Nick Allen

Blu-ray Review: Steven Spielberg’s Progressive Slave Drama ‘Amistad’

Amistad

CHICAGO – Before Hollywood grappled with the unforgiving intensity of “12 Years a Slave,” they championed Steven Spielberg’s powerful film “Amistad,” years earlier, now available for the first time on Blu-ray. Densely comparing the movies is a difficult task considering their different perspectives, but they do stand as interesting bookends with how Hollywood has dealt with the American atrocity of slavery in their films.

DVD Review: Criterion Release of 1960s Italian Road Trip Film ‘Il Sorpasso’

Il Sorpasso, Criterion Collection

CHICAGO – With the recent popularity of road trip movies in both mainstream films and the art house, it is a fitting pleasure that the Criterion Collection has released Dino Risi’s “Il Sorpasso,” a jazzy road trip movie that takes the story structure to its basics. Two opposing types meet unexpectedly, travel to random exotic locations, and interact with people who are rest stops in themselves.

Film Review: Dark, Stunning Tale of American Dream in ‘The Immigrant’

CHICAGO – Just in time for a national holiday is the release of two films about surviving as “the outsider” in a tumultuous American society. “X-Men: Days of Future Past” isn’t the only movie that opines about how the outsider will survive in America.

Blu-ray Review: Teen Horror Comedy ‘Vampire Academy’ Fine for Fans

Vampire Academy from Mean Girls director

CHICAGO – Mark Waters’ “Vampire Academy” is one of the more toothless attempts to make a “fetch” bloodsucker movie for the middle-high school crowd, to use a phrase from his revered teen comedy “Mean Girls”. Based on the six book series written by Rachelle Mead (which has sold 8 million copies worldwide) “Vampire Academy” the movie tackles teenage friendship in the chaos of high school with the same type of Waters’ “I’m not like a regular mom, I’m a cool mom” distance, but with even softer gloves.

Film Review: Jon Favreau’s Anti-Popcorn Project ‘Chef’ Still Mild

CHICAGO – By the time of his 2011 box office blitzkrieg otherwise known as “Cowboys & Aliens,” the product that indie director-turned-Hollywood habitue Jon Favreau had been hocking as a “popcorn salesman” had gone stale – to use a showbiz term from Nicholas Ray’s” In A Lonely Place”.

Blu-ray Review: Fan Service ‘Veronica Mars’ Returns Home

Veronica Mars

CHICAGO – A TV movie for the silver screen, “Veronica Mars” is a historical film that was Kickstarted into existence by the will of 91,585 backers. Now, it stands like a crossroads in the intersection between TV and film, showing that what may work in TV doesn’t necessarily make for a great film.

Blu-ray Review: ‘August: Osage County’ is a Rusty Family Drama

August: Osage County

CHICAGO – John Wells’ adaptation of Tracy Letts’ “August: Osage County” is a movie that fell off the radar in 2013 during the busiest time of the year. When we were all caught up in narratives of lone survival, or tales of how this country was morally eroded by financial excess, this loud ode to miserable family gatherings moved into theaters, scooped up a couple of Oscar nominations for its revered talent (Meryl Streep & Julia Roberts), and then vanished.

Film Review: Chaotic Comedy ‘Moms’ Night Out’ Has Wholesome Content, Toxic Attitude

Moms' Night Out

CHICAGO – Liberty is a concept expressed only in irony with “Moms’ Night Out,” a female-driven minivan comedy that instructs ultimately to listen to thy husband for it is Biblical, even if thy husband is a child himself. Like sad Mitt Romney and his chocolate milk, this PG-romp is a brief walk on the wild side from the rules that await at the end of the night.

6 Reasons You Can’t Miss the 2014 Chicago Critics Film Festival

CHICAGO – The Chicago Critics Film Festival (CCFF) is a match made in Chicago heaven for those who treasure film 365 days a year. The Music Box Theater famously claims to be a year-round festival. By no coincidence, many of these Chicago critic guest hosts are such rampant moviegoers it’s like they’re trapped in their own perennial festival.

Film Review: Tom Hardy Drives for His Life in Minimalist Thriller ‘Locke’

CHICAGO – The de facto dazzle of isolated survival movies, regardless of their special effects, comes from pulling off their most impressive practical stunt: envisioning yet deconstructing high stakes drama with alternative spare plot resources, while featuring only a few on-screen characters, if even more than two. Though it entails Tom Hardy taking phone calls while safely driving at night on the highway (and if we’re talking straight arc, it’s only that), “Locke” is a movie that continues minimalism’s deconstruction of the large scope expectations audiences have for their thrill rides.

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TV, DVD, BLU-RAY & THEATER REVIEWS

  • Manhunt

    CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.

  • Topdog/Underdog, Invictus Theatre

    CHICAGO – When two brothers confront the sins of each other and it expands into a psychology of an entire race, it’s at a stage play found in Chicago’s Invictus Theatre Company production of “Topdog/Underdog,” now at their new home at the Windy City Playhouse through March 31st, 2024. Click TD/UD for tickets/info.

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