CHICAGO – The late playwright August Wilson left a gift to the world in the form of his “American Century Cycle,” a series of plays each individually set in a decade of the 20th Century, focusing on the black experience. Chicago’s Goodman Theatre presents Wilson’s “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” now through May 19th, 2024 (click here).
Gemma Jones
On-Air Film Review: Town Goes Postal in ‘Wicked Little Letters’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 4, 2024 - 11:53amCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review for the newly released “Wicked Little Letters,” a based-on-truth story featuring Olivia Coleman and Jessie Buckley, set in England right after World War One. In theaters on April 5th.!—break—>
Audio Film Review: ‘Benediction’ Finds No Air in the Closet
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 3, 2022 - 7:33pmCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review on “Benediction,” the biography film of Siegfried Sassoon, a prominent early 20th Century poet who lived his life as a closeted gay man … a somber kick-off to Pride Month. In select theaters, see local listings for theaters and show times.
Film Review: ‘Bridget Jones’s Baby’ Offers Labored Attempt at Humor
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 16, 2016 - 11:10amCHICAGO – “Bridget Jones’s Baby” is the kind of geriatric sequel that makes you retroactively question whether the original film that inspired it was all that good to begin with – it’s less a film than a labored collection of contrived situations involving pregnancy and pratfalls. It’s not painfully unwatchable, but it’s unlikely to inspire anything remotely resembling amusement in its audiences.
Film Review: Kevin Spacey on Power of ‘NOW: In the Wings on a World Stage’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 5, 2014 - 7:01pmCHICAGO – “Hi-diddle-dee-dee, the actor’s life for me!” Kevin Spacey, who took a considerable break from movie acting to become Artistic Director of the Old Vic Theater in London, puts the fruit of those labors in a new documentary, “NOW: In the Wings on a World Stage.” The film chronicles the international tour of Spacey and the troupe performing William Shakespeare’s “Richard III.”
Interview: Director Tanya Wexler Has the Buzz on ‘Hysteria’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 22, 2012 - 8:53amCHICAGO – When creating a film about the origins of the vibrator, it’s best not to take yourself too seriously. The brassy, bubbly director Tanya Wexler helped convert a two page premise into a sly romantic comedy. The cast of Maggie Gyllehaal, Hugh Dancy, Jonathan Pryce, and Felicity Jones take the journey with her.