Sean Bean

TV Review: ABC’s Inconsistent but Intriguing ‘Missing’ with Ashley Judd

Missing

CHICAGO – I’m right on the critical median with ABC’s “Missing.” On one hand, it’s inconsistent, poorly written, and kind of just silly. It’s tempting to dismiss like an overheated Lifetime movie. On the other hand, Ashley Judd is better than most Lifetime leads, the action is actually pretty tight, and I like the creative potential of a show that’s promised viewers that it will wrap up its first story in ten episodes. Which hand wins out? You decide.

Blu-ray Review: ‘Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season’ is One of Best TV-HD Releases to Date

Game of Thrones

CHICAGO – Being an entertainment critics calls for top ten lists in December of every year but I’ve always been someone who believes that these things are not written in stone. I don’t think there’s a single top ten for film or television that is the same today as on the day I wrote it. Oh, they’re close, but the fact is that not only do some things age better than others but sometimes it takes time to fully appreciate something or to realize one was incorrect the first time around.

TV News: HBO Renews ‘Game of Thrones’ For Second Season

Game of Thrones

CHICAGO – After only one episode, HBO has already decided to renew their highly-acclaimed “Game of Thrones” for a second season. We were just sent the press release from the network, touting the fantastic reviews, although the premiere’s numbers were a bit disappointing comparatively.

TV Review: HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ Merges Fantasy With Humanity

CHICAGOHBO has had waves of creative success including the one started by “The Sopranos” & “Sex and the City,” a later one peaked by “Deadwood” & “The Wire,” and now, a current one that began with “Boardwalk Empire,” continued through the final season of “Big Love,” crested with the masterful “Mildred Pierce,” and appears to have no sign of ebbing with the brilliant, mesmerizing “Game of Thrones.”

Blu-Ray Review: Silly ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief’

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

CHICAGO – The most notable thing about “Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” now available on Blu-ray and DVD, is that it probably still holds position as the most horribly-titled film of the year. As for the actual movie, it follows in the footsteps of years of films trying to become the next “Harry Potter” franchise and, comparably, makes out much better than disasters like “Eragon” or “The Seeker: The Dark is Rising,” but that’s faint praise indeed.

Blu-Ray Reviews: ‘Sharpe’s Challenge,’ ‘Sharpe’s Peril’ Are Our Delight

sharpes_thumb.jpg

CHICAGO – Sean Bean is an actor who naturally exudes menace. His dark squinting eyes always seem to be up to something, and surely assisted him in getting cast as the bad guy in a variety of blockbusters. While American moviegoers know him primarily for roles such as Jack Ryan’s adversary in “Patriot Games,” British audiences view Bean as their equivalent to a heroic Jack Ryan-type everyman, thanks to his portrayal of swashbuckling soldier Richard Sharpe.

‘Red Riding Trilogy’ Simultaneously Captivates, Infuriates

Red Riding Trilogy
HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 4.0/5.0
Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Much ink has been spilled about how HBO is at the forefront of made-for-TV filmmaking in the world, a fact already demonstrated this year by the brilliant biopic “Temple Grandin” and the stellar WWII mini-series, “The Pacific.” Yet Britain’s Channel 4 deserves just as much attention and praise for producing the “Red Riding” trilogy, which has been routinely compared to HBO’s classic series, “The Wire.”

Blu-Ray Round Up, Feb. 26, 2009: ‘Futurama,’ ‘Ronin,’ ‘Vanishing Point’

Futurama

CHICAGO – Still trying to get over an Oscar hangover? There’s no better way to deflate the pomposity of awards season than with a wicked car chase. Of course, one of the best of all time hit Blu-Ray this week in the controversial Blu-Ray release of “The French Connection,” but the same studio also released another pair of movies dedicated to automobile aficionados and an animated sci-fi comedy when all the metal destruction gets too much to take.

Syndicate content

User Login

Free Giveaway Mailing

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.

Advertisement



HollywoodChicago.com on Twitter

archive

HollywoodChicago.com Top Ten Discussions
tracker