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+.
Spike Walters
Film Review: ‘Ride Along 2’ Takes a Bumpy Trip to a Dead End
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 15, 2016 - 9:56amCHICAGO – Kevin Hart’s license to riff should be revoked. “Ride Along 2” is an aimless, pointless and seemingly endless sequel to the bafflingly successful action comedy from a couple years back. Hart hijacks nearly every scene with his incessant hyperactive schtick.
Film Feature: 10 of 2015’s Worst Films, By Spike Walters & Patrick McDonald
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 31, 2015 - 6:34pm- 10 Worst Films 2015
- 2015 Worst Movies
- Bad Films 2015
- Danny Collins
- Entourage
- Film Feature
- Get Hard
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Hot Pursuit
- List
- Our Brand in Crisis
- Patrick McDonald
- Ricki & the Flash
- Rock the Kasbah
- Spike Walters
- The Cobbler
- The Intern
- The Last Witch Hunter
- The Wedding Ringer
- Tomorrowland
CHICAGO – Gather ye children of bad movies. The film critic contributors to HollywoodChicago.com – Spike Walters and Patrick McDonald – are tag teaming to bring you the worst of their reviewin’ woes. From witch hunts to Kevin Hart, and old rock stars to Kevin Hart, these are the worst films of 2015.
Film Review: ‘Concussion’ Can’t Quite Tackle its Difficult Subject
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 25, 2015 - 6:56amCHICAGO – “Concussion” suffers from what I call the “Moneyball” problem – it’s got an interesting subject matter, but it doesn’t seem to know what to do with it. It doesn’t have enough faith in its own material or its audience, so it stocks up on a lot of off-the-shelf melodrama in effort to avoid digging into what makes the story interesting in the first place. It’s also a movie that chickens out at the end and seems afraid to pick a fight.
Film Review: ‘The Good Dinosaur’ is Pixar Studio’s Most Ordinary Film
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 25, 2015 - 6:13pmCHICAGO – The animation in Pixar Studio’s latest feature ,“The Good Dinosaur,” is nothing short of extraordinary. At times throughout the film, the images looked like they came right out of National Geographic, and I truly couldn’t believe i was watching animation. However, this delightful animation is in service to an undistinguished prehistoric buddy comedy that wouldn’t be out of place in an episode of “The Flintstones.”
Film Review: Grim Conclusion for ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 20, 2015 - 8:46pm- Donald Sutherland
- Elizabeth Banks
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Jeffrey Wright
- Jena Malone
- Jennifer Lawrence
- Josh Hutchinson
- Julianne Moore
- Liam Hemsworth
- Lionsgate
- Mahershala Ali
- Movie Review
- Phillip Seymour Hoffman
- Sam Claflin
- Spike Walters
- Stanley Tucci
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
- Willow Shields
- Woody Harrelson
CHICAGO – This has to be what the filmmakers intended when they split the final book of the “Hunger Games” series into two films. While “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1” was all set up, Part 2 doesn’t just lead up to a huge climax.
Film Review: ‘Spotlight’ Offers a Relevant First Draft to History
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 16, 2015 - 7:01pmCHICAGO – “Spotlight” is a movie which aspires to greatness and oftentimes just about gets there. It’s a movie that is thoroughly confident that the process of journalism and a great story provides all the excitement it needs to grab an audience’s attention. And what a great story it is.
Film Feature: Bond, James Bond – Ranking the Bond Movies Worst to First, Including ‘Spectre’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 7, 2015 - 12:47pmCHICAGO – James Bond is back in his latest adventure, “Spectre,” but what about his movie life before this film? Spike Walters of HollywoodChicago.com ranks the 24 official James Bond films from worst to first, an overview of 007’s movie and cultural presence from 1962 through today.
Film Review: Sandra Bullock Bombs in Bad ‘Our Brand is Crisis’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 30, 2015 - 9:18am- Ann Dowd
- Anthony Mackie
- Billy Bob Thornton
- David Gordon Green
- Dominic Flores
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Joaquim de Almeida
- Louis Arcella
- Movie Review
- Octavio Gomez Berrios
- Our Brand is Crisis
- Peter Straughn
- Rachel Boynton
- Sandra Bullock
- Scott McNairy
- Spike Walters
- Warner Bros.
- Warner Brothers
- Zoe Kazan
CHICAGO – This misbegotten political satire shows almost as much contempt for its audience as its characters do for the politicians they’re supposed to be helping. This movie thinks it is smartly cynical, but it’s about as smart as a Larry the Cable Guy routine at a Donald Trump rally.
Film Review: ‘The Last Witch Hunter’ at Least is Hilariously Awful
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 23, 2015 - 10:35amCHICAGO – You will see many many better movies this year, but you’re unlikely to see one quite this batshit crazy. I’ll give Vin Diesel this much credit, at least he’s created a memorably awful blockbuster instead of one that simply fades off into the moonlight.
Film Review: Expansive ‘Steve Jobs’ is a Marvel of a Movie
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 16, 2015 - 2:11pmCHICAGO – You don’t need CGI, entire cities being turned to rubble, or an army of assembling Avengers to make a great movie. All you need is a good story to tell and a team of people talented enough to tell it. Writer Aaron Sorkin, and Director Danny Boyle are just the right people to make “Steve Jobs” because their finished project positively springs to life on the screen.