HollywoodChicago.com Arts & Entertainment News

Blu-Ray Review: Criterion’s ‘Everlasting Moments’ Has Timeless Power

Everlasting Moments

CHICAGO – Jan Troell’s “Everlasting Moments” is a beautiful film; a perfect fit for Criterion’s Blu-ray line in that it’s the kind of work that both could easily slip under the radar of movie history and not be granted the HD treatment that it deserves. There’s been some controversy over Criterion’s arrangement with IFC Films that has allowed some recent questionable inductions into the most esteemed collection in film preservation but I’m here to defend the inclusion of “Everlasting Moments.”

Blu-Ray Review: Comedy Water is Fine in ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’

Hot Tub Time Machine

CHICAGO – The most spoiler-named film since “Snakes on a Plane” delivers exactly what it promises with its goofy title. When you go into something like “Avatar” or “The White Ribbon,” you may not know what to expect, but there’s no surprise when a film calls itself “Hot Tub Time Machine.” It’s not a perfect comedy but it’s a heck of a lot closer than most of its recent genre peers and should satisfy those wanting to take an HD dip.

Blu-Ray Review: ‘The Warlords’ Triumphantly Depicts War as Hell

The Warlords Blu-Ray

CHICAGO – In the opening moments of Peter Ho-Sun Chan’s “The Warlords,” martial arts superstar Jet Li performs one of his bravest physical feats yet. He breaks into tears. This comes as a bit of a shock, considering Li’s status as one of China’s most formidable onscreen ass-kickers. Yet it’s in keeping with Chan’s uncommonly emotional approach to depicting historical events often drained of humanity.

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Stolen’ Wastes Talented Cast on Melodrama

Stolen

CHICAGO – On paper, “Stolen” probably looked like the kind of competent thriller that could get once-rising star Josh Lucas back into the spotlight and prove to producers that “Mad Men” star Jon Hamm could carry a motion picture. Sadly, lackluster direction of what is essentially no more interesting than an extended episode of “Cold Case” squanders the talent of both men, a pair of actors who deserve better showcases.

DVD Review: New Volumes of ‘American Dad,’ ‘Family Guy’

Family Guy V8

CHICAGO – Nearly thirty episodes of Sunday night FOX animated hits “American Dad!” and “Family Guy” were recently released on DVD in extras-packed volumes and we couldn’t let these excellent releases fly by without a brief review. It’s unlikely that anyone is jumping into their collections of either show this late in the game, so the question is will they satisfy fans who already purchased the first four volumes of “American Dad!” or the first seven of “Family Guy.” Fans won’t be disappointed.

Video Game Review: ‘Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11’ Maintains Handicap

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11
HollywoodChicago.com Video Game Rating: 3.5/5.0
Video Game Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Just as every gamer thinks of John Madden when it comes to football, Tiger Woods has long been synonymous with the pinnacle of golf gaming. Electronic Arts hopes that buyers can overlook his drama off the green and continue to think of Tiger Woods every time they want to play a round of golf without an actual 5 iron.

Theater Review: ‘Sins of Sor Juana’ is Hollowed History

"Sins of Sor Juana"

CHICAGO – Lauded as the first great poet of Latin America, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz served as both an artistic and philosophical trailblazer in the most consequential of orders. A self-instructed scholar of Baroque thought, Sor Juana piloted a course of unprecedented intellect as well as feminist ideology during her brief years. What has rightfully garnered the scribe a nonpareil reverence was her audacity to posit such work in a time of a most restrictive piety.

Theater Review: Beguiling ‘Lookingglass Alice’ Tumbles Back Down the Rabbit Hole

Cast of "Lookingglass Alice"

CHICAGO – “It really doesn’t matter which direction you go,” counsels one of Wonderland’s mischievous denizens at the onset of Alice’s most transmogrifying of journeys. For David Catlin, the cunningly innovative adaptor and director of Lookingglass Theatre’s take on Lewis Carroll’s treasured canon, it matters not whether the real Alice Liddell traveled upward, downward, backward or sideways on the famed rowing boat trip that would later bear her whimsical stories. At Lookingglass, adventure is the only direction worth taking.

Flash! Cast of ‘The Twilight Saga: Eclipse’ May Visit a Theater Near You

CHICAGO – “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” already breaking box office records, will send cast members to various theaters around the country, including Chicago’s AMC River East and Regal City North, to show their appreciation to fans and moviegoers for making the latest film a resounding success.

Interview: Directors Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass on ‘Cyrus’

Duplass Brothers Interview

CHICAGO – HollywoodChicago.com recently interviewed brothers Mark and Jay Duplass, the filmmaking duo behind acclaimed micro-budget indies such as “The Puffy Chair and “Baghead.” Their new comedy, “Cyrus,” centers on a darkly funny love triangle between a lovable loser, John (John C. Reilly), his girlfriend Molly (Marisa Tomei) and her frighteningly possessive son, Cyrus (Jonah Hill).

Interview: 30 Rock’s Scott Adsit Goes Down the ‘Frankenhole’

CHICAGO – Last Sunday, June 27th, a new Cartoon Network show on Adult Swim premiered, by the same team that gave us “Morel Orel.” “Mary Shelley’s Frankenhole” is also produced, directed and written by Chicago area native Scott Adsit, who also does time as the harried Pete Hornberger on NBC’s “30 Rock.”

‘Suicide, Incorporated’ Explores Mortality’s Worth, Will

"Suicide, Incorporated"

CHICAGO – The eponymous subject matter of Andrew Hinderaker’s enthralling new work “Suicide, Incorporated” is hardly a newfangled muse to dramatists. The concept of one’s self-sanctioned execution has inspired the minds of media architects from Poe to the executives at Lifetime Television Network (the latter of which tends to default to the exertion habitually). The question of an individual opting to terminate his life, especially when the meaning of which plagues the majority of us, is nary an easy one. Hinderaker’s take on the matter, both in stylized approach and explication, proves to be one of the most cerebrally exigent of the lot.

Blu-Ray Review: Iranian Classic ‘Close-Up’ Dissects Cinema From the Inside

Close-Up Blu-Ray

CHICAGO – Abbas Kiarostami’s 1990 masterpiece, “Close-Up,” is the type of cinematic landmark guaranteed to infuriate audiences and exhilarate film scholars. Yet adventurous viewers willing to look beneath the film’s perplexing and rather stilted surface will discover a multi-layered mind-game of endless fascination that’s more provocative and relevant than ever.

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  • Manhunt

    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+.

  • Topdog/Underdog, Invictus Theatre

    CHICAGO – When two brothers confront the sins of each other and it expands into a psychology of an entire race, it’s at a stage play found in Chicago’s Invictus Theatre Company production of “Topdog/Underdog,” now at their new home at the Windy City Playhouse through March 31st, 2024. Click TD/UD for tickets/info.

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