CHICAGO – In anticipation of the scariest week of the year, HollywoodChicago.com launches its 2024 Movie Gifts series, which will suggest DVDs and collections for holiday giving.
James Franco
Story Dims Visionary ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 8, 2013 - 8:35am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Oz the Great and Powerful” is a great and powerful visual and 3D experience. It expands the landscape of what cinema can produce in a visceral and evolutionary way. But a great film also needs a great story, and this Land of Oz tale is not equivalent to the awe-inspiring imagery.
‘About Cherry’ is Little More Than a Pretty Face
Submitted by BrianTT on October 5, 2012 - 1:11pm Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Stephen Elliott’s “About Cherry” takes what could have been an interesting journey into the porn industry and turns it into what is essentially a TV-Movie-of-the-Week without the rating restrictions of the Lifetime Channel. Newcomer Ashley Hinshaw makes an impression and the supporting cast of Elliott’s drama is strong but the film never finds its focus, refusing to get under the beautiful surface of its lead character and present her as anything more than a sexy plot device.
Thrilling, Marvelous ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’
Submitted by BrianTT on August 5, 2011 - 9:27am Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is spectacular entertainment, a perfect capper to the blockbuster season that is arguably the most purely enjoyable film of the warmer months of 2011. Rupert Wyatt’s highly-anticipated prequel is an old-fashioned piece of sci-fi escapism made with some of the revolutionary new toys available to special effects artists.
Danny McBride, James Franco Falter With Dreadful ‘Your Highness’
Submitted by BrianTT on April 8, 2011 - 1:10pm Rating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Your Highness” just makes me sad. Rarely have so many talented people been sucked into such an unfunny disaster as what will surely be one of the biggest disappointments of the year.
James Franco, Danny Boyle Elevate Harrowing Saga of ‘127 Hours’
Submitted by BrianTT on November 12, 2010 - 7:35amRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – What separates us during extreme danger? Why do some people collapse under the weight of likely death while others push forward and make it out alive? What fuels the will to survive to the point that it can do the unimaginable? Aron Ralston has surely thought about his personal answers to these questions and Danny Boyle’s riveting film about his defining incident, “127 Hours,” now brings them to millions of captivated fans in theaters around the world.
James Franco as Allen Ginsberg Unleashes a Primal Scream in ‘Howl’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 1, 2010 - 10:29am Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked…” So began the reading of Allen Ginsberg’s poem that rattled society, the very title of which is the inspiration for the new film, “Howl,” featuring James Franco, Jon Hamm and Mary Louise-Parker.
Julia Roberts Learns How to ‘Eat Pray Love’
Submitted by BrianTT on August 13, 2010 - 2:28pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Despite its flaws, the often-beautiful “Eat Pray Love,” starring Julia Roberts, works because it refuses to talk down to its audience. This is the rare “chick flick” that treats its demographic with respect, never becoming the sentimental or manipulative dreck that so many other filmmakers would have delivered from Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestselling memoirs.
Steve Carrell, Tina Fey Go Dutch on the Laughs in ‘Date Night’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 9, 2010 - 5:39amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In this schizophrenic film, Steve Carrell and Tina Fey portray a “normal” couple from New Jersey who somehow become Steve Carrell and Tina Fey once they go on-the-town in New York City during “Date Night.”
Sean Penn’s Oscar-Possible Harvey Milk Puts Face to Gay Rights in ‘Milk’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on November 27, 2008 - 10:03am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Just as Tom Hanks put a face to AIDS in 1993’s “Philadelphia,” Sean Penn has now put a face to gay rights as Harvey Milk in the new Gus Van Sant true-story film “Milk”.
God’s Vajoojoo Tastes Like Semi-Glorious ‘Pineapple Express’ in Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen Stoner Film
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on August 7, 2008 - 11:01pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – If god had a vajoojoo, Judd Apatow and company think it’d taste something like smoking “Pineapple Express”. There’s no question “Pineapple Express” is ultimately a stoner film, but is it the ultimate stoner film of our decade?
Always the most difficult proposition in a comedy is maintaining its comedic pacing with consistency.
