Willem Dafoe

CHICAGO – The director debut is the flourishing element of any film festival, and the Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) has always been a nurturing place for the latest cinema talent. “Pet Shop Days” is the debut of director and co-writer Olmo Schnabel, and screened at the 59th CIFF.

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review for the newly released “Inside,” an unusual tour de force for actor Willem Dafoe, put into a situation that confines his reality. Currently in theaters, since March 17th.

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on December 16th, 2021, reviewing the film noir remake of “Nightmare Alley,’ directed by Guillermo del Toro, in theaters on December 17th, 2021.


CHICAGO – Another member of the notable Pritzker family has been making a name, in this instance the film business. Gigi Pritzker is a veteran producer who has guided films like “Drive,” “The Way Way Back” and “Hell or High Water.” She walked the Red Carpet on Opening Night (October 16th, 2019) of the 55th Chicago International Film Festival for her new film as producer, “Motherless Brooklyn.”

CHICAGO – The 55th Chicago International Film Festival Opening Night presents one of the most anticipated films of the Fall awards season. “Motherless Brooklyn” is adapted for the screen (from a novel), directed by and features actor Edward Norton. The rest of the powerhouse cast includes Bruce Willis, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Willem Dafoe, Alec Baldwin, Bobby Cannavale and Leslie Mann.

CHICAGO – The dripping sound of water you will hear this upcoming weekend will be the tears of DC Comics fans, as they cry from frustration over the latest cinema hit job on one of the Super-Friends. The tepid and overlong “Aquaman” is another hero movie that tries to combine origin story and “first case” adventure, and fails at both.

CHICAGO – In the frozen emotional landscape of America, where mass shootings have become as regular as the sunrise, what better symbol for this madness is there than a pop star? Natalie Portman is that singer in “Vox Lux,” a victim and a perpetrator in the sin of mass death, and the soundtrack of gunfire.

CHICAGO – “Murder On The Orient Express” is a movie that is never quite as interesting as the main character’s mustache. Kenneth Branagh directs and stars as Agatha Christie’s most famous detective, Hercule Poirot. While it is a departure from the source novel, Branagh sports silver streak facial hair of audacious eccentricity.

CHICAGO – It’s an epidemic in America, and it exists in a gray area that is not as prominent as other socio-economic issues. It is the “hidden homeless,” and the problem is uniquely defined as individuals who live week-to-week in cheap hotels, shelters and SROs, one circumstance away from being officially homeless. Writer/director Sean Baker takes this subject on in a stark-but-accessible narrative film called “The Florida Project.”

CHICAGO – Taking a concept higher than the Wall that inspired it, and mostly succeeding, “The Great Wall” gets a nod as one of the oddest stories in a long time. Pre-supposedly based on a “legend,” it brings Matt Damon into ancient China to help battle lizard monsters at the Great Wall. Book it.