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
A Story So Scary They Told it Twice: What We Know About Upcoming Horror Remakes
Submitted by BrianTT on March 23, 2009 - 12:35pmCHICAGO – The total number of horrendous, stupid, useless horror movie remakes could fill a film festival from Hell, but this year we’ve already seen the massively successful “Friday the 13th” and the critically lauded surprises of “My Bloody Valentine 3D” and “Last House on the Left”.
HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 25 Run-of-Engagement Passes For ‘Sunshine Cleaning’ With Amy Adams
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on March 21, 2009 - 12:03pmCHICAGO – In our latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have a special giveaway with 25 run-of-engagement admit-two “Sunshine Cleaning” passes. “Sunshine Cleaning” stars Academy Award nominees Amy Adams and Emily Blunt as well as Academy Award winner Alan Arkin.
Amy Adams Brings the Sparkle to ‘Sunshine Cleaning’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 20, 2009 - 11:11am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Amy Adams gives a performance in Christine Jeffs’ “Sunshine Cleaning” that is not only the best actress turn of the year to date but nearly single-handedly makes the many flaws of this quirky comedy easy to overlook. It’s rare, but sometimes one talented star can make any project shine. Amy Adams is that talented.
Julia Roberts, Clive Owen Shine in Tony Gilroy’s Clever ‘Duplicity’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 20, 2009 - 11:07am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Writer/director Tony Gilroy (“Michael Clayton”) uses words the same way horror movie directors use blood or action movie auteurs use bullets.
Blu-Ray Review: ‘Quantum of Solace’ Offers Action Ride, Average Blu-Ray
Submitted by BrianTT on March 19, 2009 - 8:38pm Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Quantum of Solace,” the second Daniel Craig 007 movie after the earthquake to the franchise that was the brilliant “Casino Royale,” didn’t make quite the same waves in the action genre and left a few viewers dissatisfied but it still makes for a better-than-average action movie rental. Sadly, MGM continues to struggle a bit in the HD revolution, releasing a so-so Blu-Ray that won’t help the viewers who felt let down by the film in theaters.
Blu-Ray Review: Disney Delivers Another Great Release For Super-Cute ‘Bolt’ With Miley Cyrus
Submitted by BrianTT on March 19, 2009 - 6:33pm Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The first word I think of when I read or hear about Disney’s “Bolt” is cute. The movie is just cute, cute, cute. If your threshold for adorable cartoon characters and heartwarming messages is low, stay away, but if you’re looking for a bright smile to break the darkness of daily life, you could do a lot worse than this clever canine, now the subject of yet another nearly-perfect Disney Blu-Ray release.
Video Game Review: ‘Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop’ Should Be Better
Submitted by BrianTT on March 19, 2009 - 5:34pmCHICAGO – Not every game fits every platform. Every once in a while, a game can make the jump from one next-gen console to another, but it’s just as often that a title misses the mark and crashes to the ground. Such is the case with Capcom’s anticipated “Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop,” a shooter with fun moments interspersed through awful gameplay and horrendous storytelling.
Pixar’s ‘Up’ to Open Cannes Film Festival in May 2009
Submitted by BrianTT on March 19, 2009 - 1:01pmCHICAGO – Pixar continues their plan for world dominance with their 2009 film “Up” being announced today as the opening film for the 62nd Cannes Film Festival in May. Produced under John Lasseter’s supervision, the film that follows “WALL-E,” “Cars,” “The Incredibles,” “Finding Nemo,” “Toy Story,” and more under the prestigious Pixar banner will be the Opening Ceremony film in Disney Digital 3-D on Wednesday, May 13th, 2009.
Release Date, Cover Art For Criterion’s ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 19, 2009 - 12:35pmCHICAGO – Paramount/Criterion made a huge announcement today, revealing that David Fincher’s Oscar-winning “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” will be inducted into The Criterion Collection in its debut on DVD and Blu-Ray on May 5th, 2009. The Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett drama will arrive in a two-disc special edition DVD and two-disc Blu-Ray with over three hours of special features.
Blu-Ray Review: Marvel Character Strikes Out Swinging With ‘Punisher: War Zone’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 18, 2009 - 8:22pmBlu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – It’s officially a strikeout for Marvel’s The Punisher, a character now featured in not one, not two, but three bad movies of his very own. Dolph Lundgren swung wildly and missed with his “The Punisher” and Thomas Jane nearly connected but went foul with his reboot of the franchise. Now, Ray Stevenson is the latest actor to fail to connect with this legendary character in “Punisher: War Zone,” now available on Blu-Ray.
HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 30 Admit-Two Passes to Chicago Screening of ‘Adventureland’ From ‘Superbad’ Director
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on March 18, 2009 - 3:16pmCHICAGO – In our latest edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 30 admit-two passes up for grabs to the Chicago screening of “Adventureland,” which stars Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart (from “Twilight” and the “New Moon” sequel “The Twilight Saga’s New Moon”), Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Wendie Malick, Kelsey Ford, Michael Zegen and Matt Bush from “Superbad” director Greg Mottola.
TV Review: ‘Better Off Ted’ Could Be Worse But Far From Best
Submitted by BrianTT on March 18, 2009 - 1:57pm Television Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In a landscape of increasingly lower ratings for quirky TV comedy (talk to the producers of “Scrubs” if you don’t believe me), I’m kind of amazed that “Better Off Ted” made it to the air. If “Arrested Development” and everything Andy Richter has ever tried couldn’t find an audience, who thought people would be attracted to this left-of-center workplace sitcom? And the fact that it doesn’t live up to the potential of its concept means the show’s thin chance of survival just disappeared.
12th Annual EU Film Festival Highlights, Week Three: ‘Angel,’ ‘Left Bank,’ ‘Eden,’ ‘Fear Me Not’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 18, 2009 - 12:00pmCHICAGO – The third week of the 12th Annual EU Film Festival at the Siskel Film Center is nearly upon us and we’re back to give you an idea of what to expect in the second half of arguably the best fest in the Windy City.
