CHICAGO – In anticipation of the scariest week of the year, HollywoodChicago.com launches its 2024 Movie Gifts series, which will suggest DVDs and collections for holiday giving.
HollywoodChicago.com Arts & Entertainment News
Film Feature: The 10 Best Films of 2023, By Patrick McDonald
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 20, 2023 - 1:42pm- 10
- 10 Best Movies 2023
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- Asteroid City
- Barbie
- Dream Scenario
- Eddie Volkman
- Film News
- Fremont
- Hannah B
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- Landscape with Invisible Hand
- List
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- Poor Things
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- Ten Best Films 2023
- The Boy and the Heron
- The Iron Claw
- Top Ten 2023
- WBGR-FM
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CHICAGO – Here we are again, the end of another year, and it’s time to momentarily look back. Thus opens the 10 BEST FILMS OF 2023, the list that represents one soul interacting with the art of cinema. That soul belongs to Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, WBGR-FM and WSSR-FM.
On-Air Film Review: Eggy Fun in ‘Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 15, 2023 - 11:28amCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Ben Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on December 14th, 2023, reviewing “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget,” the animated sequel to 2000’s “Chicken Run.” Steaming on Netflix beginning December 15th, 2023.
Film Review: Charming Timothée Chalomet Brings the Willy to ‘Wonka’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 15, 2023 - 8:06amCHICAGO – “Wonka” is a sweet, perhaps too sweet, musical origin story of the world famous cantankerous candy man. Timothée Chalomet has got a song in his heart and sweets up his sleeve in a movie that threatens to give old fashioned “family films” a good name once again.
Interview, Film Review: Um Tae-hwa and His ‘Concrete Utopia’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 12, 2023 - 11:55amCHICAGO – There is a thoughtfulness in the top South Korean films that cannot be duplicated in any other cinema culture. Along with now classics like “Oldboy” and “Parasite,” another Korean visionary emerges with a story about humanity … co-writer and director Um Tae-hwa has created a “Concrete Utopia.” The film is in U.S. theaters on December 15th.
In Memoriam: Rocker Denny Laine of Band on the Run ‘Wings’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 10, 2023 - 3:01pmCHICAGO – Denny Laine is a historic force in both the British Invasion of the 1960s with the Moody Blues, and as a member of “Wings” the band formed by him plus Paul and Linda McCartney in the 1970s. Laine died on December 5th, 2023, in Naples, Florida. He was 79.
Podtalk: Playwright Desiree Burcum Wishes Us ‘A Judy Christmas’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 10, 2023 - 1:28pm- 1963
- A Judy Christmas
- assassination
- Chicago
- Desiree Burcum
- Frank Carr
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- Interview
- Jack Jones
- Joey Luft
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- The Judy Garland Show
- Tina Teske
- Theater, TV, DVD & Blu-Ray
CHICAGO – In 1963, Judy Garland had a CBS-TV variety series, and in December there was a Christmas episode featuring her kids … including Liza Minnelli. Playwright Desiree Burcum and the comedy troupe FAMOUS IN THE FUTURE have created (click link) ”A Judy Christmas” as a stage play.
Podtalk: Costume Designer Holly Waddington of ‘Poor Things’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 9, 2023 - 12:44pmCHICAGO – One of the great “characters” in Yorgos Lanthinmos excellent new film “Poor Things” is undoubtably the costumes that Bella (Emma Stone) wears. The costume designer behind those works of art is Holly Waddington, and HollywoodChicago.com talked to her at the Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) in October.
In Memoriam: Icon Norman Lear is Just Another Version of You
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 9, 2023 - 9:54amCHICAGO – In his humility, Norman Lear liked to express that he was “just another version of you.” In our humanity, we are different renderings, but all related, as the titan of TV philosophically said. Norman Lear died at his home in Los Angeles on December 5th, 2023. He was 101 years old.
On-Air Film Review: Bird is the Word in ‘The Boy and the Heron’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 8, 2023 - 10:30amCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on December 7th, 2023, reviewing “The Boy and the Heron,” the latest animated film from Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki. In theaters on December 8th, 2023.
Podtalk: New Doc on HULU Expresses ‘We Live Here: The Midwest’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 5, 2023 - 10:58pmCHICAGO – The scapegoating of LGBTQIA+ folks as a backlash to the community progress in the last decade has been swift, fear-based and uniquely unAmerican. In response, producer David Clayton Miller and director Melinda Maerker have created a new doc entitled “We Live Here: The Midwest,” streaming on HULU beginning December 6th, 2023.
Podtalk: Jeremy Coon & Steven Kozak for ‘A Disturbance in the Force’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 4, 2023 - 4:33pm- A Disturbance in the Force
- Art Carney
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- Boba Fett
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- Diahann Carroll
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- Jefferson Starship
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- Life Day
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- Star Wars Holiday Special
- Steven Kozak
- SXSW
CHICAGO – A long time ago (1978) in an America far far away, the one and only showing of the “Star Wars Holiday Special” took place on CBS-TV. Infamously miscast and difficult to watch, the history of the show is chronicled in a new doc “A Disturbance in the Force,” co-directed by Jeremy Coon and Steven Kozak.
On-Air Film Review: Pepperminty Eddie Murphy in ‘Candy Cane Lane’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 1, 2023 - 5:11pmCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on The Eddie Volkman Show with Hannah B on a 3-Station Broadcast … Star 96.7 Joliet (IL), Star 102.3 Waukegan and Star 105.5 McHenry on September 1st, reviewing the Christmas movie “Candy Cane Lane,” streaming on Prime Video beginning December 1st, 2023.
On-Air Film Review: Bradley Cooper is the Conductor of ‘Maestro’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 1, 2023 - 4:32pmCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on November 30th, 2023, reviewing “Maestro,” co-written, directed by and starring Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein. In theaters on December 1st, 2023.
