CHICAGO – The great and lofty Steppenwolf Theatre of Chicago has brought the current political season right on target with “POTUS: Or Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive,” now extended through December 17th. Click POTUS.
Will Smith
Will-ling Redemption! On-Air Film Review of ‘Emancipation’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 2, 2022 - 12:42pm Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Jason Makos on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on December 1st, 2022, reviewing “Emancipation,” featuring Will Smith and set in the Civil War period within the eradication of slavery. In theaters on December 2nd, streaming December 9th on Apple TV+.
‘Bad Boys for Life’ Are Just Too Old For This
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 17, 2020 - 9:32am Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Bad Boys For Life” shows that maybe Will Smith isn’t too old for this kind of sh*t, but Martin Lawrence certainly is. This third installment comes 17 years after “Bad Boys II,” and 25 years after the original film unleashed director Michael Bay on an unsuspecting public. It aims to be just as bombastic as its predecessors, but without Michael Bay behind the lens and a lot more jokes about middle age, creaking bones and dying beards.
Boot This Reboot of ‘Men In Black International’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 13, 2019 - 9:48pmRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Men in Black International” is less a reboot than a frantic attempt at CPR for the once viable franchise … which never should have made it to a fourth installment. That’s not to say this is totally unwatchable. But it’s a kind of okay not-that-great-not-that-awful iteration which neither reminds us why we liked the series in the first place nor has much of a reason to exist.
‘Aladdin’ Remake Doesn’t Live Up to Animated Source
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 23, 2019 - 5:42pm Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The Walt Disney Studio (cash) obsession with turning their animated film hits to live action movies continues this Memorial Day weekend with “Aladdin,” which adapts the 1992 classic. What worked in 2018 with “Beauty and the Beast” falls flat with this title, because the animated version plays better.
There is Little Beauty to Be Found in ‘Collateral Beauty’
Submitted by JonHC on December 17, 2016 - 5:33am Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Charles Dickens once said, “Reflect upon your present blessings — of which every man has many — not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” Seeing the trailer for “Collateral Beauty,” it’s obvious this is the theme of the film, but it is also the theme of this review. My “blessing” to you is the foresight not to waste your time with this film.
Freaky Villains is Where ‘Suicide Squad’ Works Best
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 3, 2016 - 4:44pmRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – DC Entertainment, feeling the heat from Marvel Studios and the tepid response from “Batman v Superman,” comes back stronger with “Suicide Squad,” an overblown yet psychological comic book film about sociopathic villains who somehow have to save the world.
‘Concussion’ Can’t Quite Tackle its Difficult Subject
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 25, 2015 - 5:53amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Concussion” suffers from what I call the “Moneyball” problem – it’s got an interesting subject matter, but it doesn’t seem to know what to do with it. It doesn’t have enough faith in its own material or its audience, so it stocks up on a lot of off-the-shelf melodrama in effort to avoid digging into what makes the story interesting in the first place. It’s also a movie that chickens out at the end and seems afraid to pick a fight.
‘After Earth’ Proves M. Night Shyamalan’s Checkmate With Mismatched Smith Family
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 1, 2013 - 12:14pm Rating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Oscar accolades are a godsend, but so are they an affliction. They’re the ultimate vote of respect from your industry, but then you’ve got to keep being as genius as they thought you were. In M. Night Shyamalan’s case, it’s all gone downhill since his 1999 smash-hit “The Sixth Sense,” which was nominated for six of these portly golden statues.
Horrendous ‘After Earth’ Insults Entire Planet
Submitted by BrianTT on May 30, 2013 - 8:35amRating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The “sci” in M. Night Shyamalan’s sci-fi blockbuster “After Earth” clearly stands for Scientology and not science. There’s nothing remotely approaching honest science in this boring, preachy, horrendously made film that occasionally looks good but has nothing more worthwhile to say than a pamphlet trying to get you to convert to a cult. “Danger is real. Fear is a choice.”
‘Men in Black III’ Deserves to Be Neuralyzed From Memory
Submitted by BrianTT on May 25, 2012 - 8:41amRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Men in Black III” is such a soulless venture, a film made by committee that doesn’t display the touch of anyone with any remaining actual interest in the characters. In the pipeline for years, the film has been fine-tuned to the point that all of its personality was buffed out in the process.
