CHICAGO – Excelsior! Comic book legend Stan Lee’s famous exclamation puts a fine point on the third and final play of Mark Pracht’s FOUR COLOR TRILOGY, “The House of Ideas,” presented by and staged at City Lit Theater in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. For tickets/details, click HOUSE OF IDEAS.
Ryan Reynolds
Suspenseful ‘Life’ is Tense, Compelling Science Fiction
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 25, 2017 - 8:14amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Combining the invasion elements of “Alien” with the life-raft-in-space morbidity of “Gravity,” the new film “Life” maintains a grip from the enlightened beginning to the twisted end. Mars is the origin, so the film joins “The Martian” and “The Space Between Us” in sourcing the red planet.
Anti-Heroism of ‘Deadpool’ Revels in Sass & Violence
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 14, 2016 - 10:55amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – It was inevitable that we would get an “R-rated” superhero movie, and “Deadpool” fits the bill with its swears, violence and a little sex/nudity. It also has Ryan Reynolds as that hero, doing his “Van Wilder” smarmy act to the nth degree. How that all works will determine how you like the film.
Trite ‘Woman in Gold’ Lacks a Compelling Story
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 1, 2015 - 10:38am- Antje Traue
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Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The horrors of the Holocaust have been expressed in cinematic art through many angles. “Woman in Gold” takes another track, that of restoring a work of art that was stolen from a Jewish family in Austria. The legal maneuverings, however, lacks a sense that this is victorious.
Uninspired ‘R.I.P.D.’ is a Reminder of Better Movies
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 19, 2013 - 10:06pmRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Did everyone see “Men in Black”? Or the film’s two sequels? They you saw “R.I.P.D.,” which unfortunately for the production team has “rip” in the title, because the film is a lazy rewrite and rip-off of “MiB.” Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds are the protectors assigned in this one.
Light, Speedy ‘Turbo’ is a Great Race for Kids
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 17, 2013 - 10:03amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Summer vacation means summer animated movies, and nothing will give the kids more of a break than rooting for a snail that becomes as fast as an Indy race car. Why not put him in the Indianapolis 500? Ryan Reynolds is the voice of that miracle mollusk named “Turbo.”
‘The Croods’ Rip a Funny Page Out of Pre-History
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 22, 2013 - 8:37pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Good cartoons know that we’re in on the joke, that all the surreal actions will satisfy our basic funny bone. Great cartoons give us a little bit more, an empathy or a story that really goes beyond expectations. “The Croods” is a great cartoon, and a wonderful achievement in animation evolution.
Stephen Dorff Gets Trapped in Deeply Flawed ‘Brake’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 23, 2012 - 9:49amRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – With obvious comparisons to “24” and “Buried,” Gabe Torres’ “Brake” comes with a bit of referential baggage in its trunk. Also in there is Secret Service Agent Jeremy Reins (Stephen Dorff), a man trapped in a nightmarish kidnapping situation in the trunk of a car. He wakes up there and it’s where the vast majority of “Brake” takes place as he’s tortured physically and mentally by a group of terrorists trying to find the Executive Branch’s secret bunker.
Denzel Washington Lives in Boring ‘Safe House’
Submitted by BrianTT on February 9, 2012 - 9:37pmRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Safe House” is so overly familiar that you not only will think that you’ve seen it before and know exactly where it’s going before it gets there, but you will also barely remember having seen it once it’s over. It’s cinematic fast food – relatively streamlined but also not difficult to make for anyone involved, generally bad for you, and totally forgettable. It’s all so, well, “Safe.”
Ryan Reynolds, Julia Roberts Trapped in Dull ‘Fireflies in the Garden’
Submitted by BrianTT on October 14, 2011 - 12:05pmRating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – It’s always risky for a screenwriter to craft a film about a family of writers in that when the result is a script so generically awful as that for “Fireflies in the Garden” it’s going to stick out even more prominently. After sitting on the shelf for years (it played festivals in 2008 and was supposed to be released that year) and reportedly undergoing some reshoots, this stale drama is finally getting a limited release and will prove just how limited it is to the poor saps who pay to see it.
Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds Buried Under ‘The Change-Up’
Submitted by BrianTT on August 5, 2011 - 8:23amRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “The Change-Up” is an undeniable mess, as any movie that opens with a grown man getting baby crap projected into his mouth would be (and that’s just the beginning), but one of the worst scripts of the year is saved from the depths of comedy hell by a talented cast headlined by the typically-restrained Jason Bateman playing against type.