CHICAGO – There is no better time to take in a stage play that is based in U.S. history, depicting the battle between fact and religion. The old theater chestnut – first mounted in 1955 – is “Inherit the Wind,” now at the Goodman Theatre, completing it’s short run through October 20th. For tickets and more information, click INHERIT.
HollywoodChicago.com Arts & Entertainment News
DVD Review: ‘Elegy’ Features Spectacular Performances From Ben Kingsley, Penelope Cruz
Submitted by BrianTT on March 17, 2009 - 11:06pm DVD Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – They have yet to perfectly adapt the great author Philip Roth’s tone from page to screen, but Isabel Coixet’s “Elegy” comes the closest. With other modern masters like Ian McEwan (“Atonement”) and Cormac McCarthy (“No Country For Old Men”) finding a new audience through the successful adaptations of their work, maybe “Elegy” will bring fans to Roth.
DVD Review: ‘Twilight: Two-Disc Special Edition’ Designed to Satisfy Legions of Fans
Submitted by BrianTT on March 17, 2009 - 9:25pmDVD Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Good news, “Twilight” junkies. The two-disc DVD of your favorite movie, the vampire romance starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Edi Gathegi, Cam Gigandet, and more really delivers.
Video Game Review: Alien War is Hell in Sony’s Amazing ‘Killzone 2’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 16, 2009 - 1:53pm Video Game Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Some games are designed to take the edge off the day, to relax you from the stress of the real world. Play the excellent downloadable game “Flower” for a good example of one those. Don’t play “Killzone 2,” a fantastic shooter, one of the best in a long time, but also a stressful, sometimes terrifying ride through an alien war zone.
DVD Review: Sally Hawkins Shines in Mike Leigh’s Fantastic ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 16, 2009 - 12:44pm DVD Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Happy-Go-Lucky” was one my favorite films of 2008 with a pitch-perfect performance by the great Sally Hawkins, an actress who so embodied her character that not only did she deserve to be nominated for an Oscar, she should be polishing her trophy right now. New to DVD, audiences can finally catch up with “Happy-Go-Lucky,” another notch in the belt for the great Mike Leigh, one of the more consistent filmmakers of the last twenty years.
Blu-Ray Review: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ensemble Make Trip to ‘Synecdoche, New York’ Worthwhile
Submitted by BrianTT on March 16, 2009 - 12:41pm Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – With one of the most ambitious screenplays of 2008 and one of the most talented ensembles in years, “Synecdoche, New York,” now on Blu-Ray, is a must-see for fans of Charlie Kaufman’s earlier screenwriting work (“Adaptation,” “Being John Malkovich,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) and the incredible ensemble, including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Samantha Morton, and Michelle Williams.
DVD Review: Manipulative ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ Feels False
Submitted by BrianTT on March 16, 2009 - 12:38pm DVD Rating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The plot of “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” new to DVD and based on a best-selling novel by John Boyne, may have worked on the page but a number of awful decisions on the way to the screen have taken a story with inherent emotional strength and turned it into misguided, manipulative drama.
TV Review: Ambitious ‘Kings’ With Ian McShane Unlike Anything Else on Network TV
Submitted by BrianTT on March 13, 2009 - 3:00pm Television Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – You won’t see many shows much more ambitious than NBC’s “Kings”. The multi-character drama borrows from the story of King David to create a tapestry piece about power, corruption, and war. It’s dense, layered, complex storytelling that you rarely see on network television.
Epic, Gorgeous ‘Everlasting Moments’ Lingers Like a Dusty Photograph
Submitted by BrianTT on March 13, 2009 - 1:36pm Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Jan Troell’s epic “Everlasting Moments,” a Golden Globe-nominee for Best Foreign Language Film of 2008 and Sweden’s entry in the same category for the Oscars (notoriously making “Let the Right One In” ineligible because of the stupid “one country, one movie” rule), is a haunting, beautiful movie about small, emotional movements set against a backdrop of national change.
Documentary ‘Brothers at War’ is Heartfelt But Narrow in Scope
Submitted by BrianTT on March 13, 2009 - 1:05pm Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The market has been flooded with documentaries about the failure of the Iraq War, which makes the arrival of a human story about real people on the ground something notable and refreshing. Sadly, Jacob Rademacher’s “Brothers at War” is as myopic as any piece of “left-wing propaganda” about the failure of the war, missing both the big picture and the human one due to its filmmaker’s refusal to ask the dark questions.
Effective Remake of ‘The Last House on the Left’ a Powerful Horror Film
Submitted by BrianTT on March 13, 2009 - 12:35pm Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Dennis Illiadis’ remake of “The Last House on the Left” is the exception the proves the rule that most horror movie remakes are a complete waste of time. With an incredible performance by Garret Dillahunt (“Deadwood,” “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”) and great supporting work by Monica Potter, Sara Paxton, Tony Goldwyn, and others, “Last House” is the best mainstream horror movie in a long time.
Blu-Ray Review: ‘Cadillac Records’ With Beyonce Knowles a Greatest Hits Album of Blues Legends
Submitted by BrianTT on March 12, 2009 - 7:58pm Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There’s a lot to like about the individual parts of “Cadillac Records,” now on Blu-Ray, but they never come together to form a cohesive sum. A frustratingly episodic film, “Records” crams too many stories into one movie, ending up more like a greatest hits album than a creative vision of its very own.
DVD Review: Anne Hathaway’s ‘Rachel Getting Married’ Deserves Huge Audience on DVD
Submitted by BrianTT on March 12, 2009 - 6:28pmDVD Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Jonathan Demme’s “Rachel Getting Married” was easily one of the best films of 2008, featuring Oscar-worthy work by Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, screenwriter Jenny Lumet, and its acclaimed director.
Interview: Writers/Directors Zach Cregger, Trevor Moore on Playboy-Centric Film ‘Miss March’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 12, 2009 - 4:41pmCHICAGO – Zach Cregger and Trevor Moore – best known as members of the TV comedy troupe “The Whitest Kids U’ Know” (now on the Independent Film Channel) – make their directorial feature-film debut with the release of “Miss March”.
