CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio review for the doc series “Charlie Hustle & the Matter of Pete Rose,” about the rise and bitter fall of the major league legend, the MLB’s all-time hits leader, only to be banned from the sport because of gambling. Streaming on MAX and on HBO since July 24th.
HollywoodChicago.com Arts & Entertainment News
12th Annual EU Film Festival Highlights, Week Two: ‘Worlds Apart,’ ‘La Belle Personne,’ ‘El Greco’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 11, 2009 - 10:41amCHICAGO – We’re back with our look at week two of the The 12th Annual EU Film Festival at the Siskel Film Center, one of the best film events of the year in the Windy City. If you missed part one and want to relive the best of the first seven days of the fest, check it out here. On to week two…
Blu-Ray Review: Disposable ‘Beverly Hills Chihuahua’ Given Royal Disney Treatment
Submitted by BrianTT on March 10, 2009 - 6:01pm Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Disney’s “Beverly Hills Chihuahua”, now on Blu-Ray and DVD, is so generic and disposable that it’s easy for an adult to forget they’re watching it while it’s playing. It’s one of those movies that appeals to the little ones because talking animals naturally do so, but so little was done beyond the casting and the concept that adults are going to get bored quickly.
DVD, Blu-Ray Round Up, Mar. 10, 2009: ‘Scarlett Johansson Collection,’ ‘Brokeback Mountain,’ ‘Witch Mountain’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 10, 2009 - 1:02pmCHICAGO – The Round-Up, HollywoodChicago.com’s famous recurring column about lesser Blu-Ray and DVD titles that may have slipped through your fingers at the store recently, is in clean-up mode this week. With a DVD collection for a famous young actress, an old cartoon, a straight-to-video horror movie, and three movies with the word “Mountain” in the title, the only word that comes to mind to tie these titles together is “random”.
Video Game Review: ‘Prince of Persia: Epilogue’ Offers Fans Another Chapter of Amazing Game
Submitted by BrianTT on March 10, 2009 - 8:25am Video Game Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – What if you could play one of your favorite games for two more hours? And what if it was a game that ended on a cliffhanger? That’s what you get with “Prince of Persia: Epilogue,” a two-hour add-on for Ubisoft’s excellent “Prince of Persia” that is now available for download for $9.99.
Blu-Ray Review: Sean Penn’s Oscar-Winning ‘Milk’ Will Recruit Movie Fans Around the World
Submitted by BrianTT on March 10, 2009 - 8:17am Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – With the help of Dustin Lance Black’s Oscar-winning screenplay, Sean Penn’s Oscar-winning performance, Josh Brolin’s Oscar-nominated performance, James Franco’s Spirit Award-winning performance and Gus Van Sant’s Oscar-nominated direction, Harvey Milk has been brought back from the dead.
TV Review: Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic Have Perfect Chemistry on Promising ‘Castle’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 9, 2009 - 11:15am Television Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Is it finally time for Nathan Fillion to become a star? One of the most charismatic TV actors of the last few years should have become a legend for his work on “Firefly,” but that wasn’t meant to be. Now he’s back and just as good opposite Stana Katic on the very-promising “Castle,” a mystery-of-the-week show distinguished by the excellent chemistry of its leads.
Blu-Ray Review: Sink Your Teeth Into One of the Best of 2008: ‘Let the Right One In’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 9, 2009 - 10:31amBlu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Tomas Alfredson’s “Let the Right One In” was one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2008, an arthouse sensation that has been so beloved by everyone who has seen it that it ranks among the best films of all time on IMDB based on user votes.
Blu-Ray Review: 70th Anniversary Two-Disc Edition of ‘Pinocchio’ One of the Best Releases Yet
Submitted by BrianTT on March 9, 2009 - 7:22am Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The Blu-Ray revolution seems stuck in neutral. It’s going to take a major title to push it over the edge as a must-have technology. Some of us thought it would be “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man,” or “The Godfather,” but the worsening economic times seem to have put the HD switch on hold.
TV Review: BBC’s Excellent ‘Ashes to Ashes’ Picks Up Where ‘Life on Mars’ Left Off
Submitted by BrianTT on March 7, 2009 - 9:13pm Television Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Ashes to Ashes” may be one of the most unusual choices for a TV sequel but sometimes the best series come from the most unexpected places. This may be the most pleasant surprise TV fans will get all year. The BBC’s brilliant “Life on Mars” has been dragged from the glitz and glamour of the ’70s to the turbulent ’80s in the as-good-and-arguably-better “Ashes to Ashes,” another notch in the belt of great BBC programming.
Dakota Fanning Will Play Jane in ‘Twilight’ Sequel ‘The Twilight Saga’s New Moon’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 7, 2009 - 2:32pmCHICAGO – It started as a rumor, but sources are reporting today that Summit Entertainment has officially announced that Dakota Fanning will play Jane in “The Twilight Saga’s New Moon,” the highly anticipated sequel to the blockbuster “Twilight”. The Chris Weitz-directed film based on the Stephenie Meyer book will start shooting in Canada soon.
Video Game Review: ‘Watchmen: The End is Nigh’ Feels Like Relic From Era of Book’s Publication
Submitted by BrianTT on March 6, 2009 - 3:56pm Video Game Rating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – If Alan Moore still paid attention to the products based on his creations, the downloadable game “Watchmen: The End is Nigh” might make him give up once and for all. His book that so masterfully deconstructed the superhero genre has been turned into an old-fashioned brawler, in which the player is supposed to get thrills from beating up an endless stream of bad guys. “Watchmen” truly has become like any other superhero franchise, complete with a lame video game to accompany it.
DVD Review: ‘Wonder Woman’ Continues Series of Interesting DC Universe Releases
Submitted by BrianTT on March 6, 2009 - 2:20pm DVD Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Even though I once had a weekly comic book addiction, I was never a big Wonder Woman fan. Maybe it was a trapping of my gender, but I always tended toward books with male heroes like Superman, Batman, and The X-Men. Having said that, I can still respect what the team behind DC Universe’s latest film have accomplished with “Wonder Woman,” another installment in an increasingly intriguing series of straight-to-DVD movies.
Zack Snyder Turns ‘Watchmen’ Into Loud, Disjointed, Brutal Mess
Submitted by BrianTT on March 6, 2009 - 1:29pm Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – For years, fans of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s masterful and influential “Watchmen” have been waiting for a filmmaker willing to faithfully and slavishly adapt their favorite graphic novel. Well, we got what we wanted in Zack Snyder’s frame-copying vision of this legendary book, but as someone once said - You should be careful what you ask for because you just might get it.
