Music Box Films

Deftly Lensed ‘Snowman’s Land’ Leaves Audience in the Cold

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

CHICAGO – The art of deadpan humor looks deceptively simple to the untrained eye. It’s fairly easy to say ridiculous things while maintaining a straight face. What separates the amateurs from the professionals is a mastery of timing as well as a keen understanding of a character’s interior life. The best deadpan laughs are the ones that allow an inside peek into the human psyche.

Gripping ‘Wallander: The Revenge’ Shames Most American Thrillers

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

CHICAGO – Why can’t American studios make thrillers like “Wallander: The Revenge”? As a matter of fact, why can’t we make ones like the recent production of “Sherlock” or even “Luther”? Perhaps it’s something about producing for TV that gives people more creative depth but the best thrillers so far this year have been the three episodes of “Sherlock” and this week’s release of “Wallander: The Revenge,” opening at Music Box today and available next week in a massive DVD box set.

‘The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest’ Underlines Franchise Limitations

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 3.0/5.0
Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Now that the third and final installment of Stieg Larsson’s posthumously published, phenomenally popular book series has been turned into a feature film, the questions emerges: ‘Was it worth it?’ To the worldwide box office and the creatively bankrupt Hollywood, of course it was. But were moviegoers truly satisfied by the experience?

Violent, Extreme Crime Saga of ‘Mesrine: Public Enemy #1’ With Vincent Cassel

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

CHICAGO – When we last left Jacques Mesrine in “Mesrine: Killer Instinct,” he was robbing banks, killing cops, and escaping from jail. In “Mesrine: Public Enemy #1,” Jacques Mesrine robs banks, kills cops, and escapes from jail. The second half of the “Mesrine” saga contains most of the same strengths and flaws as its predecessor and one has to wonder if the two films couldn’t have been merged into a stronger and more accomplished single project.

1960s-Era James Bond is Skewered in New Spoof ‘OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies’

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 3.0/5.0
Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – The heroic nature of the James Bond series of films begs several questions about his representation of western world power.

For one, just who did he act for and what was he fighting against? The new French film “OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies” attempts to answer this question through a subtle and sporadically funny satire, a skewering of the Bond image and geopolitics in the 1960s.

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TV, DVD, BLU-RAY & THEATER REVIEWS

  • 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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