CHICAGO – If you’ve never seen the farcical ensemble theater chestnut “Noises Off,” you will see no better version than on the Steppenwolf Theatre stage, now at their northside Chicago venue through November 3rd. For tickets and details for this riotous theater experience, click NOISES OFF.
HollywoodChicago.com DVD Reviews
DVD Review: ‘Happy Endings: The Complete First Season’ Assembles Fine Cast
Submitted by mattmovieman on October 12, 2011 - 7:21amCHICAGO – With so many laughless sitcoms premiering this season on ABC, it’s tempting to overpraise a show that actually manages to be funny. “Happy Endings” has already received a good deal of praise from Hollywood Chicago for its top-notch ensemble and vibrantly witty banter, though it’s not quite in the same league as the shows it wishes to emulate, particularly “Friends” and “Arrested Development.”
DVD Review: Arresting African Noir ‘Viva Riva!’ Delivers Plentiful Thrills
Submitted by mattmovieman on October 6, 2011 - 7:23amCHICAGO – At this year’s MTV Movie Awards, Djo Tunda Wa Munga’s “Viva Riva!” had the distinction of winning the first ever “Best African Movie” award, thus equating it with such cinematic masterworks as “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.” Luckily, that’s not the only claim to fame for Munga’s slick neo-noir, which also garnered six African Academy Awards and single-handedly revitalized the film industry in Congo.
DVD Review: Recent Seasons of ‘Body of Proof,’ ‘Castle,’ ‘The Mentalist’
Submitted by BrianTT on September 28, 2011 - 4:07pmCHICAGO – How many combined victims do you think there were on the recently-released season series sets for “Body of Proof: The Complete First Season,” “Castle: The Complete Third Season,” and “The Mentalist: The Complete Third Season.” 24 episodes of “The Mentalist,” 24 episodes of “Castle,” 9 episodes of “Body of Proof,” plus some episodes with multiple murders — that’s a lot of dead people. Find justice for them all with these three strong TV on DVD releases, all recent additions to your local “New Releases” shelf.
DVD Review: ‘Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop’ Tells Half the Story
Submitted by BrianTT on September 25, 2011 - 9:52pmCHICAGO – You may assume from that title that I’m referring to the “other half” of Conan O’Brien’s story being that of Jay Leno and his involvement in the debacle surrounding “The Tonight Show” but I could care less what Leno has to say. Or anyone at NBC. No, this hardcore Team Coco member was surprised by how much of the acclaimed new doc about O’Brien, recently released on DVD, was about his tour and how little was about what the man has gone through in the last couple years. It’s a good doc about how to come out of a tough situation without really telling us enough about how O’Brien got there in the first place.
DVD Review: ‘Rescue Me’ Concludes With Sixth, Final Season
Submitted by BrianTT on September 20, 2011 - 12:58pmCHICAGO – I’ll miss Tommy Gavin. FX officially said goodbye this month to the final survivor of their breakthrough slate of dramas as “Rescue Me” joined “The Shield” and “Nip/Tuck” in the great cable show graveyard in the sky. The network has ably moved forward with phase two of their legacy but there was something comforting and reliable about Tommy and the boys on “Rescue Me” still being around. The sixth and final season DVD release serves as a fitting fourth quarter for this talented team.
TV Review: Comforting Family Drama of NBC’s ‘Parenthood’
Submitted by BrianTT on September 13, 2011 - 12:55pmCHICAGO – There’s something comforting about a family like the Bravermans. It’s a blend of perspective and identification that allows us to look at the clan at the center of a family drama like “Parenthood”.
DVD Review: NBC’s ‘Parks and Recreation’ is Best Comedy of 2011
Submitted by BrianTT on September 12, 2011 - 10:30pmCHICAGO – There’s quite a race for the best comedy of the year and I suspect that “Modern Family” will take the Emmy at Sunday’s awards (which we’ll get into more in-depth with a predictions feature later in the week), but the winner by a nose for this critic is NBC’s “Parks and Recreation,” a show that just got better episode by episode as its brilliant third season progressed. See for yourself with the recently-released DVD from Universal.
DVD Review: Brilliant Second Season of NBC’s ‘Community’
Submitted by BrianTT on September 12, 2011 - 12:20pmCHICAGO – The program most unforgivably missing from Sunday’s Emmy telecast is NBC’s brilliant comedy “Community.” It’s almost as if the Academy decided there were too many NBC shows at the party (“The Office,” “Parks and Recreation,” “30 Rock”) and so left out arguably the best of the Thursday night bunch. See the second season, now available on DVD, and see the level of Emmy injustice for yourself.
DVD Review: ‘Running Wilde,’ ‘Detroit 1-8-7’ Represent Unfulfilled Promises
Submitted by BrianTT on September 11, 2011 - 7:44pmCHICAGO – With stars that have found critical success before on television in shows like “The Sopranos” (Michael Imperioli), “Arrested Development” (Will Arnett), and “Felicity” (Keri Russell) there was reason to be excited around a year ago when it came to “Detroit 1-8-7” and “Running Wilde,” two shows with little in common other than the fact that their first seasons will be their only seasons and they were both recently released on DVD courtesy of Lionsgate.
DVD Review: Original ‘Captain America’ Tries to Bank Off Reboot’s Success
Submitted by BrianTT on September 10, 2011 - 3:47pmCHICAGO – You’re probably going “Huh? There was another Captain America movie? Before Chris Evans?” Believe it or not, yes. Before people like Bryan Singer and Sam Raimi turned the Marvel-verse (and really all of Hollywood) on its head by proving that superheroes could not only be profitable but critically viable as well, there were some honest train wrecks, including an incomplete version of “Fantastic Four” and an awful adaptation of “Captain America,” recently released on DVD to tie in with the success of “Captain America: The First Avenger.” Don’t get them confused.
