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
Clive Owen, Naomi Watts Fail to Save Deadly Dull ‘The International’
Submitted by BrianTT on February 12, 2009 - 11:54pmCHICAGO – Tom Tykwer’s “The International,” an alleged thriller starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts, is one of the most surprisingly inert films so far this year, an awfully written conspiracy flick that never gets out of neutral and is only remotely worth someday seeing for one fantastic action sequence.
TV Review: Danny McBride Delivers Comedy Heat With HBO’s ‘Eastbound & Down’
Submitted by BrianTT on February 12, 2009 - 7:40pm Television Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Danny McBride had an amazing 2008, stealing scenes in “Tropic Thunder” and finding comic gold with director David Gordon Green in the great “Pineapple Express”. McBride, Green, director Jody Hill, and producer Will Ferrell have teamed up for the six-episode HBO comedy series “Eastbound & Down,” one of the most laugh-out-loud, promising comedy premieres in a long time.
Blu-Ray Review: Clint Eastwood’s ‘Changeling’ Features Great Performance By Angelina Jolie
Submitted by BrianTT on February 12, 2009 - 1:49pm Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – I usually don’t agree with suggestions that certain movies need to be seen twice to be appreciated. If a movie doesn’t work on first viewing, then it simply doesn’t work. Having said that, watching Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling” a second time on Blu-Ray made me appreciate the final product significantly more than my disappointed reaction to it in theaters.
DVD Review: ‘Blindness’ With Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo Should Not Be Widely Seen
Submitted by BrianTT on February 12, 2009 - 12:51pm DVD Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Blindness” is one of the bleakest cinematic experiences of the last few years, shocking, violent, dirty, headache-inducing proof that what works on the page doesn’t always on the big or small screen and that even the most talented actors and director can sometimes stumble.
TV Review: One of the Best Reality Shows Returns With ‘Survivor: Tocantins’
Submitted by BrianTT on February 12, 2009 - 11:53am Television Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The 18th installment of the show that really started it all with reality television, “Survivor,” debuts Thursday, February 12th, 2009 with the promise of another season of backstabbing, infighting, and immunity challenges.
Reasons For Director’s Departure From ‘Twilight’ Sequel ‘New Moon’ Revealed
Submitted by BrianTT on February 12, 2009 - 10:41amCHICAGO – Catherine Hardwicke, the director of the original “Twilight,” revealed to Entertainment Weekly this week that she walked away from the highly anticipated sequel “New Moon” because the film was going to be shot under too short a deadline and with too many budget constraints.
Blu-Ray Review: Cult of ‘Donnie Darko’ Extends to Two-Disc Director’s Cut
Submitted by BrianTT on February 11, 2009 - 6:53pm Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Most movies come and go. Even some of the most critically and commercially acclaimed films of the last few years have essentially been forgotten already. I knew Richard Kelly’s “Donnie Darko” was a film that was not going to go away quickly the first time I saw it and the Blu-Ray “Director’s Cut” simply extends the shelf life of this riveting cult classic.
DVD Review: ‘60 Minutes Presents Obama: All Access - Barack Obama’s Road to the White House’
Submitted by BrianTT on February 11, 2009 - 4:04pm DVD Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The first “60 Minutes”-branded DVD from CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment is the surprisingly comprehensive account of the last two years of President Barack Obama’s life, “Obama: All Access - Barack Obama’s Road to the White House,” a great DVD for political junkies, historians, news fans, and everyone in between.
Blu-Ray Review: Spike Lee’s ‘Miracle at St. Anna’ Disappoints in Every Way
Submitted by BrianTT on February 11, 2009 - 3:23pm Blu-Ray Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There is a great film to be made about the African-American experience during World War II. Spike Lee’s “Miracle at St. Anna” is not that film and the below average Blu-Ray of it should make this once highly-anticipated epic one of the more easily forgettable releases of the month.
HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 4 Passes to See All 5 Best-Picture Oscar Nominees in One Day
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on February 11, 2009 - 2:06amCHICAGO – We are pleased to announce what’s nothing short of a once-in-a-lifetime HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film opportunity: the chance for four lucky winners to see all five 2009 best-picture Oscar nominees (“Slumdog Millionaire,” “Milk,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Frost/Nixon” and “The Reader”) in one glorious Chicago day.
Blu-Ray Round Up, Feb. 10, 2009: ‘Pretty Woman,’ ‘Street Fighter,’ ‘Tales From the Darkside’
Submitted by BrianTT on February 10, 2009 - 5:50pmCHICAGO – The Round-Up is in flashback mode this week. Enter our time machine and travel back to an era when an anthology series created by the legendary George A. Romero could actually get a network time slot, Jean-Claude Van Damme was still a star, and Julia Roberts wasn’t quite one yet.
Interview: Visiting the ‘Dollhouse’ With Creator Joss Whedon
Submitted by BrianTT on February 10, 2009 - 5:14pmCHICAGO – Almost twelve years ago, a little show called “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” premiered in mid-season on The WB and a cult was officially born. Over a decade later, creator Joss Whedon brings his latest mid-season vision, “Dollhouse” with Eliza Dushku to FOX this Friday, February 13th, 2009 and he recently sat down for a press conference to give readers a sneak peek.
Blu-Ray Review: ‘Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa’ Continues DreamWorks Blu-Ray Dominance
Submitted by BrianTT on February 10, 2009 - 11:26amBlu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The DreamWorks Blu-Ray releases for “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” “Kung Fu Panda,” and “Transformers” are some of the most technically remarkable titles on the next-gen format and you can now add “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” to the list of Blu-Ray discs that you can use to show off your HD TV and surround sound system.
