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.
Jason Bateman
Podtalk: Screenwriter Alex Convery Reaches Rarified ‘Air’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 29, 2023 - 11:48amCHICAGO – The “Black List” of Hollywood means something totally different in the current vernacular. This list contains the un-produced screenplays of the highest quality, either optioned and not sold or in turnaround from an attempt to produce. One of those screenplays on the List was “Air Jordan” by Chicagoland native Alex Convery. Once eventual director Ben Affleck got involved, the finished film became “Air.”
On-Air Film Review: Becoming Super Rich Like Mike in ‘Air’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 6, 2023 - 10:39amCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on April 6th, 2023, reviewing “Air,” the origin story of Michael Jordan’s shoe contract with Nike, resulting in the iconic Air Jordan. In theaters since April 5th.!—break—>
Film Review: Jason Bateman & Rachel McAdams Score on ‘Game Night’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 24, 2018 - 12:15pmCHICAGO – A game cast elevates what is otherwise a bit of a ho hum affair in the action comedy “Game Night.” Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams are a middle class couple hosting weekly game nights with a group of good friends. But when Bateman’s competitive venture capitalist older brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler) comes to town, he promises to take game night up a notch.
Film Review: ‘Office Christmas Party’ is Just Ho-Hum Humbug
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 8, 2016 - 9:45pm- Abbey Lee
- Adrian Martinez
- Ben Falcone
- Courtney B. Vance
- Dan Mazer
- Fortune Feistier
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Jamie Chung
- Jason Bateman
- Jennifer Aniston
- Jillian Bell
- Josh Gordon
- Justin Malen
- Karan Soni
- Kate McKinnon
- Laura Solon
- Matt Walsh
- Movie Review
- Olivia Munn
- Paramount Pictures
- Randall Park
- Rob Corddry
- Sam Richardson
- Spike Walters
- T.J. Miller
- Vanessa Bayer
- Will Speck
CHICAGO – “Office Christmas Party” summons up a few jolly ho-ho-ho’s, but can’t quite deliver even one decent belly laugh you’d expect, considering the talented cast chock full of funny folks. It’s halfway decent premise is drowned in a sea of unfulfilled potential and weak material that the ensemble can only do so much to save.
Interview: Co-Directors Josh Gordon & Will Speck Invite All to ‘Office Christmas Party’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 7, 2016 - 2:00pmCHICAGO – The raucous party movie has become a reliable staple in movieland, and now a production tackles the holiday soiré, and all that can go wrong. “Office Christmas Party” is co-directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck, who also gave us “Blades of Glory” and “The Switch.”
Film Review: ‘Zootopia’ is an Odd But Endearing Disney Animated Film
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 4, 2016 - 6:12amCHICAGO – Walt Disney Studio’s latest animated extravaganza is best viewed as a child’s introduction to the buddy cop movie, since you can’t exactly start a toddler on “Midnight Run” or “Lethal Weapon 2.” But in this case it’s a bunny cop movie.
Film Review: Joel Edgerton’s Directorial Debut ‘The Gift’ Shows Psychological Thriller Promise
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on August 10, 2015 - 11:35pmCHICAGO – Of the various genres of films, the psychological thriller is one of my holy grails. A story that highlights the psychology of its characters and their wobbly emotional states, few modern filmmakers dare to compete with the masterminds – Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, David Lynch and more recently David Fincher and Darren Aronofsky – or fail when trying to.
HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 50 Pairs of Passes to ‘Horrible Bosses 2’ With Jason Bateman
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on November 16, 2014 - 4:46pm- Adam Fendelman
- Brendan Hunt
- Brianne Howey
- Charlie Day
- Chris Pine
- Christoph Waltz
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film
- Horrible Bosses
- Horrible Bosses 2
- Jason Bateman
- Jason Sudeikis
- Jennifer Aniston
- Keeley Hazell
- Kelly Stables
- Kevin Spacey
- Sean Anders
- Suzy Nakamura
- Warner Bros.
CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 pairs of advance-screening movie passes up for grabs to the highly anticipated comedy sequel “Horrible Bosses 2” starring Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis!
Film Review: Unoriginal, Unfunny ‘This is Where I Leave You’ a Poor Man’s ‘August: Osage County’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on September 19, 2014 - 9:02pmCHICAGO – Jason Bateman and an all-star cast got me there. The unfunny copycat story left me regretting it. If you don’t start with a solid plot that’s at least somewhat new, it doesn’t matter how many “A”-listers you throw into an ensemble. They’re just individuals doing the best they can with weak material.
HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 40 Pairs of Passes to ‘This is Where I Leave You’ With Jason Bateman
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on September 11, 2014 - 9:30pm- Aaron Lazar
- Abigail Spencer
- Adam Driver
- Adam Fendelman
- Ben Schwartz
- Connie Britton
- Corey Stoll
- Dax Shepard
- Debra Monk
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film
- Jane Fonda
- Jason Bateman
- Jonathan Tropper
- Kathryn Hahn
- Rose Byrne
- Shawn Levy
- This is Where I Leave You
- Timothy Olyphant
- Tina Fey
- Warner Bros.
CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 40 pairs of advance-screening movie passes up for grabs to the new dramatic comedy “This is Where I Leave You” starring Jason Bateman and Tina Fey!