Stephen Root

CHICAGO – The newly released “Paint” film offers an amiable enough premise that’s amusing in a two minute trailer, but entirely out of gas 20 minutes into the story, and then plods around for a whole other hour. While it’s hard to hate it, but I don’t think my time was very well spent either.

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on October 6th, 2022, reviewing “To Leslie,” a story of redemption featuring Andrea Riseborough, currently in select theaters and through Video On Demand.

CHICAGO – The rising star of actor Andrea Riseborough is showcased in another notable film “To Leslie,” releasing in select theaters – including Chicago’s Music Box Theatre – and through Video-On-Demand on October 7th, 2022. Producer Ceci Cleary talked to HollywoodChicago.com about the film.

CHICAGO – The 9th Chicago Critics Film Festival (CCFF) is rolling right along as the second night will feature “To Leslie,” a redemption film that features an excellent Andrea Risborough, directed by Michael Morris and produced by BluewaterLane Productions, who are represented by producer Ceci Cleary. The Fest continues through May 19th, click CCFF for schedule and ticket info.

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on April 29th, 2021, reviewing the new film “Four Good Days” in theaters (check local listings) beginning April 30th.

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on December 3rd, 2020, reviewing the new film “Uncle Frank,” now streaming on Amazon Prime.

CHICAGO – Many heroes of America toiled long behind the scenes to break the chains of oppression. For every Susan Anthony or Martin Luther King Jr. there were the activists, legal experts and volunteers who sought the justice denied to them by the archaic patriarchal society. One such hero is Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the film “On the Basis of Sex.”

CHICAGO – Melissa McCarthy is a comedic force to be reckoned with, able to wring laughs improbably out of the stingiest of material. She always manages to find the funny, which helps elevate everyone around her, and so she slips easily in the durable friendly constructs of the campus comedy in “Life Of The Party.”

CHICAGO – When he got his chance, writer/director Jordan Peele (“Key & Peele”) completely understood what he had to do – combine his skewered hilarity, love of horror movies and true social conscience, and put them all into one great movie. Ladies and germs, “Get Out.”

CHICAGO – In these difficult times, we flat out need a belly laugh. The timing of “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates” couldn’t be better, because this group of comic actors and this movie provides a respite of hilarious joy. By simply exploiting the truth of the based-on-a-real-story premise, “Mike and Dave” is the type of farce that anybody can relate to, and laugh at gratefully.