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+.
May 2008
Chicago Native, Legendary Comedian Harvey Korman Passes Away at 81
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 30, 2008 - 4:06pmCHICAGO – Legendary comedian and Chicago native Harvey Korman passed away on Thursday. He is best remembered from films such as “Blazing Saddles” and “High Anxiety” as well as a performer on the “The Carol Burnett Show”. Korman was 81.
Despite its Title, ‘The Strangers’ Actually a Familiar Repeat of Horror Film Conventions
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 30, 2008 - 3:29amCHICAGO – Poor Liv Tyler. She’s stuck in a remote vacation home with nothing but the blank-stare acting of Scott Speedman to “save” her. What’s a rock daughter who becomes an actress to do? First, she shouldn’t sign onto yet another version of the couple-in-terror cliché.
‘Sex and the City: The Movie’ a Frilly University For Understanding the Human Condition
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 30, 2008 - 1:46amCHICAGO – To its voracious universe of cult-following fans, it feels like a television marathon that spans an entire season. To everyone else who bats an indifferent eye at the religion that is “Sex and the City,” it may surprise you to find that all the glam and glitz has something even for you to learn, too.
‘Sex and the City: The Movie’ a Frilly University For Understanding the Human Condition
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 30, 2008 - 1:14amCHICAGO – To its voracious universe of cult-following fans, it feels like a television marathon that spans an entire season. To everyone else who bats an indifferent eye at the religion that is “Sex and the City,” it may surprise you to find that all the glam and glitz has something even for you to learn, too.
Despite its Title, ‘The Strangers’ Actually a Familiar Repeat of Horror Film Conventions
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 30, 2008 - 1:08amCHICAGO – Poor Liv Tyler. She’s stuck in a remote vacation home with nothing but the blank-stare acting of Scott Speedman to “save” her. What’s a rock daughter who becomes an actress to do? First, she shouldn’t sign onto yet another version of the couple-in-terror cliché.
Hookup: 30 Admit-Two Early Passes to ‘The Promotion’ With John C. Reilly, Seann William Scott
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 28, 2008 - 3:22pmCHICAGO – In our latest edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we’re giving away 30 admit-two passes to the new film “The Promotion” with John C. Reilly and Seann William Scott. The screening will take place on June 2, 2008 at 7 p.m. in Chicago. To win, just submit a comment!
Interview: Joachim Trier’s Debut Explores Young Angst With Exceptional Feeling in ‘Reprise’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 27, 2008 - 5:32pmCHICAGO – When combined with the responsibilities of making the rent or making your way in the relationship landscape, early adulthood is often more challenging (and in different ways) than adolescence.
‘Avenue Q’ Bases Musical Self on ‘Cheap Laugh is Better Than No Laugh’ Adage
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 27, 2008 - 1:40amRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In the tradition of recent Broadway productions where touristy and crowd-pleasing scenery reigns over any type of theater substance, along comes the 2004 Tony Award-winning best musical “Avenue Q,” which is now in a touring version at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago.
Exclusive: HollywoodChicago.com Photographs Biograph Set For John Dillinger Killing in ‘Public Enemies’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 24, 2008 - 8:12pmCHICAGO – The Biograph Theater on Lincoln Avenue is an iconic and historical Chicago landmark. As has been well documented in our active “Public Enemies” discussion thread, the area is currently made over by the production team for the film “Public Enemies” to how it looked the night of July 22, 1934. See our exclusive slideshow here.
Exclusive: HollywoodChicago.com Photographs Biograph Set For John Dillinger Killing in ‘Public Enemies’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 24, 2008 - 7:44pmCHICAGO – The Biograph Theater on Lincoln Avenue is an iconic and historical Chicago landmark. As has been well documented in our active “Public Enemies” discussion thread, the area is currently made over by the production team for the film “Public Enemies” to how it looked the night of July 22, 1934.
After 19 Years, ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ Phenomenally Exhumes Venerated Roots
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 22, 2008 - 12:00amCHICAGO – After such a long respite from the beloved film progression, I was initially just as skittish about seeing Harrison Ford back in the Indy saddle as I was watching Sylvester Stallone back in the ring in “Rocky Balboa” in his 2006 comeback and then again in 2008 in his “Rambo” return.
After 19 Years, ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ Exhumes Venerated Roots
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 22, 2008 - 12:00amCHICAGO – After such a long respite from the beloved film progression, I was initially just as skittish about seeing Harrison Ford back in the Indy saddle as I was watching Sylvester Stallone back in the ring in “Rocky Balboa” in his 2006 comeback and then again in 2008 in his “Rambo” return.
‘The Witnesses’ Bear the AIDS Burden of a Time Less Remembered
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 19, 2008 - 11:22pmCHICAGO – While Paris, France in 1984 probably wasn’t as romantic as the Paris in several of its other lionized eras, it existed just the same. As portrayed in “The Witnesses,” it was an age that may have been more uncertain than the others based on a melting pot of inhabitants who immigrated to the City of Lights in search for a new life.
‘The Witnesses’ Bear the AIDS Burden of a Time Less Remembered
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 19, 2008 - 11:11pmCHICAGO – While Paris, France in 1984 probably wasn’t as romantic as the Paris in several of its other lionized eras, it existed just the same. As portrayed in “The Witnesses,” it was an age that may have been more uncertain than the others based on a melting pot of inhabitants who immigrated to the City of Lights in search for a new life.
Hookup: 10 Passes to VIP Chicago Party, Screening For ‘The Bill Engvall Show’ on TBS to Meet Tim Meadows
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 19, 2008 - 10:09pmCHICAGO – In the inaugural edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: TV, 10 admit-two VIP passes will be given away to the exclusive Chicago opportunity to meet Tim Meadows (“Saturday Night Live,” “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” “Semi-Pro”) for the return of “The Bill Engvall Show” on TBS.
‘Body of War’ Confronts Grisly Realities of U.S. War Mistakes in Iraq
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 19, 2008 - 1:17amCHICAGO – They are invisible in the current war, which has lasted longer than World War II. It’s the soldier in Iraq who fights on – in the face of public apathy at home – and who carries out the decisions of an administration that has chosen to hide their caskets in death.
‘Body of War’ Confronts Grisly Realities of U.S. War Mistakes in Iraq
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 19, 2008 - 1:06amCHICAGO – They are invisible in the current war, which has lasted longer than World War II. It’s the soldier in Iraq who fights on – in the face of public apathy at home – and who carries out the decisions of an administration that has chosen to hide their caskets in death.
Packed With Picturesque Majesty, ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian’ Fights Nobly For ‘PG’ Rating
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 16, 2008 - 1:51pmCHICAGO – For the life of me, I couldn’t exorcise it from my head. Amid all the splendor of such a picturesque film, this one question was like a gnat I couldn’t swat: “Is this really rated ‘PG’?” Indeed, “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” is rated “PG”. But that didn’t come without great scrutiny and much editing.
Packed With Picturesque Majesty, ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian’ Fights Nobly For ‘PG’ Rating
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 16, 2008 - 1:32pmCHICAGO – For the life of me, I couldn’t exorcise it from my head. Amid all the splendor of such a picturesque film, this one question was like a gnat I couldn’t swat: “Is this really rated ‘PG’?” Indeed, “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” is rated “PG”. But that didn’t come without great scrutiny and much editing.
Wide Release of Divisive Film ‘Postal’ From Controversial Director Uwe Boll Canceled
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 15, 2008 - 8:13pmCHICAGO – In response to our negative review of the divisive new film “Postal” from controversial director Uwe Boll, Boll e-mailed us with these simple words:
‘The Mark of Zorro’ Nails Swordsman, Markedly Complicates Cast, Botches Dialect
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 15, 2008 - 1:33amRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Sometimes less, of course, is more. Live theater often knows that better than anyone. That’s exactly the shrill reminder Chicago’s Lifeline Theatre needed in Katie McLean’s adaptation of the beloved Zorro book by Johnston McCulley.
Star-Crossed Lovers Create Road to Ruin in ‘Before the Rains’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 13, 2008 - 10:37pmCHICAGO – By its very nature, colonialism is bad karma waiting to happen. You are a sovereign nation with weaponry and a desire for treasure. While you invade and take over a country with that treasure, it also comes with a society you don’t understand.
Star-Crossed Lovers Create Road to Ruin in ‘Before the Rains’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 13, 2008 - 10:13pmCHICAGO – By its very nature, colonialism is bad karma waiting to happen.
You are a sovereign nation with weaponry and a desire for treasure. While you invade and take over a country with that treasure, it also comes with a society you don’t understand. You stir in religious dogma, native slavery and the defiling of lands and create an evil stew that’s ripe to boil over.
Interview: Chiwetel Ejiofor on American Samurai Journey ‘Redbelt’ From Mind of David Mamet
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 13, 2008 - 6:04pmCHICAGO – Chiwetel Ejiofor (pronounced choo-ih-tell edge-o-for) has been a stalwart film actor ever since his dramatic debut in Steven Spielberg’s “Amistad”. Since then, he has been a go-to character actor for directors as diverse as Spike Lee, Woody Allen and Stephen Frears.
Chicago’s ‘Shout! The Mod Musical’ an Infectiously Groovilicious, Estrogen-Only Stew
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 11, 2008 - 11:17pmCHICAGO – Meg Ryan, eat your heart out. Since “When Harry Met Sally,” the salacious Danielle Plisz as Green Girl in “Shout! The Mod Musical” takes Ryan’s infamous restaurant eruption to a whole new level on stage.
Interview: ‘Son of Rambow’ Director Garth Jennings Unleashes Power of Childhood Imagination
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 9, 2008 - 11:41amCHICAGO – A preacher delivering a sidewalk sermon followed by a boy’s inventive doodles and drawings are the opening images that launch “Son of Rambow”. This sets the tone for the unyielding power of childhood imagination that the filmmakers unleash upon moviegoers.
‘Speed Racer’ Condemns Franchise Dignity, Delivers Sensorial Explosion
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 9, 2008 - 1:45amCHICAGO – While Hollywood slapped “PG” on the hotly anticipated “Speed Racer” to line its pocketbooks with the widest hodgepodge of people (ahem: kids) everywhere, those same kids will leave the theater with that lollipop nearly sucked to the stick but then yanked away with confusion.
‘Speed Racer’ Condemns Franchise Dignity, But Delivers Sensorial Explosion
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 9, 2008 - 1:12amCHICAGO – While Hollywood slapped “PG” on the hotly anticipated “Speed Racer” to line its pocketbooks with the widest hodgepodge of people (ahem: kids) everywhere, those same kids will leave the theater with that lollipop nearly sucked to the stick but then yanked away with confusion.
Interview: ‘Standard Operating Procedure’ Director Errol Morris Discusses Evil From Iraqi Prison
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 7, 2008 - 12:39amCHICAGO – Here is the legendary documentarian Errol Morris on the infamous 2003 photographs taken at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, which are the subject of his new film entitled “Standard Operating Procedure”:
‘Iron Man’ Sits Indisputably in Club of Highest-Rated Superhero Movies Ever
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 2, 2008 - 11:53amCHICAGO – Move over, Superman. This lush, high-octane playboy never tasted so good.
Robert Downey Jr. fittingly opens “Iron Man” with a cocktail in hand and all the arrogance in the world. As the story goes, his conceit is indeed respected as Earth is his oyster both for the playing and for the taking. With the American marketing machine in full effect for 2008’s first summer blockbuster, the inaugural one lives up to the buildup.