a throwing machine, taking the flimsy premise of a business trip and using it as an excuse for a splattering of jokes that mostly don’t work.
Film Review: Consciousness Morality for Robots in Odd ‘Chappie’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 6, 2015 - 10:18amCHICAGO – Who would think a robot movie would teach us about being more intuitively “human”? “Chappie” is a very peculiar film – with fighting robots, violence and grit on one side, and the tenderness of finding a nurturing source and a consciousness on the other. It is worth experiencing.
Interview: Writer, Director Allison Burnett on ‘Ask Me Anything’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 4, 2015 - 4:14pmCHICAGO – The number of writers who have adapted and directed their own novels as films is a very small and elite club, and it includes writer/director Allison Burnett. His 2014 film, “Ask Me Anything,” is being released on DVD on March 3rd, 2015, and features Britt Robertson, Justin Long, Christian Slater and Martin Sheen.
Interview: Kristyn Jo Benedyk, Matt Irvine of DePaul University School of Cinematic Arts
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 3, 2015 - 6:42pmCHICAGO – Moving up the rankings like greased lightning, the DePaul University School of Cinematic Arts cracked the Top 20 of all film schools in the U.S. in 2014, after building a program that didn’t exist 20 years ago. A couple reasons why are School Director Matt Irvine and Screenwriting Professor Kristyn Jo Benedyk.
Exclusive Portrait: Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth at the Chicago Humanities Festival
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 2, 2015 - 10:01amCHICAGO – Kim Gordon was part of a rock revolution in the 1980s and ‘90s, as part of the sound called Sonic Youth. She has written a memoir about those days, “Girl in a Band,” and promoted that book through an appearance sponsored by the Chicago Humanities Festival on February 26th, 2015, at the historic Music Box Theatre in Chicago.