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.
HollywoodChicago.com Arts & Entertainment News
Blu-Ray Review: ‘Zodiac: Director’s Cut’ Perfectly Enhances Great Movie
Submitted by BrianTT on February 2, 2009 - 8:59am Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Those who chose HD-DVD during the next-generation format war already know the quality of Paramount’s “Zodiac: Director’s Cut” and now one of the most remarkable releases of the last few years has finally been imported to Blu-Ray.
Clever ‘Chuck’ Returns With Fun 3D Episode
Submitted by BrianTT on February 2, 2009 - 8:57am Television Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – NBC’s “Chuck” returns this week with a clever 3D episode with guest appearances by Dominic Monaghan (“Lost”) and former NFL star Jerome Bettis and featuring most of what works about this reliably fun show.
Fifth Season of ‘Medium’ Opens With Average Pair of Episodes
Submitted by BrianTT on February 2, 2009 - 8:51am Television Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Medium” is like TV comfort food. NBC’s paranormal mystery will never break new ground but is almost always entertaining. Each episode and overall season has a way of blending into each other, but there’s something comforting about a Monday night staple that is, at the very least, consistently satisfactory and sometimes better.
Screenshots, Teaser Trailer Surface For Michael Bay Sequel ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’
Submitted by BrianTT on February 1, 2009 - 1:41pmCHICAGO – An unofficial “Transformers 2” blog broke the teaser trailer Sunday morning for the highly anticipated sequel “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” with an option to download it in high-definition and analysis of screenshots from the film starring Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox and Optimus Prime.
Open Casting Call in Canada Confirmed For ‘Twilight’ Sequel ‘New Moon’
Submitted by BrianTT on February 1, 2009 - 1:05pmSet Photo: ‘Couples Retreat’ Star Vince Vaughn at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on February 1, 2009 - 12:46pmCHICAGO – After being tipped off on Jan. 28, 2009 from a reliable HollywoodChicago.com source that “Couples Retreat” with Vince Vaughn, Kristen Bell, Malin Akerman, Jason Bateman, Kristin Davis and Jon Favreau (who also wrote the film, directed “Iron Man” and will direct “Iron Man 2” in 2010) would be filming in Chicago, we have now confirmed this information and have a Vince Vaughn set photo so you can visualize the scene.
Elizabeth Stanley Lifts ‘Xanadu’ to Place Where Nobody Dared to Go
Submitted by Alissa Norby on January 31, 2009 - 7:34pm Play Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – If classics such as “A Chorus Line” and “Les Miserables” willfully suggest the existence of a secured, calculated recipe for a Broadway hit, Christopher Ashley’s “Xanadu” is a concoction that has once again gleefully tipped over this admittedly elusive boiling pot.
Post Super Bowl Edition of ‘The Office’ Scores Comedy Field Goal
Submitted by BrianTT on January 30, 2009 - 9:14amTelevision Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – What a network chooses to put in its post-Super Bowl spot says a lot about what they are most commercially and creatively confident about on their schedule.
Liam Neeson Elevates Above-Average Action Movie ‘Taken’
Submitted by BrianTT on January 30, 2009 - 8:25amCHICAGO – Bringing the same screen presence and gravity that he has to more serious roles like those in “Schindler’s List” and “Kinsey,” Liam Neeson turns the relatively generic “Taken” into an above-average action movie that should prove a surprising alternative for movie goers looking for a break from Super Bowl coverage this weekend.
Video Game Review: ‘LOTR: Conquest’ Fails to Live Up to Name
Submitted by BrianTT on January 29, 2009 - 10:08am Video Game Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Instead of the strategy title that it could have been, “LOTR: Conquest” is just another button-masher, a game that banks off the goodwill of one of the most successful franchises of all time but does nothing worthwhile with it.
Blu-Ray Review: Go Back to Camp Crystal Lake With ‘Friday the 13th: Uncut’
Submitted by BrianTT on January 29, 2009 - 9:56am Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Every time a movie gets remade, you can expect the original to appear in some varying degree of “special” edition on the home market. A week-and-a-half from the Michael Bay produced and Marcus Nispel remake of “Friday the 13th,” Paramount has unleashed deluxe editions of the original on Blu-Ray and the first two sequels on DVD.
Blu-Ray Review: ‘Max Payne’ is Like Watching Someone Else Play Video Games
Submitted by BrianTT on January 29, 2009 - 9:47am Blu-Ray Rating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – It can be so easy to waste multiple hours, even days with great video games, and yet it is sometimes unbearable to sit through 90 minutes of the cinematic adaptation of the same concept. Such is the case with the abysmal “Max Payne,” yet another in a long line of video-game-to-screen disasters that continue to prove how little Hollywood thinks of gamers.
Exclusive Portrait: ‘New in Town’ Star Harry Connick Jr. in Chicago
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on January 28, 2009 - 11:03pmCHICAGO – Actor Harry Connick Jr. flashed the HollywoodChicago.com lens a welcoming smile while signing autographs for fans in the name of his new film “New in Town” on Jan. 28, 2009 at the Shops of North Bridge mall on downtown Chicago’s Michigan Avenue.
