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.
Sigourney Weaver
Xenomorph Warrior! On-Air Film Review of ‘Alien: Romulus’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 16, 2024 - 3:11pm Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on August 15th, reviewing the new film “Alien: Romulus,” the latest in the franchise story-set between the first and second film. In theaters beginning August 16th.
Blue Xmas! On-Air Film Review of ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 15, 2022 - 2:14pm 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 December 8th, 2022, reviewing “Avatar: The Way of Water,” the highly anticipated sequel to the 2009 original, directed by James Cameron. In theaters beginning December 16th, with 3D and IMAX screen options.
Who Ya Gonna Call in ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 19, 2021 - 10:19amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – This latest attempt to revive the beloved 1980’s franchise is a curious rumination on nostalgia. It’s so heavily indebted to the original, references are treated as holy relics to be revered and worshiped. But it also makes the compelling case – to begin with – for the futility of trying to turn the film into a franchise.
Catcher in the Wry! Audio Review of ‘My Salinger Year’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 9, 2021 - 8:22pm Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review, a perspective on “My Salinger Year,” a new release adaptation of the memoir of the same name by Joanna Rakoff. The Salinger is of course J.D. Salinger, the legendary author and recluse. In theaters and through VOD beginning March 5th, 2021.
Fantasy & Feelings Comingle in ‘A Monster Calls’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 6, 2017 - 7:41pmRating: 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.”
‘Finding Dory’ Essentially Finds Its Sweet Spot
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 16, 2016 - 3:06pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Pixar’s sequel to its underwater animated tearjerker “Finding Nemo” isn’t quite in the same league, but “Finding Dory” is satisfying all the same. This time the story focuses on Marlin and Nemo’s forgetful friend Dory, as she searches for the family she can’t quite remember.
Consciousness Morality for Robots in Odd ‘Chappie’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 6, 2015 - 10:15am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Who would think a robot movie would teach us about being more intuitively “human”? “Chappie” is a very peculiar film – with fighting robots, violence and grit on one side, and the tenderness of finding a nurturing source and a consciousness on the other. It is worth experiencing.
No Faith in the Spectacle of ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 12, 2014 - 9:54pm Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The world certainly didn’t need another “Ten Commandments,” but director Ridley Scott tries to remake the 50’s Biblical epic anyway – led by Christian Bale as a scowling and shouting Moses. Yet Bale can’t hold a staff to Charlton Heston and Scott is no Cecil B. DeMille. Ostensibly this is a movie about the power of faith, but Scott’s film has no soul within.
Cillian Murphy, Robert De Niro in Messy ‘Red Lights’
Submitted by BrianTT on August 2, 2012 - 2:35pmRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Red Lights” is a mess. And yet it’s also not messy enough. Allow me to explain. Rodrigo Cortes’ follows up his vastly superior “Buried” with this supernatural tale filled with plot contrivances that would make M. Night Shyamalan call bullshit and yet he does so with a direct, straightforward style when a bit less polish would have given the piece the character it is missing.
Sirens Flash Red For Woody Harrelson in ‘Rampart’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 17, 2012 - 5:56pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The “thin blue line” is a police term. It represents the designation between the protection the police provides and the anarchy that is on the other side of that protection. The cop that Woody Harrelson portrays in “Rampart” crosses that line repeatably, formulating his own retribution.
