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Truth Trumps Fiction Again in ‘Searching for Sugar Man’

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 4.0/5.0
Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – The old axiom “truth is stranger than fiction” is proved again in the unique story of a pop troubadour from the 1970s named Rodriguez, who produced two searing albums and then disappeared into oblivion. Unknown to the artist, he became huge in South Africa. The odd hope of Rodriguez is chronicled in “Searching for Sugar Man.”

Jeremy Renner Propels Clever ‘The Bourne Legacy’

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 3.5/5.0
Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Tony Gilroy’s world of double crosses, super spies, and covert government programs returns in the writer/director’s clever expansion of the world he created as the writer of “The Bourne Identity,” “The Bourne Supremacy,” and “The Bourne Ultimatum.” The Oscar winner doesn’t just offer a traditional sequel, presenting a new leading man and a story that takes place in the same world of international espionage as its predecessors but feels more like a spin-off than a follow-up.

Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones Elevate ‘Hope Springs’

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 3.5/5.0
Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – It can be argued that Meryl Streep is in the most fruitful period in her long and illustrious career, at least as far as the variety of character parts she has undertaken. She co-stars in “Hope Springs” with Tommy Lee Jones, as a mousy Omaha wife who is looking for a change in her marriage.

Comedy, Breeding Don’t Mix in Lame ‘The Babymakers’

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 2.0/5.0
Rating: 2.0/5.0

CHICAGO – One of the questions we’re never suppose to ask the married couple without kids is, ‘when are you going to have kids?’ There might be specific reasons that it’s none of your damn business. Surprisingly, there is a whole so-called comedy based on this question and answer. Olivia Munn goes kid hatching in ‘The Babymakers.’

Total Retread for ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days’

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 2.5/5.0
Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – The month of August contain the “dog days” of summer, when the season lumbers to a hazy and hot conclusion. How appropriate that the third film of a popular series would be called ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days,’ because like summer’s end it feels lethargic. Zachary Gordon, Robert Capron and Steve Zahn star.

‘Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry’ Stands as One of 2012’s Most Important Films

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 4.5/5.0
Rating: 4.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Every person who was mystified by the meaning of the “Free Ai Weiwei” shirts and petitions that in were vogue last year owe it to themselves to see Alison Klayman’s excellent documentary. Moviegoers will be hard-pressed to find a more riveting and vital film in theaters this year. It may not have a satisfying ending, but that’s because its real-life tale has (thankfully) yet to reach a conclusion.

‘Total Recall’ Remake Should Be Wiped From Your Memory

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 1.5/5.0
Rating: 1.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Paul Verhoeven’s “Total Recall” has been run through a machine and turned into a personality-less, numbing exercise in CGI action with a complete lack of any characters worth giving a damn about and a totally wasted opportunity at social commentary. Sure, seeing Jessica Biel fight Kate Beckinsale while Colin Farrell punches a robot in a speeding space elevator has something inherent that appeals to the 12-year-old boy in me but that doesn’t make it filmmaking. No, filmmaking and Len Wiseman are two things that don’t really go together.

‘The Queen of Versailles’ Takes Comedic Look at Riches-to-Rags Tale

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 4.0/5.0
Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Whenever I hear someone complain about the inexplicable popularity of an obscenely rich and distressingly vapid non-celebrity, I’m reminded of the last scene in “Chicago,” when murderess-turned-superstar Roxy Hart blows a kiss to her adoring fans after exclaiming, “Believe us, we could not have done it without you!” No one maintains a celebrity status without a whole lot of help from the general public.

Matthew McConaughey Delivers in Searing ‘Killer Joe’

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 4.0/5.0
Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – William Friedkin’s film of Tracy Letts’ “Killer Joe” takes no prisoners. One of the central characters is introduced from the waist down and to say that the film climaxes in violent, sexual oddity would be like saying “The Avengers” features a few superheroes. However, it would be a mistake to allow the controversy or the shock value to become the story of this excellent noir comedy that takes black humor to a new level of darkness.

‘Qwerty’ Uses Chicago as Backdrop for Word Nerds

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 3.5/5.0
Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Taking the game of Scrabble and making it a thread for a romantic comedy and competitive intrigue is a wholly original idea. Director Bill Sebastian and screenwriter Juliet McDaniels guides a Chicago cast through the maze of those words in the new film “Qwerty.”

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  • Manhunt

    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+.

  • Topdog/Underdog, Invictus Theatre

    CHICAGO – When two brothers confront the sins of each other and it expands into a psychology of an entire race, it’s at a stage play found in Chicago’s Invictus Theatre Company production of “Topdog/Underdog,” now at their new home at the Windy City Playhouse through March 31st, 2024. Click TD/UD for tickets/info.

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