CHICAGO – In anticipation of the scariest week of the year, HollywoodChicago.com launches its 2024 Movie Gifts series, which will suggest DVDs and collections for holiday giving.
HollywoodChicago.com Movie Reviews
‘It’s Kind of a Funny Story’ Coasts on the Charm of its Cast
Submitted by mattmovieman on October 8, 2010 - 6:36am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Though “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” is the third feature film from Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, it’s the duo’s first picture that feels like it was made by first-time filmmakers. While their previous two features, “Half Nelson” and “Sugar,’ were entrenched in documentary realism and exuded the assurance and nuance of master filmmakers, this latest effort feels oddly programmed for mainstream consumption.
Diane Lane a Champion in Literal Horse Opera ‘Secretariat’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 8, 2010 - 1:45am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In real life, we cling to the notion that the inconceivable can happen, that magical probability can penetrate the mendacity of everyday existence, but it rarely if ever happens. That is what makes the new film “Secretariat” so appealing, that 37 years ago the impossible did happen, through the heart of a horse and his believers. Diane Lane and John Malkovich lead the charge.
James Franco as Allen Ginsberg Unleashes a Primal Scream in ‘Howl’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 1, 2010 - 10:29am Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked…” So began the reading of Allen Ginsberg’s poem that rattled society, the very title of which is the inspiration for the new film, “Howl,” featuring James Franco, Jon Hamm and Mary Louise-Parker.
American Education is on Alert in ‘Waiting For Superman’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 1, 2010 - 10:05amRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Every Child Left Behind” could be the subtitle of this stunning new documentary, “Waiting for Superman,” directed by Davis Guggenheim, the helmsman of another major doc, “An Inconvenient Truth.” The other truth in this new film is that the American system of public schooling is bent and broken in many places, risking our very future.
‘Case 39’ With Renee Zellweger Should Have Remained Closed
Submitted by BrianTT on October 1, 2010 - 8:10am Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – A film where a little girl screams as her foster parents attempt to brutally murder her can be a tough sell to theater owners. Perhaps that’s why Paramount’s “Case 39” with Renee Zellweger and Bradley Cooper has been sitting on studio shelves for years since it closed production in 2006. How do you market a film that chooses to turn the world of foster parenting into a horror thriller? Why make it in the first place?
Harrowing ‘Let Me In’ Stands Tall Next to Original
Submitted by BrianTT on October 1, 2010 - 7:37am Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Believing all remakes are pointless is as narrow-minded as suggesting that they’re all worthwhile. It’s not an all-or-nothing proposition. Like a fantastic cover version of an amazing song, there can be room for more than one cinematic interpretation of the same story.
‘A Film Unfinished’ Explores the Complexity of Imagery
Submitted by mattmovieman on October 1, 2010 - 6:49am Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The power of a single image is often far greater than any amount of written words. In a culture as visually over-saturated as our own, it’s so easy to take images for granted. Our days are too hectic, and our minds are too cluttered to view every piece of footage filtered down to us from the mainstream media with the same critical eye and healthy dose of skepticism.
David Fincher’s ‘The Social Network’ is a Rare Masterpiece
Submitted by BrianTT on September 30, 2010 - 2:11pmRating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – So many recent films have been called “masterpieces” by critics that the word doesn’t have the power that it once did. And yet there’s sometimes no better way to describe a film. David Fincher’s “The Social Network,” starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, and Justin Timberlake is a masterpiece.
Whole Truth Becomes a Modern-Era Reality in ‘Catfish’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 24, 2010 - 6:05pmRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Catfish” is a real oddball of a film, set in the Twilight Zone of our own virtual cyberspace. Three twentysomething men navigate through the mysterious rigors of a journey they never expected to take. Nev Schulman is the main subject and directors Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost provide the video exposition in this true story.
Philip Seymour Hoffman Stars in Directorial Debut ‘Jack Goes Boating’
Submitted by BrianTT on September 24, 2010 - 10:00amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – One of the best working actors takes his skills behind camera in Philip Seymour Hoffman’s “Jack Goes Boating,” a character drama about one couple forming as another relationship falls apart at the same time. This gentle story of modern relationships is a subtle, slow-moving drama of moments and repercussions that works due to the talents of its cast and quality of its source material despite a few notable flaws.
Shia LaBeouf, Michael Douglas Drive Energetic ‘Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps’
Submitted by BrianTT on September 24, 2010 - 8:29amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – After a string of disappointments that include “Alexander,” “World Trade Center” and “W,” one of the best directors of the 1980s and 1990s at least draws closer to form with the entertaining “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”. The film is a great vehicle for Shia LaBeouf, Josh Brolin and Michael Douglas that occasionally disappoints but crackles more often than it fizzles.
‘Enter the Void’ Takes Viewers on the Next Ultimate Trip
Submitted by mattmovieman on September 24, 2010 - 7:26amRating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Dying would be the ultimate trip.” This line is uttered early on in “Enter the Void,” the extraordinary new film from Gaspar Noé, a director who enjoys referencing his previous work almost as much as his hero, Stanley Kubrick. This line pays subtle homage to the “2001: A Space Odyssey” poster prominently framed toward the end of Noé’s previous film, “Irreversible.”
Ryan Reynolds Gets Beneath it in Tense Thriller ‘Buried’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 24, 2010 - 6:21amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In one of the most unusual settings for a film, actor Ryan Reynolds performs as a one-man tour de force as the only on-screen character in the new film “Buried.” Set in a coffin buried beneath the sands of Iraq, Reynolds conveys the panic, hope and inevitable outcome of a man buried alive and fighting for his very existence.
