Movie Review

Sandra Bullock, Strong Script Bring Clarity to ‘The Blind Side’

PatrickMcD — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:20:50 -0700

CHICAGO – “Based on a True Story” films are difficult to pull off, especially those that are the improbable story of a white Memphis family adopting an African American football prodigy. Sandra Bullock is the mother, through it all, in “The Blind Side.”

Rating: 3.5/5.0

The football-themed title refers to protecting the quarterback’s blind side, the area where he can’t see a defensive linebacker coming. Symbolically, it also describes the life of Michael Ohr (an exceptional Quinton Aaron), a Memphis teenager who is discovered to be homeless by the Tuohy family, and is taken in by the firecracker Mom, Leigh Anne (Sandra Bullock).

Michael’s blind side is his past, a difficult road of negative parentage and squalid conditions. The shelter that the wealthy Tuohy family gives him is almost too much for him, much as the private school a previous mentor managed to get him into.

”The Blind Side” opens everywhere November 20th. Featuring Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron, Kathy Bates, Ray McKinnon and several real college coaches, and is directed by John Lee Hancock. Rated “PG-13”

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “The Blind Side”

Stranger in a Strange Land: Quinton Aaron as Michael Ohr in ‘The Blind Side’
Photo credit: Ralph Nelson for Warner Bros. Pictures

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “The Blind Side”

‘Napoleon Dynamite’ Creator Jared Hess Scores With ‘Gentlemen Broncos’

PatrickMcD — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:34:35 -0700

CHICAGO - Writer/Director Jared Hess’ universe, where obscure pop culture references and strange survivors abide, gets another workout with the spontaneously funny “Gentlemen Broncos,” which also features Mike White and Jennifer Coolidge.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Gentlemen Broncos features the affable Michael Angarano as Benjamin, a science fiction nerd with a penchant for creating his own intergalactic stories. His widowed mother, Judith (Jennifer Coolidge) is his biggest cheerleader, but is racked with bi-polar bouts of crying in conjunction with a fledgling designer nightgown business. When she sends Benjamin away to a sci-fi writing camp, it puts into motion the next phase of their lives.

At the camp Benjamin meets Tabatha (Halley Feiffer), a perplexing fellow nerdling who vaguely takes a shine to him. She reads his stories of Bronco, a sci-fi action hero who is searching for his lost testicle. Bronco is a lusty adventurer, who rides bucks (male deer) that can shoot laser beams. His writings also come to the attention of his author hero, Rob Decker (Jemaine Clement), who recognizes his talent by stealing his story for publication.

Back at home, Benjamin must contend with his new found friendship with Tabatha, selling the movie rights for his story to a untalented director named Lonnie (Héctor Jiménez), and his new best friend/guardian angel, Dusty (Mike White).

”Gentlemen Broncos” opens in Chicago November 13, 2009, with a limited release elsewhere. Check local listings for theaters and times. Featuring Michael Angarano, Jennifer Coolidge, Halley Feiffer, Héctor Jiménez, Mike White and Sam Rockwell, directed by Jared Hess. Rated “PG-13.”

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Gentlemen Broncos”

Buckin’ Bronco: Sam Rockwell in ‘Gentlemen Broncos’
Photo credit: Seth Smoot for Fox Searchlight

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Gentlemen Broncos”

Gabourey Sidibe Shines in Inspirational True Story of ‘Precious’

BrianTT — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:21:21 -0700

CHICAGO – The final scene of Lee Daniels’ “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” ends with a dedication that the film is for “precious girls everywhere”.

The words seem likely to resonate with the legions of fans of this tragic true story (based on the girls that the author met while teaching in NYC) - women and men who can identify with rising above abuse, poverty, addiction, or whatever seemingly insurmountable odds speak most personally to them.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Daniels has made a bleak, brutal, depressing urban drama that will surely be the “feel-bad, feel-good” movie of the year, a well-made film that is so dark that it can be hard to watch but that is designed to illustrate the fact that the human power to overcome adversity is stronger than the instinct to shrivel and die.

Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” in our reviews section.

Claireece “Precious” Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) is a stolid, overweight, somber, friendless teenager who has lived through an absolute nightmare since the day she was born. She is regularly abused by her mother (Mo’Nique) and is recently pregnant with her second child, both offspring the product of continuous rape by her own father since she was only an infant.

After her second pregnancy is discovered, Precious is shuttled off to an alternate education program for young women who have shown academic potential and she starts to discover that there are people in the world willing to help her. The most important are a teacher named Ms. Rain (Paula Patton) and a welfare worker played by Mariah Carey, but she also makes friends in her class and even opens up to a cute nurse played by Lenny Kravitz. The walls between the fantasy world that Precious has constructed to escape the pain of her everyday life start to come down as she is lifted by others towards a chance at a normal life.

Continuing reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” review.

‘Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire’ stars Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Mariah Carey, Paula Patton, and Lenny Kravitz. It was written by Damien Paul and directed by Lee Daniels. It opens in Chicago on November 6th, 2009. It is rated R.

Precious (Gabourey Sidibe, left) and Ms. Rain (Paula Patton, right) in Precious: Based On The Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire.
Photo credit: Anne Marie Fox/Lionsgate

Art World Bares its Soul in Adam Goldberg’s Superlative ‘(Untitled)’

PatrickMcD — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:57:21 -0700

CHICAGO – One of the best and most exciting surprises of the 2009 film year is a smaller, claustrophobic film starring Adam Goldberg and set in the art gallery world of New York City. “(Untitled)” is an honest, uncompromising character study.

Rating: 5.0/5.0

Taking its name from the practice of inscribing artwork with no label at all, (Untitled) involves three people, two who are practicing artists and one who owns a small Soho art gallery. Adrian (Adam Goldberg) is a composer of atonal symphonies – think using buckets and chains for sounds instead of harmonics – and although recognized as a significant craftsman he still needs to supplement his living by providing piano atmosphere in a haughty bistro.

His brother Josh (Eion Bailey) is a “successful” artist, having found a niche market selling his works to decorate hotel lobbies and corporate hallways. He is the biggest income generator for Madeleine (a revelatory Marley Shelton), who owns a small but cutting edge gallery. Embarrassed that she has to rely on Josh’s commercial work to stay afloat, she coyly hides his work in the back when clients come to call.

When Madeleine sees Adrian perform one of his symphonies, she not only gets a commission for him but takes him on as a lover. When the three attitudes of the principal characters collide – Adrian’s outsider inclination, Josh’s desperate need for artistic credibility and Madeleine’s blind worship of the next edgy art happening – the very question of who decides what art can be is philosophically rendered.

”(Untitled)” opens in Chicago November 6th, in limited release elsewhere. Check local listings for theaters. Featuring Adam Goldberg, Marley Shelton, Eion Bailey and Vinnie Jones, directed by Jonathan Parker. Rated “R” Click here for the HollywoodChicago interview with Adam Goldberg of Untitled.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “(Untitled)”

Adam Goldberg as Adrian in ‘(Untitled)’
Photo credit: Parker Film Company/Samuel Goldwyn Films

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “ (Untitled)”

‘The House of the Devil’ is a Trip Back in Suspense Horror

PatrickMcD — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:19:53 -0600

CHICAGO – Halloween is the perfect time to revisit those horror films of youth, lost in the mall theaters or crackling through the VCR in a multiply rented copy. “The House of the Devil” reveres those roots and brings them back to light.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

The year is 1983 and Jocelin Donahue portrays Samantha, a financially challenged student in a small college town. Desperate to leave her dorm living situation, she finds a perfect apartment right next to campus. The problem is she doesn’t have the rent down payment and has no means to get it.

Enter the campus bulletin board, with a mysterious posting for a “babysitter” to make instant cash. When Samantha calls the number, a serious voice tells her how desperate he is to have her take the job.

When she arrives at the house, the peculiar Mr. Ulman (Tom Noonan) gives her a rundown of her duties. She is actually caring for an elder within the house, who never comes out of her room. She is briefed further by Mrs. Ulman (Mary Woronov), who seems most interested in Samantha’s youth and beauty.

Samantha must then contend with the creaky house, the impending eclipse of the moon and some strange discoveries to come.

”The House of the Devil” opened in a limited release October 30th, and is also available on VOD, Amazon VOD and Xbox Live. Featuring Jocelin Donahue, Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov, Dee Wallace and Greta Gerwig, directed by Ti West. Rated “R” Click here for the HollywoodChicago.com interview with director Ti West.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “The House of the Devil”

Fresh Faced 1980s Gal: Jocelin Donahue as Samantha in ‘The House of the Devil’
Photo credit: © Magnolia Pictures

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “The House of the Devil”

‘Michael Jackson’s This is It’ Would Evocatively, Memorably Move Even Rhythmless Zombies

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:01:00 -0600

CHICAGO – Even a rhythmless zombie will be able to siphon Michael Jackson’s prowess now. And this time, this is it.

If you thought the king of pop wouldn’t deliver on his latest bout of 50 sold-out worldwide concerts, think again. “Michael Jackson’s This is It” takes you on a raw ride behind the scenes, pulls at all the right heartstrings and unleashes what the late master performer would have done had he not passed much too young.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

The 112 minutes of this Michael Jackson legacy – comprised of footage leading up to his very last weeks on Earth – fly by as you try to prevent the closing credits from scrolling too soon. No matter your musical taste, there likely isn’t a tune in this concert film that you won’t recognize (perhaps except for one about MJ’s green love for our “sick” planet).

The documentary and its CD sountrack feature most of the following hits: “Thriller,” “Man in the Mirror,” “Billie Jean,” “This is It,” “Earth Song,” “Heal the World,” “Black or White,” “Beat It,” “Who is It,” “Threatened,” “Ghosts,” “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground),” “The Love You Save,” “I’ll Be There,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Put the Blame on Mame,” “Human Nature,” “HIStory,” “Jam,” “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” “Smooth Criminal,” “Speechless,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin,” “They Don’t Care About Us” and “Bad”.

Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “Michael Jackson’s This is It”.

For the right to whittle these minutes down from more than 100 hours of rehearsal footage, Sony Pictures paid a handsome $60 million. The film, which opened in 99 countries on Oct. 28, 2009, currently only has a planned two-week run. “Michael Jackson’s This is It” will expand to 110 countries by this weekend and could be extended beyond the two weeks depending on its box-office performance.

The tour was supposed to begin in the summer of 2009 in London. The film, which is produced with the full support of Michael Jackson’s estate, chronicles the lead up to the tour from March through June 2009. Tickets for the currently limited film engagement went on sale on Sept. 27, 2009.

“Michael Jackson’s This is It” from director Kenny Ortega features Michael Jackson along with the following performers: Alex Al, Nick Bass, Michael Bearden, Daniel Celebre, Mekia Cox, Misha Gabriel, Chris Grant, Judith Hill, Dorian Holley, Shannon Holtzapffel, Devin Jamieson, Bashiri Johnson, Charles Klapow, Jonathan Moffett, Tommy Organ, Orianthi, Darryl Phinnessee, Mo Pleasure, Dres Reid, Ken Stacey, Tyne Stecklein, Timor Steffens and more.

The film opened on Oct. 28, 2009. “Michael Jackson’s This is It” which has a running time of 112 minutes, is rated “PG” for some suggestive choreography and scary images.

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “Michael Jackson’s This is It” review.

The poster for the “Michael Jackson’s This is It” concert film.
Image credit: Sony Pictures

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “Michael Jackson’s This is It” review.

‘Astro Boy’ is Here to Save Whatever is Left of the Future

PatrickMcD — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:22:00 -0600

CHICAGO – The cartoon universe is replete with superheroes, none more distinct than the title character in the new animated film “Astro Boy.” Based on a Japanese comic book from 1951, Astro Boy has new life in 3-D cartoon form.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

Metro City is a futuristic utopian metropolis created especially to hover over the now abandoned earth (in shades of “Wall•E,” the landscape below is now a dumping ground). The city is an efficiently run model, aided by an army of robot workers, baby sitters and civil servants.

Dr. Tenma (voice of Nicholas Cage) is working on a new energy source derived from a meteorite. This revolutionary blue sphere can create clean energy and power the whole countryside. When the evil government leader, General Stone (Donald Sutherland), gets wind of the new power source, he wants to use it in a new weapon that will solidify him as overseer of Metro City.

Dr. Tenma’s son, a scientific prodigy, gets trapped with the destructive robot and is killed as the experiment goes awry. His distraught father decides to rebuilt him as a robot, and places the blue energy source as his heart. However, the new “Astro Boy” feels like a stranger in his homeland, and exiles himself to the dumping grounds below Metro City.

”Astro Boy” opens everywhere October 23rd. Check local listings for 3-D showings. Featuring the voices of Nicholas Cage, Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane, Freddie Highmore, Kirsten Bell, Eugene Levy and Bill Nighy, directed by David Bowers. Rated “PG.”

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Astro Boy”

We Can Rebuilt Him: Scene from ‘Astro Boy’
Photo credit: Summit Entertainment

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Astro Boy”

DVD Review: ‘Anvil! The Story of Anvil’ Still Best Documentary of 2009 to Date

BrianTT — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:37:42 -0600

CHICAGO – The great “Anvil! The Story of Anvil” played to sold-out crowds earlier this year and completely rejuvenated the careers of the rock Gods that never were - Steve “Lips” Kudlow and Robb Reiner aka Anvil. Now this great movie is available on DVD and you shouldn’t let it go by unseen.

DVD Rating: 4.5/5.0

Displaying the same quirky charms as breakthrough documentary hits like “Spellbound,” “American Movie,” and “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters” (but sharing subject in common more with “Metallica: Some Kind of Monster”), “Anvil” is simply a joy. The momentum that carried the documentary about Anvil lifted the band themselves. This was one of the few times where the phrase “jump on the bandwagon” seemed more than a little appropriate.

Anvil co-founders Robb Reiner (L) and Steve “Lips” Ludlow contemplate their band’s future in a scene from Sacha Gervasi’s feature documentary, Anvil! The Story Of Anvil.
Photo credit: Brent J. Craig

Those who jumped on in theaters and the many more who will on DVD, learned about the greatest rock band that never broke into the mainstream. The film opens with a series of Anvil’s peers, including Slash of Guns ‘n’ Roses, Lars Ulrich of Metallica, Lemmy of Motorhead, and more, discussing in nearly awed tones the power of Anvil. They played their hit, “Metal on Metal,” in front of thousands of fans and watched as every other band was picked up by the heavy metal wave that dominated radio and MTV in the early and mid-’80s.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil was released on DVD on October 6th, 2009.
Photo credit: VH1 Films

Most of the band members who once shared a bill with Anvil are either now on VH1 reality shows or counting their royalty checks from the ’80s, but the two lead members of Anvil can barely make ends meet. The film documents their massively depressing European tour, where they play to literally a dozen or so people at a time and often don’t even get paid. They’ve made twelve albums and have yet to break through, despite the clear adoration of their peers. They fight regularly and think about giving in, but they’re determined to catch that dream, even if it’s twenty years later than they thought they would.

The film follows the production of Anvil’s 13th album, one that Robb and Lips are determined will be their absolute best. It’s a testament to the power of Sacha Gervasi’s film that his document of the band has made them the stars that their music and relentless touring never could. They could always see the light at the end of the tunnel. It took a movie to push them there.

“Anvil! The Story of Anvil” will appeal to more than just music fans. It’s very, very funny but it also brilliantly illustrates the human ability to chase our dreams long after we “should have” stopped. Lips and Robb have been going through the same heartbreaking grind for decades, long after many people would have given up. Some will shake their head and say that they wasted their lives. Some will wish they had found the nerve to chase their dreams just as long and just as hard. When do you give up on a dream? How do you keep going when it always seems one step ahead of you?

Of course, Robb and Lips are a documentarian’s dream come true, but Gervasi deserves a lot of credit for why the film about them works as well as it does. So many directors would have turned this real-life “Spinal Tap” into a joke. Gervasi has actually been a fan of the band of the years and his love for them shows. At the same time, he has not deified them. He is clearly a fan but also recognizes the humorous and heartbreaking tones. He neither ridicules nor idolizes them. He merely presents them as the potential rock Gods who ended up so relatably human.

‘Anvil! The Story of Anvil!’ is released by VH1 Films. The film was released on DVD on October 6th, 2009. It is not rated.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

‘A Serious Man’ Plays as Masterfully Fictionalized Autobiography For Joel, Ethan Coen

HollywoodChicago.com — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:20:45 -0600

CHICAGO – “A Serious Man” isn’t the story of Joel and Ethan Coen’s lives. But you might not necessarily know it. While the brothers continue to turn their films into Hollywood gold, this 1967-set black comedy is among the more personal projects in their repertoire.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

That gamut is growing into a serious catalog with “Burn After Reading,” 2007 best-picture Oscar winner “No Country for Old Men,” “The Ladykillers,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” “The Big Lebowski,” “Fargo” and “Raising Arizona” now under their yamakas over the course of two decades.

While the yamaka is designed to signify deference to god, “A Serious Man” pays homage to the Coens’ culture in an authentically Jewish way. But this is more than just one of the more Jewish films you’ve seen since “Schindler’s List”. “A Serious Man” is powered by a highly internal script and actors who externalize a series of very unfortunate events.

Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “A Serious Man” in our reviews section.

The film centers around one man in particular who you’ve likely never seen on screen before: Michael Stuhlbarg.

The Coen brothers, who are referred to in the industry as the “two-headed director” and are often known by actors to receive the same response to a question from either brother, took a chance on this cast. Tony Award nominee Michael Stuhlbarg plays Larry Gopnik.

Gopnik is a Midwestern professor who watches his life fall apart before his own eyes. His wife asks for a divorce, his inept brother won’t move out of the house, his kid steals his money for plastic surgery, blackmail is attempted by his student and an anonymous tipster attempts to defame his character and prevent him from being awarded tenure.

“A Serious Man” from writers and directors Joel Coen and Ethan Coen stars Michael Stuhlbarg , Richard Kind, Fred Melamed, Sari Lennick, Jessica McManus, Peter Breitmayer, Brent Braunschweig, David Kang, Benjy Portnoe, Jon Kaminski Jr., Ari Hoptman and Alan Mandell. The film opened everywhere on Oct. 9, 2009. “A Serious Man,” which has a running time of 105 minutes, is rated “R” for language, some sexuality and nudity and brief violence.

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “A Serious Man” review.

Michael Stuhlbarg (left) stars as Larry Gopnik and Fred Melamed (right) stars as Sy Ableman in Joel and Ethan Coen’s “A Serious Man”.
Photo credit: Wilson Webb

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “A Serious Man” review.

‘Good Hair’ Has Chris Rock Getting to the Roots of Follicle Follies

PatrickMcD — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:44:53 -0600

CHICAGO – Positioning himself as a informational bridge-builder, comedian Chris Rock explores the often complex social economics of African American hair, specifically the intense styling that is a borderline obsession for women of color.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

Traveling virtually throughout the world, Rock witnesses the channels of commerce, politics and even religious overtones in relationship to African American women (and to a lesser degree black men and all women) and their coiffure.

Using a black hair stylist’s convention as a centerpiece for the documentary, Rock plays the unbelieving observer as he goes from booth to booth at the convention. The highlight of the gathering is an elaborate presentation of stylists who put on broadway-style or hip hop shows with themes that communicate the technique variations of participating rock-star-like hair stylists.

”Good Hair,” a documentary moderated by Chris Rock, has a limited release October 9th, 2009. Check local theaters. Rated “PG-13.” Featuring interviews with Eve, Ice-T, Al Sharpton, Maya Angelou, Nia Long and Kerry Washington, directed by Jeff Stilson.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Good Hair”