CHICAGO – What is one of the greatest survival instincts of the pandemic? Creativity. The Zoom web series “What Did Clyde Hide?” is the result of a creative effort from Executive Producer/Show Runner Ruth Kaufman, Producer Sandy Gulliver and Director Sean Patrick Leonard. Kaufman and Leonard talk about the series, naturally, via Zoom.!—break—>
Liam Neeson
Taken in by Liam! On-Air Review of ‘Honest Thief’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 16, 2020 - 7:12pm![]() Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on The Eddie Volkman Show on WSSR-FM (Star 96.7 Joliet, Illinois) on October 16th, 2020, reviewing the new Liam Neeson action movie, ‘Honest Thief, also featuring Robert Patrick of “Terminator 2.”
Boot This Reboot of ‘Men In Black International’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 13, 2019 - 9:48pm![]() Rating: 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.
‘The Commuter’ is a Fun, Butt-Kicking Good Time
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 12, 2018 - 9:21am![]() Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Sometimes you’re just in the mood for a good old Liam Neeson ass-kicker… and “The Commuter” fits that bill. It asks, damn near requires, you to leave your brain safely at the station, but it moves too fast that you don’t have much time to think about it. It’s ludicrous, dumb and fun entertainment for January.
Cautionary ‘Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 7, 2017 - 11:30am- Bernstein
- Bruce Greenwood
- Deep Throat
- Diane Lane
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Liam Neeson
- Mark Felt - The Man Who Brought Down the White House
- Marton Csokas
- Movie Review
- Noah Wyle
- Patrick McDonald
- peter landesman
- Richard M. Nixon
- Sony Pictures Classics
- Tom Sizemore
- Washington Post
- Watergate
- Woodward
![]() Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Everything old is new again, in the 1970s story of the infamous “Deep Throat” – the source in the FBI who tipped off the Washington Post about the issues surrounding Watergate scandal – who revealed himself in 2005. He is now the subject of a new film, and is portrayed by Liam Neeson, in “Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House.”
‘Silence’ is an Overwrought View of Religious Faith
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 11, 2017 - 10:21am![]() Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – For gosh sakes, someone call the Vatican and make Marty Scorsese an honorary priest. He is overtly fascinated – in this work and his other films – with the notion of religious faith, particular within his Catholic roots. He approaches the subject again in the intense “Silence.”
Fantasy & Feelings Comingle in ‘A Monster Calls’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 6, 2017 - 6:41pm![]() Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The nature of dying, especially in process with a close loved one, is a testing ground for unwieldy and alien emotions. When, why and how we’re challenged does not have a timetable, nor a convenience. All of this is played out as fantasy in the vital “A Monster Calls.”
‘The Huntsman: Winter’s War’ is a Bloated Bore
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 22, 2016 - 12:18pm![]() Rating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – This new Hollywood fairy tale does have one thing in common with the bedtime stories of old…it may lull you to sleep in the first 30 minutes. “The Huntsman: Winter’s War” is a special effects extravaganza where the effects aren’t special, the story is thin, and almost all the actors seem to have been allowed or even encouraged to indulge their worst impulses.
‘Ted 2’ is a Funnier Film Than it Deserves to Be
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 25, 2015 - 6:49pm- Amanda Seyfried
- Dennis Haysbert
- Giovanni Ribisi
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Jay Leno
- Jessica Barth
- John Carroll Lynch
- John Slattery
- Liam Neeson
- Mark Wahlberg
- Michael Dorn
- Morgan Freeman
- Movie Review
- Patrick Stewart
- Patrick Warburton
- Sam J. Jones
- Seth MacFarlane
- Spike Walters
- Ted
- Ted 2
- Tom Brady
- Universal Pictures
![]() Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – While it’s cruder and it can’t quite match the original “Ted,” “Ted 2” is still funnier than it has any right to be. It is unmistakably a Seth MacFarlane production, and there are a million reasons why this movie shouldn’t work, chief among them a plot that attempts to plop a foul mouthed talking teddy bear into a moralistic legal parable about civil rights. But I can’t deny I laughed throughout, almost despite myself.
Ramshackle, Rickety ‘Taken 3’ is Far Too Predictable
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 9, 2015 - 2:16pm![]() Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Taken 3” is more a brand extension than a movie. Seven years after “Taken” turned Liam Neeson into an unlikely action star, “Taken 3” shows this series has completely run out of gas. The novelty of the hulking Oscar-nominee beating bad guys to a pulp wore off a long time ago, and “Taken 3” puts Neeson through the most pedestrian set of paces yet. It says something when the operative word of his first scene is “predictable.” Neeson only says it a half dozen times.
‘A Walk Among the Tombstones’ Solidifies Desire for Liam Neeson to Be Your Dad
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on September 21, 2014 - 10:37pm![]() Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – I don’t know about your dad, but mine – love him as I do – isn’t Jason Bourne, James Bond or Bryan Mills. At the age of 62, Liam Neeson somehow still kicks ass as Bryan Mills in “Taken” and fans everywhere love riding every minute of his butt-kicking thrill rides.
