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.
HollywoodChicago.com Arts & Entertainment News
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.
12th Annual EU Film Festival Highlights, Week Four: ‘Sauna,’ ‘Apres Lui,’ ‘Ben X,’ ‘Patrik Age 1,5’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 25, 2009 - 6:33pmCHICAGO – The final week of the 12th Annual EU Film Festival at the Siskel Film Center perfectly illustrates the main strength of this festival - amazing diversity. From what we had time to see of the final stretch of films, the four highlights couldn’t be more diverse, featuring movies from four different countries with four completely different tones and styles.
Video Game Review: Step Into Your Favorite Show in ‘Karaoke Revolution Presents American Idol Encore 2’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 25, 2009 - 12:40pm Video Game Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – If you’re like most people who own a television, you’ve probably seen “American Idol” at least once in its near-decade of ratings dominance and thought that you could do better than the pop star wannabe on the stage. Now you can try and achieve “AI” dominance on your own with “Karaoke Revolution Presents American Idol Encore 2”. Practice your Mariah Carey note runs.
DVD Review: ‘Andy Richter Controls the Universe: The Complete Series’ Finally Available
Submitted by BrianTT on March 24, 2009 - 3:21pm DVD Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – When I hear about shows that were “brilliant-but-canceled” one of the first series that comes to mind is the great “Andy Richter Controls the Universe”. Developing a cult following through cable repeats over the years, the complete series has been one of the most requested-but-unavailable titles since the show left the air over five years ago. Andy fans, your day has finally come. Rejoice.
DVD Review: Gabriel Byrne Shines in HBO’s Epic ‘In Treatment’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 24, 2009 - 1:35pm DVD Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Like therapy itself, HBO’s “In Treatment” requires a commitment. The award-winning program aired from Monday to Friday on HBO for nearly nine weeks and took up forty-three episodes. If you’re starting from the beginning of “In Treatment,” you will need to clear approximately 1,290 minutes of your schedule. Don’t go in half-heartedly.
Video Game Review: RPG Fans Should Take the Time to Decipher ‘Avalon Code’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 24, 2009 - 12:03pmCHICAGO – The development team behind the massively successful “Final Fantasy III” and “Final Fantasy IV” remakes for the Nintendo DS have joined forces with the creative minds behind the “Harvest Moon” and “Rune Factory” series to release one of the more creative handheld RPG titles of the year to date with the clever and fun “Avalon Code,” a game that may be far from perfect but is unique enough to warrant a look for all RPG fans.
DVD Review: Akira Kurosawa Returns to Criterion Collection With ‘Dodes’da Ken’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 24, 2009 - 10:57am DVD Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – I’m not sure, but I think there are more Akira Kurosawa titles available in the Criterion Collection than any other filmmaker. His classic films like “Ran,” “Rashomon,” “Seven Samurai,” and “Yojimbo” have been critically acclaimed releases for the influential series of DVDs. His 24th title in the Criterion Collection is last week’s “Dodes’da Ken,” one of the greatest directors of all time’s first film in color.
Blu-Ray Review: ‘Quo Vadis’ is a Classic Made For the Era of HD
Submitted by BrianTT on March 23, 2009 - 4:15pm Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – It might be a generational thing, but I’ll never understand why people watch movies on smaller and smaller screens like their laptop, cell phone, or iPod. Maybe it’s because I grew up thinking of classic movies as epic adventures that should be larger than life. Movies were arguably never “bigger” than they were in the era of “Quo Vadis,” now available on Blu-Ray.
DVD Round Up, Mar. 23, 2009: ‘Lilo & Stitch,’ ‘The Odd Couple,’ ‘To Catch a Thief’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 23, 2009 - 3:02pmCHICAGO – A Disney movie and two all-time classics being inducted in Paramount’s “Centennial Collection” make up this week’s version of the “DVD Round-Up,” your safety net for titles that may have slipped by your home entertainment radar.
Blu-Ray Review: ‘The Venture Bros.: 3rd Season’ Continues to Rock in HD
Submitted by BrianTT on March 23, 2009 - 1:29pmBlu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Adult Swim’s “The Venture Bros.” is the best show you’re not watching. As clever as “South Park,” “Family Guy,” or “The Simpsons,” “The Venture Bros.” is a hilarious dissection of the history of adventure animation like “Jonny Quest”. With a commentary on every episode, gorgeous video and audio, and twenty minutes of deleted scenes, “The Venture Bros: Season Three” is a must-buy for TV animation fans.
