CHICAGO – YIPPIE! It’s back, in the neighborhood of its roots. YippieFest 2023 will be August 4th-6th in the Lakeview/Buena Park venue of PRIDE ARTS, 4139 North Broadway in Chicago. The space is less than a half mile from the former Mary-Arrchie Theatre, whose “Abbie Hoffman Festival” was the template for the three-day performance celebration. YippieFest currently has slots for theater acts, including one-act plays, monologue, sketch, improv, vaudeville and other stage performance arts. Artists get free admission to the rest of the festival, so click YiPPIE FEST 2023 to sign up.
Russell Brand
Love The Man! On-Air Film Review of ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 1, 2022 - 1:05pm Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on June 30th, reviewing “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” the fifth film in the “Despicable Me” animated film series, in theaters beginning July 1st.
History of Mystery! On-Air Review of ‘Death on the Nile’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 11, 2022 - 8:12pm- 20th Century Pictures
- Agatha Christie
- Annette Bening
- Death on the Nile
- Emma Mackey
- Gal Gadot
- Hercule Poirot
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Jennifer Saunders
- Kenneth Branagh
- Letitia Wright
- Monroe
- Movie Review
- Pat Über TV
- Patrick McDonald
- Russell Brand
- Scott Thompson
- The Morning Mess
- WBGR-FM
- Wisconsin
- World War I
Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on February 10th, reviewing the new release of “Death on the Nile,” another adventure of detective Hercule Poirot, in theaters on February 11th.
‘Trolls’ is Catchier Than it Has a Right to Be
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 4, 2016 - 8:24am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Trolls” isn’t the type of confection that I would normally subject myself to, but at least it didn’t make me want to stick knitting needles in my ears. That’s because “Trolls” aspires to be this season’s “Frozen,” a full blown animated musical jam packed with songs you can’t get out of your head as much as you might try.
Diablo Cody Loses Tone in Awful ‘Paradise’
Submitted by BrianTT on October 21, 2013 - 8:56pm Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Diablo Cody’s directorial debut, “Paradise,” now available everywhere On Demand and released this Friday in some markets theatrically, is an unmitigated disaster. It’s the most tonally inconsistent film of 2013, a flick that fluctuates wildly from broad satire to manipulative drama to something altogether indescribably bad.
Same Formula in Weak Sequel ‘Despicable Me 2’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 3, 2013 - 9:15am Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Oh those wacky Minions. We just never know what those little yellow guys in “Despicable Me 2” will do, because they simply DO EVERYTHING! They sing, fart, burp, perform parodies and handle hazardous materials. More than comic relief, they are all-purpose story coverage.
Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough Have Fun in ‘Rock of Ages’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 15, 2012 - 8:44amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Although the jukebox musical needs an available pasture to be put out onto, the new film “Rock of Ages” – based on the Broadway stage play – improves on that genre by having a little fun and lots of tongue-in-cheek. Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough, Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand rock the cashbox.
Russell Brand Tries Too Hard in Lame ‘Arthur’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 8, 2011 - 7:49am Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There are many problems inherent in film remakes, starting with comparisons to the original source. The first “Arthur,” while not a classic, did have a warm, funny story and Dudley Moore’s title performance. The current remake has none of that.
‘Hop’ is a Limp Skip, Jump For Russell Brand
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 1, 2011 - 7:31am Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – A definitive cinematic exploration of the Easter Bunny story is precisely what the world is missing. Right?
‘Despicable Me’ With Steve Carell Falls Short of World Domination
Submitted by BrianTT on July 9, 2010 - 11:19amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Despicable Me” is a mildly entertaining diversion on a summer afternoon. It’s a film that’s as equally difficult to hate as it is to love — kind of like its morally complex lead Gru (Steve Carell) — that falls just short of animation domination.
Russell Brand, Jonah Hill Rock in Very Funny ‘Get Him to the Greek’
Submitted by BrianTT on June 4, 2010 - 10:31amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Taking a character who was created as an obnoxious supporting one and giving him his own spin-off movie sounds like a recipe for disaster. Despite generally liking its stars and enjoying “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” I was dreading the quasi-sequel “Get Him to the Greek”. There were just too many screenwriting pitfalls in which the film could have and should have fallen in.
