CHICAGO – Society, or at least certain elements of society, are always looking for scapegoats to hide the sins of themselves and authority. In the so-called “great America” of the 1950s, the scapegoat target was comic books … specifically through a sociological study called “The Seduction of the Innocent.” City Lit Theater Company, in part two of a trilogy on comic culture by Mark Pracht, presents “The Innocence of Seduction … now through October 8th, 2023. For details and tickets, click COMIC BOOK.
Music Box Films
Reflections on the Way We Are! Audio Review of ‘Fremont’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 8, 2023 - 1:51pm Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review for “Fremont,” a beautiful and poignant story of an Afghanistan immigrant, stuck between two cultures in America … co-written and directed by Babak Jalali. In select theaters on September 8th, see local listings.
Family Transitions! Audio Film Review of ‘L’Immensitá’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 20, 2023 - 4:10pm Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review for a 2022 foreign language film distributed in the U.S. by Chicago’s Music Box Films … and featuring Penélope Cruz … entitled “L’Immensitá.” In select theaters beginning May 19th, see local listings.
The Spark That Lights Fire! Audio Review of ‘Ema’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 15, 2021 - 1:41pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review on the new Pablo Larrain film “Ema,” a Chilean Film distributed in the U.S. by Music Box Films of Chicago. In select theaters, including the Music Box Theatre. beginning August 13th, 2021.
No Bogarting! Audio Review of ‘Mama Weed’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 16, 2021 - 3:40pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review on the new film “Mama Weed,” a French Film distributed by Music Box Films of Chicago. In select theaters including Music Box Theatre beginning July 16th, 2021, and through Video On Demand July 23rd.
‘Transit’ is an Absorbing Thriller with a Perplexing Conclusion
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 17, 2019 - 10:55am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – What if a new fascism were to sweep the land, and affects Paris, as it did in World War 2? “Transit” postulates on that very theory and creates a paranoid atmosphere that is stunningly real, but brings that emotion to a conclusion that I believe is redundant, and pretends to be deeper than it is.
Ordinary Lives Are Interwoven in Intricate ‘Flowers’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 19, 2015 - 9:48am Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The meaning of our lives is elusive, and the time we spend here too short. The Spanish foreign language film “Flowers” seeks to define the meaning, through three women trying to memorialize one man. “Flowers” opens at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre on Dec. 18th, 2015.
Incredible Personal Tour in ‘Antarctica: A Year on Ice’
Submitted by NickHC on December 5, 2014 - 6:17pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Along with your local library’s DVD section and equality, Antarctica remains one of the general world’s greatest oversights, even though it’s the size of a continent (because it is one). Around this time of year, the North Pole gets a huge shoutout for its mass production of brand items, but it’s the South Pole that forever remains in the shadow of everything else in the world, only mentioned in films like Werner Herzog’s 2007 documentary “Encounters at the End of the World,” or that 2009 Kate Beckinsale snow thriller “Whiteout.”
Nature’s Instincts on Display in Unique ‘Augustine’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 21, 2013 - 5:01pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – How the human species was able to survive, given its dismissal and treatment of women during certain points in history is somewhat miraculous. This film from France, “Augustine,” chronicles the relationship between a 19th century neurologist and his prized female patient, as she tries to work through a condition called nature.
Guilt, Grief Wrapped Up in Mystery of ‘The Silence’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 14, 2013 - 11:32amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – With echoes of “The Vanishing” and “Memories of Murder,” Baran bo Odar’s dread-filled “The Silence” is a character-based thriller that focuses more on the people wrapped up in its web of perversion and murder than the crimes themselves.
Alan Cumming Shines in Heartbreaking ‘Any Day Now’
Submitted by mattmovieman on January 3, 2013 - 9:31amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Travis Fine’s “Any Day Now” is an old-fashioned social problem film painted in the broadest of strokes. Fairly early on, the audience is faced with two choices: either resist the film’s assuredly tear-jerking formula or submit to it. Though some critics will always opt for the first choice, regardless of a film’s merits, I’m willing to praise a formula as long as it’s well-executed.
