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.
Vincent D’Onofrio
On-Air Film Review: ‘Dumb Money’ Has a Bunch of Smart Ass-ets
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 28, 2023 - 9:53amCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on September 21st, 2023, reviewing “Dumb Money,” featuring Paul Dano as Keith Gill, a rogue stock trader. Opening in theaters everywhere September 29th.
Red-Carpet Interview: Gene Siskel Film Center Honors Ethan Hawke
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 19, 2018 - 12:13pm- Actor
- Before Sunrise
- Blaze
- Boyhood
- Chicago
- Dead Poet’s Society
- Director
- Ethan Hawke
- First Reformed
- Full Metal Jacket
- Gene Siskel Film Center
- Ghost Wars
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Interview
- Law & Order: Criminal Intent
- Men in Black
- Patrick McDonald
- Podcast
- Podtalk
- Red Carpet
- Renaissance Award
- Richard Linklater
- School of the Art Institute
- Training Day
- Vincent D’Onofrio
CHICAGO – Ethan Hawke has made 2018 his year, and on June 7th the Gene Siskel Film Center of Chicago recognized his recent artistic achievements and his career by honoring him with their annual Renaissance Award. The event included a Red Carpet walk, and an on-stage talk with his friend, actor Vincent D’Onofrio.
Film Review: Vigilante Overkill Defines Ultra-Violent ‘Death Wish’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 2, 2018 - 10:27amCHICAGO – Man, talk about bad timing. With the Stoneman Douglas shootings still making news, America will now entertain itself with a vigilante doctor shooting anything he sees? Yeesh. Bruce Willis is game in the watchable-but-ultra-violent “Death Wish.”
Film Review: ‘The Magnificent Seven’ is How the Western Was Lost
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 23, 2016 - 6:20pmCHICAGO – The appeal of Westerns was mostly lost on me when I was younger. The tales of these hypermasculine wanderers, answering every problem with a gun, never appealed to me. When I got older, I discovered their messages of honor and self-defense against corruption. The genre proved it could be more than one-liners and shootouts, but “The Magnificent Seven” set out to be only that.
Film Review: Inauthentic ‘The Judge’ Guilty of a Stale Confrontation
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 11, 2014 - 6:20pmCHICAGO – Here comes “The Judge,” here comes “The Judge.” That 1960s catchphrase gets new meaning in the film featuring Robert Downey Jr. and veteran Robert Duvall, in a angry generational face-off that makes little sense and provides a stiff courtroom drama that felt like bad TV.
Exclusive Portrait: ‘The Judge’ Star Robert Downey Jr. at 50th Chicago International Film Festival
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 6, 2014 - 8:05amCHICAGO – The 2014 and 50th Chicago International Film Festival kicks off this week on October 9th, and had a Chicago Red Carpet preview on October 5th with the new film “The Judge,” starring Robert Downey Jr. and directed by David Dobkin.
Film Review: Two Old Dogs Prove Very Entertaining in ‘Escape Plan’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 18, 2013 - 5:55pmCHICAGO – Great action movies have one truth in common – they mix their face-offs with a psychological battle, which complements the pyrotechnics of invincible super humans. “Escape Plan,” with grizzled veterans Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, is true to that form.
