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+.
Joey King
‘Wish I Was Here’ Will Make You Wish You Weren’t There
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 18, 2014 - 11:43amRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Writer, director and lead actor Zach Braff has put it on the line for his latest feature, “Wish I Was Here.” He infamously used a crowdfunding Kickstarter campaign to maintain creative control of the film, but he needn’t have bothered. The movie result is a sappy, high concept emotional manipulator with no basis in authenticity, and that might be the best thing that can be said about it.
Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx in ‘White House Down’
Submitted by BrianTT on June 26, 2013 - 10:24amRating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – How could a movie in which the President shoots a rocket from the back of a limousine during a car chase on the White House lawn possibly be boring? Roland Emmerich somehow finds a way in the numbing “White House Down,” a movie that make absolutely no sense but fails to entertain as B-movie escapism (as his movies sometimes have in the past).
Story Dims Visionary ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 8, 2013 - 9:35amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Oz the Great and Powerful” is a great and powerful visual and 3D experience. It expands the landscape of what cinema can produce in a visceral and evolutionary way. But a great film also needs a great story, and this Land of Oz tale is not equivalent to the awe-inspiring imagery.
Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling in Great ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love.’
Submitted by BrianTT on July 28, 2011 - 3:17pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” is undeniably clichéd, broad in its humor, and a bit manipulative in its sentimentality, but it should be. This is a movie about grand statements, soulmates, and true passion, a film that unabashedly believes in the craziness and the stupidity of what we call love. It’s also one of the most purely entertaining films of the year.
Beverly Cleary’s ‘Ramona and Beezus’ Works For Young Adults
Submitted by BrianTT on July 23, 2010 - 1:18pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Ramona and Beezus” may not be the perfect film that Beverly Cleary fans hoped for when they fell in love with these characters but it is successful on its own terms in its refusal to talk down to its pre-teen audience and through the massive future star-power of its talented young stars. I admittedly have a soft spot for any film that places teachers on a higher pedestal than businessman and effectively teaches young viewers to stick to their creative visions. It’s flawed, but “Ramona and Beezus” works.