CHICAGO – In anticipation of the scariest week of the year, HollywoodChicago.com launches its 2024 Movie Gifts series, which will suggest DVDs and collections for holiday giving.
HollywoodChicago.com Arts & Entertainment News
Film News: Greg Glienna of Original ‘Meet the Parents’ at Park Ridge Pickwick Theatre, Sept. 20, 2024
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 18, 2024 - 4:40pmCHICAGO – Before it became a Hollywood franchise, the original “Meet the Parents” was a locally-filmed 1992 indie film co-written, directed and featuring Greg Glienna of Park Ridge, Illinois. That city’s famous Pickwick Theatre will celebrate 30 years of the film with a week long run that begins on Friday, September 20th, 2024, with an appearance at the 7pm show by Glienna, his co-writer/co-star Mary Ruth Clarke and producer Jim Vincent, with moderation by Ian Simmons of Kicking the Seat Vodcast. For ticket info and details, click MEET THE PARENTS.
Film News: Chicago’s REELING42 Opening Night ‘Young Hearts’ at Music Box, Sept. 19, 2024
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 18, 2024 - 12:03pmCHICAGO – The 42nd edition of the REELING International LBGTQ+ Film Festival (Reeling42) kicks off on September 19th, 2024, and runs through October 6th. The Opening Night film is “Young Hearts” at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre. For info/tickets click REELING42.
Podtalk: World Premiere of Filmed in Chicago Sci-Fi ‘Wizdom’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 18, 2024 - 9:47amCHICAGO – It’s time to get some “Wizdom”! In the WORLD PREMIERE at the same Chicago studio (CineCity) where it was filmed, the completed short will premiere on Friday, September 20th (6pm), and that screening will be facilitated by Producer/Co-Writer/Lead Actor Ashton Swinford and Producer/Director Layne Marie Williams.
Audio Film Review: ‘All Happy Families’ Abides in Their Own Way
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 17, 2024 - 10:40pmCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review for “All Happy Families,” a drama/comedy about the common life element of family that all of us must deal with in our own way, co-written by Coburn Goss and Haroula Rose, and directed by Rose. In theaters on September 20th. See local listings,
Podtalk, Review: Actor Adam Pearson is Guide to ‘A Different Man’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 17, 2024 - 7:11amCHICAGO – Learning how to navigate in the rough waters of life is a strange combination of who we are, where we come from, what educational opportunities we partake in and of course, how we look. Adam Pearson is featured in a new film, “A Different Man” (opening September 20th), which filters these life issues through one man’s outer transformation and another’s intuitive acceptance of self.
On-Air Film Review: Meet Some Friends at ‘¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor!’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 13, 2024 - 6:07pmCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on September 12th, reviewing the new documentary “¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor!” In limited release on September 13th (see local listings).
On-Air Film Review: ‘Here After’ Flies to the Astral Plane
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 13, 2024 - 5:20pmCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on September 12th, reviewing the new release “Here After,” a parapsychological thriller featuring Connie Britton. In theaters on September 13th.
Podtalk, Review: Elisa Levine's Documentary ‘Sweetheart Deal’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 12, 2024 - 10:03amCHICAGO – The United States is a nation of judgement without justice. That is what the new release documentary “Sweetheart Deal” is expressing in a story of sex workers and those who profess to help. It is co-directed by Gabriel Miller and Elise Levine, and Levine talked to HollywoodChicago.com in 2023. The doc is in theaters on September 13th.
Theater Review: Chicago’s City Lit Stage ‘The House of Ideas’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 11, 2024 - 6:31pm- Ben Veatch
- Brian Parry
- Brian Piocharczyk
- Bryan Breau
- Carrie Hardin
- Chad Wise
- City Lit Theater. The House of Ideas
- Comic Books
- Edgewater
- Four Color Trilogy
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Jack Kirby
- Jimmy Hogan
- Kate Black-Spence
- Mark Pracht
- Marvel
- Megan Clarke
- Patrick McDonald
- Sean Harklerode
- Stan Lee
- Terry McCabe
- Theater Review
- Theater, TV, DVD & Blu-Ray
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.
Film News: 2024 Chicago Underground Film Fest, Sep. 11-15, Opens with ‘No One Asked You’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 10, 2024 - 7:37amCHICAGO – The longest running underground film festival in the world kicks off its 31st Edition on Wednesday, September 11th, 2024. The Chicago Underground Film Festival opens with “No One Asked You” at the Gene Siskel Film Center. For tickets and info, click CUFF31.
Podtalk: Founder Joyce Porter for Inaugural Oak Park Film Festival, Sept. 12 & 14, 2024
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 10, 2024 - 6:46amOAK PARK, IL – When there is an awesome Village like Oak Park (Illinois) right adjacent to Chicago, it stands to reason that Joyce Porter, a prominent character actor, would put in motion the first Oak Park Film Festival.
On-Air Film Review: Psychic Phenom for ‘Look Into My Eyes’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 6, 2024 - 2:01pmCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on September 5th, reviewing the new documentary “Look Into My Eyes.” It has a limited release on September 6th, with a wider rollout throughout the month. See local listings.
Film Review: ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Returns to Tim Burton Form
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 6, 2024 - 8:28amCHICAGO – “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice” is a return to the practical effects playfulness of Tim Burton’s earlier work and thankfully doesn’t try to be a note-for-note remake of the largely flawless original, although there are callbacks a plenty. The film is one of director Tim Burton’s better late period films but when you consider his output from the last 20 years or so, that’s not exactly high praise.
