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+.
Nick Offerman
Ever-Present Passion in ‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 12, 2015 - 11:18am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There are feelings encoded in a film, imparted by the creators, which sometimes takes a while to become apparent. “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” is an example, with a deceptive surface story that contains an ocean of feelings and emotions within its passionate core.
Imagine What Could Have Been for ‘Danny Collins’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 27, 2015 - 10:14am Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Danny Collins” is a shoulda-woulda-coulda film. It was inspired by the true story of a John Lennon letter acquired by a musician 40 years after he was suppose to to have received it, and then re-imagined as a cheap soap opera, punctuated by far superior John Lennon songs.
‘22 Jump Street’ is a Proud Bargain Bin Blockbuster
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 13, 2014 - 7:58am Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “22 Jump Street” is a big budget Hollywood sequel that actively comments on the diminishing returns of sequels. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller know that for every “Lethal Weapon 2,” that manages to surpass the original, there are a dozen “Another 48 Hours” that try and fail to give audiences an approximation of what they enjoyed before.
Big Laughs Await in Sly, Fun ‘The LEGO Movie’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 7, 2014 - 10:31am Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The funniest movie in a long while features no human beings, just animated bland faces among interlocking plastic bricks, the toys which inspired the film. “The LEGO Movie” never takes itself seriously, which means huge laughs for the audience.
Diablo Cody Loses Tone in Awful ‘Paradise’
Submitted by BrianTT on October 21, 2013 - 8:56pm Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Diablo Cody’s directorial debut, “Paradise,” now available everywhere On Demand and released this Friday in some markets theatrically, is an unmitigated disaster. It’s the most tonally inconsistent film of 2013, a flick that fluctuates wildly from broad satire to manipulative drama to something altogether indescribably bad.
‘In a World...’ Reveals a Voiceover of Heart, Hilarity
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 16, 2013 - 7:22pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – One the most familiar movie clichés is the sonorous voice that intones “In a world…” to begin a movie trailer, and then extols the virtues of that upcoming feature. Lake Bell, who wrote, directed and stars in the new movie, “In a World…,’ creates a delightful and gentle satire of voiceover artists and their journeys.
Horrible ‘We’re the Millers’ Wastes Huge Potential
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 7, 2013 - 4:15pmRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There was a point in “We’re the Millers” when the story fell off the table like a Slinky from a mountaintop. It’s as if other writers took over from a far superior dark comedy, and injected “heart” and middle age “stripping.” This all adds up to a difficult 110 minutes of lost life time.
In Youth, It’s Good to Be ‘The Kings of Summer’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 7, 2013 - 3:57pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Real summer movies shouldn’t be about superheroes or overwrought science fiction, it should be about long days working that trigger in the animal soul that awakens a sun-warmed spirit. Writer Chris Galletta and Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts crown “The Kings of Summer.”
Nick Offerman Stars in Episodic ‘Somebody Up There Likes Me’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 8, 2013 - 5:29pmRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – At the start, I’ll admit to kind of hating Bob Byington’s truly unusual “Somebody Up There Likes Me,” playing this weekend at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago with local actor and “Parks and Recreation” scene-stealer Nick Offerman in attendance. It’s such a mannered, unique piece that it verges on grating.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead is Emotionally Wrecked in ‘Smashed’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 19, 2012 - 7:31pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Young Drunks in Love” could be the subtitle of the new film “Smashed,’ or maybe “Recovery Can’t Recover All.” Regardless, Mary Elizabeth Winstead gives a career-defining performance as a young adult facing up to that adulthood, and leaving behind everything she has known for a life that’s healthier, but less familiar.
