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+.
Columbia Pictures
‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ is a Cinematic Poem
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 26, 2019 - 9:45amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – What does Quentin Tarantino think about? That question immediately comes to mind when experiencing his latest film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” QT meditates on TV westerns, the summer of 1969 in Los Angeles and the Manson family, and it’s a tone and mood rather than a story. But it works.
Fireworks for the 4th in ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 1, 2019 - 6:37pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Spider-Man: Far From Home” is remarkably light on its feet considering it takes place in the wake of the events of “Avengers: Endgame.” After the five year period between finger snaps which is now referred to as “the blip,” Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and some of his classmates have returned the same age, while everyone else has gotten five years older.
Boot This Reboot of ‘Men In Black International’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 13, 2019 - 10:48pmRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Men in Black International” is less a reboot than a frantic attempt at CPR for the once viable franchise … which never should have made it to a fourth installment. That’s not to say this is totally unwatchable. But it’s a kind of okay not-that-great-not-that-awful iteration which neither reminds us why we liked the series in the first place nor has much of a reason to exist.
Multi-Dimensional ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 15, 2018 - 6:53amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – This animated take on Spider-Man gets a little stuck in a web entirely of its own making. Digging deeper into the weeds of the extended mythology of the comics, “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse” presents not one but at least seven different versions of the character.
Story Spins Out of Reach for ‘The Girl in the Spider’s Web’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 9, 2018 - 5:26pm- Claes Bang
- Claire Foy
- Columbia Pictures
- Fede Alvarez
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- LaKeith Stanfield
- Lisbeth Salander
- Movie Review
- Patrick McDonald
- Rooney Mara
- Steig Larsson
- Stephen Merchant
- Stockholm
- Sverrir Gudnason
- Sylvia Hooks
- The Girl in the Spider’s Web
- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
- Vicky Krieps
Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There is nothing wrong with revisiting The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. That tattoo has made beaucoup bucks in book and film forms (both foreign language and Americanized versions), and Claire Foy taking over for Rooney Mara in the title role is seamless. So why the totally lackluster story? Is this a narrative source problem?
Spreading Comic Book Fatigue to Everyone, ‘Venom’ Poisons the Well
Submitted by JonHC on October 5, 2018 - 5:20amRating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – I was one of the last sentinels; a conscientious objector in the war against comic book films. The handful of these that come out yearly had yet to weigh heavy on my film soul, especially when so many of the newer ones creating unique experiences, like “Deadpool” and “Thor: Ragnarok”. Even DC films, in all their failure, are products of their time. “Venom” changed all that.
Good vs. Evil Brightly Entertaining in ‘The Dark Tower’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 4, 2017 - 1:17amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Nobody does good vs. evil archetypes like author Stephen King, and this framework is purposeful in the film adaptation of King’s “The Dark Tower.” The popular book series gets a visual kick through the rendering of director Nikolaj Arcel and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment.
‘Rough Night’ is More Than Just a Diamond in the Rough
Submitted by JonHC on June 17, 2017 - 3:24amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The idiotic notion in Hollywood (and in the basements of fanboy mothers everywhere) that women can’t be funny is a joke in itself. Women have been forced to prove themselves on the male-dominated comedic circuit and have come out as successful as their male counterparts. “Rough Night”, despite all of its flaws, is just the most recent example of that.
Suspenseful ‘Life’ is Tense, Compelling Science Fiction
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 25, 2017 - 8:14amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Combining the invasion elements of “Alien” with the life-raft-in-space morbidity of “Gravity,” the new film “Life” maintains a grip from the enlightened beginning to the twisted end. Mars is the origin, so the film joins “The Martian” and “The Space Between Us” in sourcing the red planet.
‘Inferno’ Was Damned From The Start
Submitted by JonHC on October 28, 2016 - 12:19pmRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – You can’t keep a good conspiracy down. Tom Hanks returns to a role we thought had joined the pages of history his character was so eager to uncover. Like the previous films in the franchise, “Inferno” promises to deliver a new problem to solve even though they never attempt to fix any of the cinematic and narrative flaws from its past.