Spike Walters

Oscar Week! HollywoodChicago.com 2024 Predictions

CHICAGO – Here we go again. Welcome to the annual Oscar Predictions on HollywoodChicago.com, for 2024 (the 96th Academy Awards). The film/entertainment contributors of HC – Patrick McDonald and Spike Walters – are joined by filmmaker treasure Michael Glover Smith (“Relative”) and film critic Jeffrey L. York of “The Establishing Shot.”

Film Review: Triple Threat ‘Argylle’ is Uninspired, Idiotic and Boring

CHICAGO – “Argylle” is a nasty, smelly cinematic hairball coughed up on unsuspecting audiences. It’s a collection of half remembered clichés, atrocious writing, incoherent action, and terrible performances. A flaming dumpster fire of which only the great comic actor Catherine O’Hara emerges largely unscathed.

Film Review: Zac Efron the Weak Link in Wrestling Drama ‘The Iron Claw’

Iron Claw, The

CHICAGO – An epic piece of miscasting puts “The Iron Claw” in a sleeper hold it’s never quite able to escape from … the pint sized gaping empty hole at its center has a name, and it is Zac Efron. Efron mistakenly believes that his admittedly drastic physical transformation will do his acting for him.

Film Review: Charming Timothée Chalomet Brings the Willy to ‘Wonka’

CHICAGO – “Wonka” is a sweet, perhaps too sweet, musical origin story of the world famous cantankerous candy man. Timothée Chalomet has got a song in his heart and sweets up his sleeve in a movie that threatens to give old fashioned “family films” a good name once again.

Film Review: The Subconscious Cage in Sharp ‘Dream Scenario’

CHICAGO – Nicolas Cage makes a welcome return to Charlie Kaufman-like mind bending drama in “Dream Scenario.” He stars as Paul Matthews, a bald and schlubby college professor always clad in an ever present winter coat. His unremarkable life takes a turn when he mysteriously begins appearing in millions of people’s dreams.

Film Review: MCU’s ‘The Marvels’ is Decidedly Non-Marvelous

CHICAGO – Some Marvel movies are essential viewing for those following the ongoing advancements in the Marvel Cinema Universe (MCU). “The Marvels” is eminently skippable, and draws from so many different MCU properties it almost feels like you’d have to cram for a comic book final exam to understand half of what is going on.

Film Review: ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ is Five Nights Too Many

CHICAGO – For the uninitiated, “Five Nights At Freddy’s” is based on a popular series of video games with a simple premise … you play a security guard trapped inside a Chuck E Cheese-type pizzeria where the animatronics come to life and keep trying to kill you. Yet the biggest threat facing audiences with the film is that they just might die… of boredom.

Film Review: Hercule Poirot Will Go ‘A Haunting in Venice’

CHICAGO – While Kenneth Branagh still isn’t a favorite Hercule Poirot, I was as surprised as anyone to find that this third go around as the Belgian detective was my favorite. As the title implies, there are jump scares a-plenty as Poirot tries to get his little gray cells around the strange goings-on in a spooky house, and solve the mystery.

Film Review: ‘Gran Turismo’ Gets Stuck in First Gear

CHICAGO – “Gran Turismo” uses the life story of a gamer named Jann Mardenborough to get its message across … he was a college dropout in the UK who used the hours spent behind the steering wheel in his bedroom to become a real race car driver. While the racing scenes deliver the goods, this poorly conceived piece of product placement never gets its narrative out of first gear.

Film Review: ‘Strays’ Poops Out on Its Hard-R Talking Dog Premise

Strays

CHICAGO – “Strays” is a film that features a cast full of legitimately funny people, but this Hard-R-Rated talking dog movie poops out long before the final credits roll. The film tries to have heart, but is too busy making labored poo-poo jokes to give the schmaltz much gusto.

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