CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio review for the doc series “Charlie Hustle & the Matter of Pete Rose,” about the rise and bitter fall of the major league legend, the MLB’s all-time hits leader, only to be banned from the sport because of gambling. Streaming on MAX and on HBO since July 24th.
HollywoodChicago.com Arts & Entertainment News
Blu-Ray Review: Oscar Winner ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ Wins Big on Blu-Ray
Submitted by BrianTT on March 30, 2009 - 6:24pm Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – One of the most beloved films of the last several years, “Slumdog Millionaire,” hits DVD and Blu-Ray this week and Fox pulls out all the stops for this home release, polishing up the video and audio to a nearly flawless sheen and compiling a spectacular collection of special features for a movie that many collectors will want to own.
TV Review: TNT‘s ‘Trust Me’ Still Needs a Little Work, But Deserves Another Look
Submitted by BrianTT on March 30, 2009 - 5:31pm Television Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Has TNT’s “Trust Me” lived up to the potential of its cast, concept, or even its clever pilot? With the tenth episode of the first season - “Thanks, I Needed That” - about to air and the season finale only two weeks away, it’s time to take another look at this show and see if it’s made good use of one of the most high caliber ensembles on television.
Exclusive Portrait: Blues Brother, ‘Ghostbuster’ Dan Aykroyd in Chicago
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on March 30, 2009 - 3:28amCHICAGO – Blues Brother and “Ghostbusters” star Dan Aykroyd recently took time to pose for the the HollywoodChicago.com lens on March 28, 2009 before meeting fans and fine wine connoisseurs alike. Aykroyd was in Chicago to promote his new Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay wines at Binny’s Beverage Depot in Chicago’s South Loop.
Video Game Review: ‘Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars’ Game of the Year to Date
Submitted by BrianTT on March 27, 2009 - 1:03pmCHICAGO – Rockstar Games has done it again. Like “Grand Theft Auto IV,” they’ve released a game that we all thought would be really good but they’ve somehow found a way to surpass expectations and delievered even more than most fans thought possible. There have been some excellent games in the first quarter of 2009 - “Killzone 2” and “Resident Evil 5” stand out - but “Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars” gets my vote for game of the year to date.
DreamWorks’ ‘Monsters vs. Aliens’ Has Great 3D Concept, But Falls Flat
Submitted by BrianTT on March 27, 2009 - 12:12pm Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Hasn’t Pixar proven that animation can be more than just concept and celebrity voice work? The problem with “Monsters vs. Aliens” is that the team behind it clearly prioritized nearly every element of the film over actual storytelling.
Ramin Bahrani’s ‘Goodbye Solo’ Stands Alone So Far in 2009
Submitted by BrianTT on March 27, 2009 - 11:21am Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There were a few great films of late 2008 that weren’t widely released until early this year including “Waltz With Bashir” and “Che,” but Ramin Bahrani’s “Goodbye Solo” is the first truly great film of 2009.
Blu-Ray Review: ‘Tell No One’ Deserves Positive Word-of-Mouth Buzz
Submitted by BrianTT on March 26, 2009 - 7:49pm Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Guillaume Canet’s excellent “Tell No One” is perhaps the only 2008 thriller to truly deserve the often overused term, “Hitchockian”. The master would have enjoyed this twisting and turning ride that ironically had enough people talking to make it the most successful foreign language film in the United States last year with $6 million in domestic receipts (yes, I’m sad too that such a low total can claim that title).
Something in the Way it Moves: Factory Theater’s ‘Mop Top Festival’ Celebrates The Beatles
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 26, 2009 - 7:10pm Play Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – What has become of what John Lennon called, “The Greatest Show on Earth” (for what it was worth)? The Fab Four are still at The Beatle conventions – now called “The Fest for Beatle Fans”, which have gone on annually since 1977 in Chicago.
HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Signed ‘Alien Trespass’ Memorabilia From ‘The X-Files’ Director
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on March 26, 2009 - 3:57pmCHICAGO – The race is on! In our latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have an extraordinarily unique, off-the-beaten-path giveaway for the one-of-a-kind new film “Alien Trespass” from “The X-Files” director R.W. Goodwin.
Blu-Ray Review: Criterion Continues Blu-Ray Expansion With Pair of Truffaut Classics
Submitted by BrianTT on March 26, 2009 - 3:20pm Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The Criterion Collection continues its foray into the world of HD with one of the most beloved directors of all time, taking a film already in the collection and giving it the HD treatment while simultaneously releasing a new edition of one of his later films. The legend is Francois Truffaut and the films are “The 400 Blows” and “The Last Metro”.
Release Date Announced For ‘Call of Duty 4’ Sequel ‘Modern Warfare 2’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 26, 2009 - 2:49pmCHICAGO – Get your calendars out and mark the date for arguably the most anticipated game of the year, “Modern Warfare 2,” Activision’s follow-up to the award-winning “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare”.
Video Game Review: Sony’s ‘Resistance: Retribution’ a Rare Must-Buy PSP Title
Submitted by BrianTT on March 26, 2009 - 2:07pm Video Game Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Sony’s “Resistance: Retribution” is a great game but it can be a frustrating experience. More than once while playing through this excellent handheld companion to two of the PS3’s biggest titles - “Resistance: Fall of Man” and “Resistance 2” - I kept asking myself, “Why aren’t there more PSP game like this one?”
Blu-Ray Review: ‘Tales of the Black Freighter’ a Great Companion to ‘Watchmen’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 25, 2009 - 6:58pm Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s influential graphic novel “Watchmen” may have not made the impact that we all expected it to in theaters, but it is a film and book that still has legions of fans. Fan of the book or the movie or both should take a look at the interesting “Tales of the Black Freighter,” a companion piece that fills in the world of “Watchmen” and is now available on Blu-Ray.
