Hawaii

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review, going back to a 1972 anti-Vietnam War documentary with Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland, as they entertain the troops in “F.T.A.,” available through on-demand in Virtual Cinemas right now, for more info click KinoLorber.com.

CHICAGO – Playwright Hannah Ii-Epstein is a Hawaiian native who is bringing her unique point of view regarding that U.S.“State of Mind” to the Chicago stage. The theater group Nothing Without a Company presents her latest, “Pakalolo Sweet.” through October 5th, 2019, at the Berger Mansion in the Edgewater neighborhood. Click here for more details, including ticket information.

CHICAGO – The State of Hawaii may be one of the most misunderstood in America. Because of its reputation as a tourist mecca, the fact that native peoples live and work there like any other place is hard to imagine. Also unimaginable is the drug use of island residents, but playwright and Hawaiian native Hannah li-Epstein wrote about it in her stage play “Not One Batu,” now in its Premiere Chicago run at the Berger Park Coach House through July 28th, 2018. For more information, including tickets, click here.

CHICAGO – Films with major movie stars that take real chances on story formula are rare. “Aloha” is one such example, and produces considerations that are way off the beaten path. Is it an allegory? An absurdity? An homage to 1960s paranoia? Only writer/director Cameron Crowe knows for sure.

CHICAGO – “The Land of Eb,” released through Video On Demand last week, is a perfect example of stories that emerge from the expansion of digital filmmaking. The highly personal and location-specific story involves the other side of paradise, the Kona district on the big island of Hawaii, and the background of the residents.

CHICAGO – In the pantheon of modern girl surfer movies there is “Blue Crush” and…”Blue Crush 2.” “Soul Surfer” is different, it is based on a true story of a tremendous physical loss for a competitive surfer, and her family’s strength in dealing with the crisis. With so much drama, in fact, its surprising that the film is as flavorless as dry toast.

CHICAGO – Where would Thomas Sullivan Magnum had been without his trusty sidekick Rick Wright? Chicago-born Larry Manetti was Rick Wright on “Magnum P.I,” and has just re-released his book of memories with the show, “Aloha, Magnum.”