CHICAGO – It began with a boy and his dream (nightmare?). John LaFlamboy, to be exact, as he took an idea he had in college and made it his life’s work. He owns and operates the HellsGate Haunted House in Lockport (Illinois), which was designed, built and put together by Haunted House experts expressly for the spookiest month of the year. For info on how to purchase tickets, click HellsGate.
Superhero
On-Air Feature: Expressing the Heroics in Superhero Movies
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 15, 2023 - 9:43amCHICAGO – Often on my weekly appearances on WGBR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin), there is a topic associated with that week’s reviews. I don’t usually publish them, but the result of May the 4th was special. Host Dan Baker and I did a ranking of our favorite superhero movies on “Guardians 3” release day, and the talk was lively and surprising.!—break—>
On-Air Film Review: The Resister’s Life for Thee in ‘RRR’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 16, 2022 - 4:38pmCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on The Eddie Volkman Show with Hannah B on WSSR-FM (Star 96.7 Joliet, Illinois) on December 9th, reviewing the worldwide sensation from India “RRR,” an action movie featuring love and country, currently streaming on Netflix.
On-Air TV Review: ‘Ms. Marvel’ Rewrites the Superhero Rules
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 25, 2022 - 12:53pmCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson, WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin), on June 23rd, 2022, reviewing the new streaming series “Ms Marvel,” a new kind of Marvel Universe superhero now streaming on Disney+.
Podtalk: Anna Ii-Epstein of ‘Nothing Without a Company’ Wonder Ball, June 1, 2019
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 31, 2019 - 1:36pmCHICAGO – The theater initiative “Nothing Without a Company” (NWaC) has a reputation for breaking the barriers between audience and actor, creating mystery in the far-flung Chicago locales they use as performance space. On Saturday, June 1st, 2019, they will bring this alchemy to their “Wonder Ball: Celebrate Your Inner Superhero” event, at Chicago Theater Works, 1113 West Belmont, Chicago. For details and tickets, click here.
Film Review: Too Much Wasted Time in M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Glass’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 18, 2019 - 5:18pmCHICAGO – Maybe inside filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan’s head, his latest film “Glass” works… all the elements of what we need to know about this sequel to MNS’s previous films “Split” and “Unbreakable” are within. However, what works inside the director’s head may not work for the audience, especially in the first half of the film.
Entertainment News: Stan Lee, of Marvel Comic Fame, Dies at 95
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 13, 2018 - 9:10amLOS ANGELES – The last of the great comic book creators has flown to the beyond. Stan Lee, who led the resurgence of comic book culture – especially in the movies – created legendary superheroes for Marvel Comics, including Spider-Man, Hulk, Black Panther and X-Men. Lee passed away at age 95 in Los Angeles on November 12th, 2018.
Film Review: ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ is a Marvel Entertainment Gem
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 25, 2016 - 8:15amCHICAGO – In doing “comic book” movies right, Marvel Entertainment has established a formula of decent back stories, complex villainy and probable scenarios. In continuing to tell a history of the second half of the 20th Century in “X-Men Apocalypse,” they also add a historical parallel universe that works.
Chicago Red Carpet: Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse in ‘Kick-Ass’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 19, 2010 - 1:30pmCHICAGO – There were flashbulbs and stars a-plenty last Thursday, April 15th, for the Red Carpet Chicago premiere of Kick-Ass. Lead superheroes Aaron Johnson (Kick-Ass) and Chloe Moretz (Hit-Girl) were at the Windy City opening night, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Red Mist) joined them at C2E2.
