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.
Alan Arkin
Slideshow: Notables In Memoriam for 2023 by Photographer Joe Arce
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 11, 2024 - 12:51pmCHICAGO – As always, we lost a number of notable people in 2023. In his hustle and glory, photographer Joe Arce has spent his career not only taking Exclusive Portraits of every notable he runs across, but he also has collected an archive that makes their image available again for the 2023 IN MEMORIAM.!—break—>
In Memoriam Portrait: Oscar Winning Actor Alan Arkin Dies at 89
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 2, 2023 - 7:56pm- 89
- Alan Arkin
- BoJack Horseman
- Dead
- Dies
- Exclusive Portrait
- Glengarry Glen Ross
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Joe Arce
- Little Miss Sunshine
- Minions: The Rise of Gru
- Passing
- Patrick McDonald
- The In-Laws
- The Kominsky Method
- The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming
- The Second City
- The Tarriers
- Wait Until Dark
SAN MARCOS, Calif – There was an Alan Arkin for every generation. Post World War Two adults may have seen him at Chicago’s “The Second City.” Baby Boomers remember his films “Wait Until Dark” and “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians are Coming” and Gen X saw him in “The In-Laws” (“Serpentine, Shel”), “Glengarry Glen Ross” and his Oscar winning turn in “Little Miss Sunshine.” He even did a Netflix series, “The Kominsky Method.” For every generation, for every form of acting, there was Alan Arkin. He passed away on June 29th, 2023, at the age of 89.
On-Air Film Review: As the Tree Bends So Grows the Twig in ‘Sr.’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 26, 2022 - 8:41pmCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on December 8th, 2022, reviewing “Sr.,” a documentary about Robert Downey “Sr,” produced by Robert Downey Jr. Currently streaming on Netflix.
On-Air Film Review: Loving the Man in ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 1, 2022 - 1:08pmCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on June 30th, reviewing “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” the fifth film in the “Despicable Me” animated film series, in theaters beginning July 1st.
Film Review: Tim Burton’s Version of ‘Dumbo’ is Disappointingly Glum
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 29, 2019 - 7:06amCHICAGO – For reasons which remain unexplained, Walt Disney Studios and director Tim Burton have decided to weigh down the sweet story of a flying elephant with a whole pachyderm’s worth of pathos. The animated original clocked in as one of Disney’s shortest full length animated features. But the live action version drags us through nearly an extra hour’s worth of post-World War One misery.
Film Review: Misguided Remake of ‘Going in Style’ is Just a Product
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 7, 2017 - 7:43amCHICAGO – In 1979, there was a beautifully understated film called “Going in Style,” taking on the issues of aging, loneliness and the forgotten senior citizens in society. Those issues have not altered in our modern society, but you wouldn’t be able to tell that with the 2017 remake of “Going in Style.”
Interview: Actor Paul Dooley on Getting to Portray Dad
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 26, 2016 - 9:37amCHICAGO – After he reigned as the father in the classic 1979 film “Breaking Away,” actor Paul Dooley suddenly became everyone’s Dad – and by everyone that meant Molly Ringwald (“Sixteen Candles”), Julia Roberts (“Runaway Bride”) and Helen Hunt (“Mad About You”). He tells all in PART TWO of a comprehensive interview.
Interview: Actor Paul Dooley of ‘Breaking Away,’ ‘Sixteen Candles’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 21, 2016 - 12:25pmCHICAGO – If there ever was a quintessential “Dad” in movies of the last generation, it would have to be Paul Dooley. The comedian and character actor is best known for portraying the patriarch in “Breaking Away” (1979) and “Sixteen Candles” (1984), but was also in director’s Robert Altman’s ‘ensemble’ and has had a stellar career.
Blu-ray Review: ‘Grudge Match’ is Strictly Lightweight
Submitted by DaveHC on April 21, 2014 - 4:10pmCHICAGO – This forgettable time waster is mildly amusing as long as you don’t let yourself go into mourning over Robert Deniro’s career. But then again that almost goes without saying these days. Likewise Stallone who has had far more interesting career choices in the last decade than this. The pair play retired boxers who comes out of retirement for one last fight. One for the paycheck. The other to settle an old score.
Film Review: Two Old Stars Roast Their Images in ‘Grudge Match’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 25, 2013 - 9:00amCHICAGO – Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro – between them they have over 150 film credits in careers stretching back to the 1960s. Two of their most famous roles, boxers Rocky and the Raging Bull, get the full make-fun-of treatment in the Christmas Day Film “Grudge Match.”