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+.
20th Century Fox
‘The Maze Runner’ a Cut Above Teenage Dystopia Genre
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 19, 2014 - 9:38am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Yes, the future world of teenage bleakness, so popular in “The Hunger Games” and “Divergent,” now has its own genre. “The Maze Runner” is an excellent entry, and gets over its stilted dialogue and scary monsters by adding in surprises and atmospheric mystery.
‘Let’s Be Cops’ Unoriginally Repeats Old Formulas
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 13, 2014 - 12:47pm Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The premise is sound, but the new film “Let’s Be Cops” refuses to do something original with the premise of a couple of regular Joes pretending to be Johnny Law. The same stale jokes and inevitable need for heroic action climax overwhelms the mild amusement of it all.
Dull Soap Opera in ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 10, 2014 - 11:50pm Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes” just goes to show that you can have the most expensive and best looking visual effects money can buy, but it doesn’t mean a damn thing if you haven’t got a good tale to tell.
Heroic, Visually Bold ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 13, 2014 - 4:46pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “How to Train Your Dragon 2” is spectacular in 3D, the filmmakers actually geared the film to enhance that much maligned vision. It also features a warm and heroic story about the coming-of-age for the character Hiccup, and his now fully trained dragon, Toothless.
Complex, Wow-Inducing ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 22, 2014 - 7:47pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Although a post graduate degree in space/time continuum studies may be necessary for maximum enjoyment, “X-Men: Days of Future Past” still delivers a comic book wham-bam, and the series continues its exploration of recent history through the prism of a mutant universe.
Sharpness Wears Down to Dull in ‘The Other Woman’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 25, 2014 - 8:45amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Cameron Diaz has a firm grasp on her … image. She has carefully transitioned throughout her career from ingenue to comedienne to voiceover to the new film “The Other Woman.” But what begins as a sharp revenge comedy collapses into a bonding-sticky-sweet dullness.
Even Kids Might Run from ‘Walking with Dinosaurs 3D’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 20, 2013 - 10:14am Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Walking with Dinosaurs” depicts the magnificent titular creatures in stunning realism and 3D vision, and then proceeds to give them line readings with the equivalent sophistication of Archie comics. This adds up to an educational film with a long, dull journey ahead.
Ben Affleck Can’t Save Limp ‘Runner Runner’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 4, 2013 - 9:03amRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Off shore internet gambling sites, tons of money, glorious glamorous women, parties all the time – how the heck can all of that be dull? The new film “Runner Runner” found a way. Ben Affleck phones it in and Justin Timberlake is name recognition window dressing in this limp drama.
‘Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters’ is Driven by Myth
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 7, 2013 - 9:08amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Although on the surface, the Percy Jackson stories may seem like Harry Potter rip-offs, the use of a mythology theme and a slyer sense of humor does give them some distinction and life. It also provides several moments of unintentional laughs in “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.”
Audacious ‘The Wolverine’ Also a Bit Excessive
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 25, 2013 - 7:08pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Following the release of “Iron Man 3” and “Man of Steel,” “The Wolverine” is the best of the bunch, simply by following “The Dark Knight” and the Marvel Comics formula, creating a conflicted superhero who cannot conform to any conventional definition of heroism.
