CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on October 21st, 2021, reviewing the new miniseries “Midnight Mass,” currently streaming on Netflix.
James Franco
‘Kin’ Overcomes Early Portrayal Issues to Score Big
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 31, 2018 - 9:08am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The concept of “family” has been romanticized to death in the movies in the last generation, coinciding with the increasing decline of actual togetherness. The new film “Kin” is essentially about family, but it also is about otherworldly weaponry, gritty crime lords and the old on-the-road story.
Funny ‘The Disaster Artist’ Takes Us Back to ‘The Room’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 1, 2017 - 10:44amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “The Room” is a post-millennial cult movie that plays the midnight and college movie circuit, entertaining audiences with its sheer badness. Its story is told in the “The Disaster Artist,” featuring James Franco as the director of “The Room,” and he also directed the film. Very meta.
‘Sausage Party’ is a Hard R-Rated Raunchy Good Time
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 13, 2016 - 6:50am- ariel shaffir
- Bill Hader
- Conrad Vernon
- Craig Robinson
- Danny McBride
- Edward Norton
- Evan Goldberg
- greg tiernan
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- James Franco
- Jonah Hill
- Kristen Wiig
- kyle hunter
- Michael Cera
- Movie Review
- Nick Kroll
- Paul Rudd
- Salma Hayek
- Sausage Party
- Seth Rogen
- Sony Pictures Releasing
- Spike Walters
 Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – First things first. Don’t let the fact this is animated fool you, “Sausage Party” is most decidedly, definitely, absolutely NOT FOR CHILDREN. This is a hard R-rated Seth Rogen raunch fest that may induce nightmares for more sensitive viewers and contains images of animated debauchery that can not be unseen. But it is inventively profane, with more on its mind than just animated f-bombs.
‘True Story’ Just Leaves a False Impression
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 19, 2015 - 2:02pm Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Sometimes, just casting a film with “names” is not enough to make it work. Jonah Hill and James Franco play cat-and-mouse for 100 minutes in “True Story,” but the narrative, the structure and their own inability to communicate their characters conspired against the overall experience.
‘Third Person’ an Intriguing Yet Foreseeable Labyrinth
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 28, 2014 - 7:48amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Don’t you hate it when you figure out where a film is going long before it gets there? That could be a problem with “Third Person,” but writer/director Paul Haggis (“Crash”) also adds enough secrets to chew on and enough multiple pathways to explore. Enter at your own risk.
‘Veronica Mars’ Wishes it Was Still on TV
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 14, 2014 - 9:02amRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – A TV movie for the silver screen, “Veronica Mars” is a historical film that was Kickstarted into existence by the will of 91,585 backers. Now, it stands like a crossroads in the intersection between TV and film, showing that what may work in TV doesn’t necessarily make for a great film.
Dull ‘Homefront’ Can’t Get Action into an Action Movie
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 27, 2013 - 5:22amRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Sylvester Stallone is a difficult man to comprehend, unless if doing a thesis on male menopause. The one time screenwriter of gritty soul pictures like “Rocky,” “Paradise Alley” and “First Blood” is spending his later years pumping out undistinguished boom-boom pictures like “Homefront.”
Notoriety Triggers the Breaking Point in ‘Lovelace’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 9, 2013 - 8:13amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – It was one of the strangest star-is-born stories in show business history. One porn film – “Deep Throat” – permeates the American consciousness at precisely the right time. The “lead” actress in the film becomes a household name – and then becomes a victim of it – in ‘Lovelace.’
‘This is the End’ Turns Stoner Fantasy Into Comedy
Submitted by BrianTT on June 11, 2013 - 11:59amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – When David Gordon Green’s “Your Highness” hit fans of its writer/director and talented stars like a really bad pot hangover, its creators admitted that the project began life as a stoned what-if scenario. “Hey, let’s make a pot-laced fantasy movie, dude.” Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg’s “This is the End” clearly had similar origins.
Bikini Girls with Machine Guns in Mesmerizing ‘Spring Breakers’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 21, 2013 - 9:52amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Already hailed as this generation’s “Fight Club,” Harmony Korine’s “Spring Breakers” is a mesmerizing piece of satire, a journey into the dark side of teenage excess. And what’s a better symbol of excess than the ritual of spring break? But lest you think this is like MTV’s watered-down version of pop bands and bikini girls, Korine has something much more intense in store for you.
