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
In Memoriam: Rocker Denny Laine of Band on the Run ‘Wings’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 10, 2023 - 3:01pmCHICAGO – Denny Laine is a historic force in both the British Invasion of the 1960s with the Moody Blues, and as a member of “Wings” the band formed by him plus Paul and Linda McCartney in the 1970s. Laine died on December 5th, 2023, in Naples, Florida. He was 79.
Podtalk: Playwright Desiree Burcum Wishes Us ‘A Judy Christmas’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 10, 2023 - 1:28pm- 1963
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CHICAGO – In 1963, Judy Garland had a CBS-TV variety series, and in December there was a Christmas episode featuring her kids … including Liza Minnelli. Playwright Desiree Burcum and the comedy troupe FAMOUS IN THE FUTURE have created (click link) ”A Judy Christmas” as a stage play.
Podtalk: Costume Designer Holly Waddington of ‘Poor Things’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 9, 2023 - 12:44pmCHICAGO – One of the great “characters” in Yorgos Lanthinmos excellent new film “Poor Things” is undoubtably the costumes that Bella (Emma Stone) wears. The costume designer behind those works of art is Holly Waddington, and HollywoodChicago.com talked to her at the Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) in October.
In Memoriam: Icon Norman Lear is Just Another Version of You
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 9, 2023 - 9:54amCHICAGO – In his humility, Norman Lear liked to express that he was “just another version of you.” In our humanity, we are different renderings, but all related, as the titan of TV philosophically said. Norman Lear died at his home in Los Angeles on December 5th, 2023. He was 101 years old.
On-Air Film Review: Bird is the Word in ‘The Boy and the Heron’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 8, 2023 - 10:30amCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on December 7th, 2023, reviewing “The Boy and the Heron,” the latest animated film from Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki. In theaters on December 8th, 2023.
Podtalk: New Doc on HULU Expresses ‘We Live Here: The Midwest’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 5, 2023 - 10:58pmCHICAGO – The scapegoating of LGBTQIA+ folks as a backlash to the community progress in the last decade has been swift, fear-based and uniquely unAmerican. In response, producer David Clayton Miller and director Melinda Maerker have created a new doc entitled “We Live Here: The Midwest,” streaming on HULU beginning December 6th, 2023.
Podtalk: Jeremy Coon & Steven Kozak for ‘A Disturbance in the Force’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 4, 2023 - 4:33pm- A Disturbance in the Force
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- Star Wars Holiday Special
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CHICAGO – A long time ago (1978) in an America far far away, the one and only showing of the “Star Wars Holiday Special” took place on CBS-TV. Infamously miscast and difficult to watch, the history of the show is chronicled in a new doc “A Disturbance in the Force,” co-directed by Jeremy Coon and Steven Kozak.
On-Air Film Review: Pepperminty Eddie Murphy in ‘Candy Cane Lane’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 1, 2023 - 5:11pmCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on The Eddie Volkman Show with Hannah B on a 3-Station Broadcast … Star 96.7 Joliet (IL), Star 102.3 Waukegan and Star 105.5 McHenry on September 1st, reviewing the Christmas movie “Candy Cane Lane,” streaming on Prime Video beginning December 1st, 2023.
On-Air Film Review: Bradley Cooper is the Conductor of ‘Maestro’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 1, 2023 - 4:32pmCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on November 30th, 2023, reviewing “Maestro,” co-written, directed by and starring Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein. In theaters on December 1st, 2023.
On-Air Film Review: Past in Present Tense for ‘May December’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 1, 2023 - 3:58pmCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on November 30th, 2023, reviewing “May December,” featuring Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman, directed by Todd Haynes. Streaming on Netflix beginning on December 1st, 2023.
Podtalk, Review: Writer/Director Emerald Fennell Applies the ‘Saltburn’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 29, 2023 - 11:22amCHICAGO – Writer, Director and Actor Emerald Fennell is leading a new revolution of commentary in her feature films. She began with “Promising Young Woman” in 2020 – for which she won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay – and her follow-up is “Saltburn,” which opened wide last week on November 22nd.
Exclusive Portraits: Aparna Nancherla for Her New Book at 2023 Chicago Humanities Festival
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 25, 2023 - 9:11amCHICAGO –At the the just wrapped up Fall 2023 Chicago Humanities Festival, a few laughs (and tears) were had at an appearance by comedian Aparna Nancherla. She has a new book entitled “Unreliable Narrator: Me, Myself and the Imposter Syndrome,” which takes readers on the journey of a stand-up comic and essayist who doesn’t feel she belongs doing what she does, but she’s able to express it.
On-Air Film Review: Able Was I Ere I saw Joaquin Phoenix in ‘Napoleon’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 23, 2023 - 5:10pmCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on November 22nd, 2023, reviewing “Napoleon,” a biopic of Emperor Bonaparte, directed by Ridley Scott. In theaters on November 22nd, 2023.
