Sherlock Holmes

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Jon Favreau, recipent of the Siskel Center Renaissance Award.

CHICAGO – The annual Gene Siskel Film Center Gala – benefitting the cinema jewel of Chicago’s State Street – took place on June 15th, 2019, and packed some serious super heroism. Each year, the Center honors a special guest with their Renaissance Award, and the 2019 honor went to Jon Favreau. To interview the actor/director at the event was Robert Downey Jr., who just anchored Marvel Studios “Avengers: Endgame,” portraying Tony Stark/Iron Man.

CHICAGO – Have you ever had such a bad case of déjà vu while watching a film that trying to remember where the familiar elements are from turns into a more enjoyable experience than actually seeing the film itself? If you haven’t, your quest for that kind of film is fulfilled by the incredibly forgettable “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.”

CHICAGO – Different isn’t bad and might be great, but you’d better have an irrefutable reason to change what was never broken. Campy being the only word to accurately convey this alternate-reality version of Sherlock Holmes with an original script, writer Greg Kramer and director Andrew Shaver try too hard to be different without ever figuring out why.

CHICAGO – One of the most exciting times of the Fall Season for Chicago film buffs is the Chicago International Film Festival. In 2015, the 51st edition takes place beginning this Thursday, October 15th through October 29th. With over 130 films, which ten are the contributors of HollywoodChicago.com anticipating? Read on…

CHICAGO – Sherlock Holmes is the most famous fictional detective in literary history, and his character adaptation into movies, TV and other media shows no sign of slowing down. But what if Holmes were real, and lived as an old man past World War II? This scenario is explored in “Mr. Holmes.”

CHICAGO – John Cusack is an enormously likable actor, and for the first third of James McTeigue’s period thriller, he holds audience interest long enough to inspire hope for a better two thirds. Alas, the film crash lands soon after that, as McTeigue proves to have little to no interest in his central subject, one of the greatest writers in the history of literature.

CHICAGO – It’s official. After season two of BBC’s and Masterpiece’s amazing “Sherlock,” recently released on Blu-ray and DVD, I can stand by my thoughts after season one and make them clear — this is the best embodiment of Sherlock Holmes since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle put pen to paper. With brilliant screenwriting, clever direction, perfect design, and simply spectacular performances, this isn’t just a great TV on Blu-ray release. If these three 90-minute films had played in theaters instead of on PBS, they’d all be in my top ten as far as the best movies of the year to date.

CHICAGO – Guy Ritchie’s wildly successful “Sherlock Holmes” looks and sounds amazing on Blu-ray but the flaws of the blockbuster film remain. Viewed purely as escapist entertainment, “Sherlock” is a reasonably tasty piece of popcorn and the technical treatment and bonus material that accompany the film are unimpeachable but there’s still something not quite right about Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law’s take on Holmes and Watson.

CHICAGO – The 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards were held tonight, January 17th, 2010 and big winners included Mo’Nique, Meryl Streep, Christoph Waltz, James Cameron, Sandra Bullock, Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Bridges, Michael C. Hall, Juliana Margulies, Toni Collette, John Lithgow, Drew Barrymore, Kevin Bacon, Alec Baldwin, and Chloe Sevigny.

CHICAGO – Instead of relying of high-tech gadgetry and big-budget Hollywood CGI, Guy Ritchie’s gritty “Sherlock Holmes” does what major films often don’t: delivers big-payoff action sequences merely utilizing the body and mind.