Ben Foster

Will-ling Redemption! On-Air Film Review of ‘Emancipation’

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 4.5/5.0
Rating: 4.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Jason Makos on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on December 1st, 2022, reviewing “Emancipation,” featuring Will Smith and set in the Civil War period within the eradication of slavery. In theaters on December 2nd, streaming December 9th on Apple TV+.

‘Leave No Trace’ is Emblematic of Our Times

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 4.0/5.0
Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – The temptation to “drop out” must weigh heavily on the minds of many Americans on a daily basis. “Leave No Trace” views this phenomenon through a prism of many factors, including materialism and mental illness. Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie are a father/daughter duo who drop out, then tune in.

‘Hostiles’ with Christian Bale is a Big Bad Bore

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 2.0/5.0
Rating: 2.0/5.0

CHICAGO – “Hostiles” is an exercise in prestige western boredom. It’s competently made, but its as lifeless as a scalped corpse on the prairie. It’s long on pretty western locales and impressive facial hair, but short on story, characters, or much of anything else to help keep your eyelids from closing.

‘Inferno’ Was Damned From The Start

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 2.0/5.0
Rating: 2.0/5.0

CHICAGO – You can’t keep a good conspiracy down. Tom Hanks returns to a role we thought had joined the pages of history his character was so eager to uncover. Like the previous films in the franchise, “Inferno” promises to deliver a new problem to solve even though they never attempt to fix any of the cinematic and narrative flaws from its past.

‘Warcraft’ Tries, But Eventually Has Got No Game

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 2.0/5.0
Rating: 2.0/5.0

CHICAGO – The best that can be said for the video game adaptation “Warcraft” is that it’s not the incoherent, CGI heavy and Michael-Bay-type nightmare it could have been. It’s still somewhat incoherent – full of computer generated cannon fodder – but I am surprised and happy to report it did not induce any headaches, even in pointless 3D.

Peter Berg’s Brutal ‘Lone Survivor’ Lacks Context

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 2.5/5.0
Rating: 2.5/5.0

Imagine a version of “Saving Private Ryan” that takes place entirely on the beaches of Normandy. It would have a visceral power purely through the horror of the recreation of war. However, it would lack the context of the rest of the narrative and lead one to question why the cinematic trip was worth taking.

Mesmerizing, Romantic Power of ‘Ain’t Them Bodies Saints’

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 4.0/5.0
Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Is a film automatically flawed if we can see its influences? We don’t do it as quickly in music, in which it’s often incredibly easy to determine a new artist’s favorite bands as a kid. Authors that pull from a notable and recognizable literary history are often lauded for doing so.

Mark Wahlberg’s ‘Contraband’ Steals Half Justice From Icelandic Conquest

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 2.5/5.0
Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – One way to craft an unforgettable, undeniably adept film is to make a new one. Hollywood views that as financially risky, though, and it often doesn’t happen without being based on a book with a built-in audience or a film that’s already an international box-office success.

Jason Statham in ‘The Mechanic’ is a Mindless Repeat of All Prior Gun-Toting Slayers

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 2.5/5.0
Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – It wouldn’t be a Jason Statham film if in it he was just fixing cars. In “The Mechanic,” his profession is fixing people. And by fixing, like “The Transporter” he’s again cracking skulls.

Despite Daring Genre, ‘3:10 to Yuma’ Packs Powerhouse Acting With Fragmentary Story

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 3/5CHICAGO – Had you asked me to tag “3:10 to Yuma” before I screened it, you’d think me a bumbling idiot because I had absolutely no clue what to expect.

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