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
Something’s Gotta Give With T.I., Matt Dillon in ‘Takers’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 27, 2010 - 6:38am Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The ensemble cast is decent, the story fits the action/adventure essence of the heist film and one of the hottest music stars of the moment, Tip “T.I.” Harris, has a prominent role. Then why is the new film “Takers” such a seen-it-all-before exercise in action blandness? It feels like a total waste of all those resources.
Vincent Cassel Gives Riveting Performance in ‘Mesrine: Killer Instinct’
Submitted by BrianTT on August 26, 2010 - 7:36pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The film around its riveting central performance may be a little more flawed than the entire project’s international reputation would have you believe but Vincent Cassel alone makes a trip to “Mesrine: Killer Instinct” worth the time and emotional effort. Be warned that this is not a crime epic for the faint of heart and those who have difficulty with an anti-hero protagonist may be turned off but those attuned to this kind of storytelling will find a lot to like here.
Ridiculous ‘Piranha 3D’ Attempts Record For 3D Gore
Submitted by BrianTT on August 20, 2010 - 3:36pmRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – With a record-setting approach to bare breasts and bloodied bodies, Alexandre Aja’s “Piranha 3D” is a ridiculous gore-fest that falls completely flat in terms of character, dialogue, and logic but pops off the screen in the areas in which it really counts for a movie about prehistoric man-eating fish. It’s far-from-perfect and could have been with a few tweaks but “Piranha 3D” is off-the-rails crazy in all the ways that someone buying a ticket to a three-dimensional gore-o-rama wants what’s presented to them to be off-the-rails crazy.
‘Cairo Time’ Bests Season’s Female-Centric Blockbusters
Submitted by mattmovieman on August 20, 2010 - 9:13am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – A delicious sip of tea, a cool fragrant breeze, a stroll through a gorgeous foreign landscape. These are but a few of the sensations moviegoers will experience in “Cairo Time,” a deceptively simple, tenderly lyrical love story that is quite simply the most refreshing cinematic surprise of the season. I don’t want to overpraise this lovely little morsel. It’s meant to be savored, and has a rich aftertaste.
‘Mao’s Last Dancer’ Performs Strictly on Autopilot
Submitted by mattmovieman on August 20, 2010 - 8:51am Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – World-renowned dancer Li Cunxin’s autobiography, “Mao’s Last Dancer,” has been transformed into the type of unimaginative, sentimental tear-jerker that will only move viewers who’ve never seen (or heard of) a movie before. It doesn’t adapt Li’s autobiography so much as stage the SparkNotes version.
Guy Pearce Delves Into Corruption in Riveting 'Animal Kingdom'
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 20, 2010 - 5:58amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The thin line between anarchy and social peace is shriveling into a microscopic blur as sentencing and incarceration become increasingly less effective as a deterrent. The human side of this perspective is explored with an artistic elegance, featuring Guy Pearce in writer/director David Michôd’s “Animal Kingdom.”
Ambition, Ingenuity Win Fight of ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’
Submitted by BrianTT on August 13, 2010 - 3:04pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Working from the graphic novels by Brian Lee O’Malley, Edgar Wright and Michael Cera deliver one of the most unique films of the year in the comeic-book/romance/comedy/video-game/pop-art/action/musical “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.” You won’t see anything like this again for a long time. It’s an imperfect film that can get downright frustrating but it displays enough flashes of genius to warrant your time and demand your forgiveness of flaws.
Julia Roberts Learns How to ‘Eat Pray Love’
Submitted by BrianTT on August 13, 2010 - 2:28pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Despite its flaws, the often-beautiful “Eat Pray Love,” starring Julia Roberts, works because it refuses to talk down to its audience. This is the rare “chick flick” that treats its demographic with respect, never becoming the sentimental or manipulative dreck that so many other filmmakers would have delivered from Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestselling memoirs.
Kevin Kline, John C. Reilly Are Eccentric New Yorkers in ‘The Extra Man’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 13, 2010 - 7:08amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The beauty of watching creative character actors like Kevin Kline and John C. Reilly is that they seem to revel in the craft of embodying their roles. In “The Extra Man,” they both take a trippy and literate script and apply some additional magic that helps to flesh out a young man’s journey into the heart of Manhattan.
Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham Are Halfway in ‘The Expendables’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 13, 2010 - 5:57am Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Seeing them all together was fun. Enduring some macho joshing, even in the form of stiff dialogue, was tolerable. But doing a bad, boring action movie with Sylvester Stallone trying to prop up his “legacy” was sadly too much to bear. Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger are among “The Expendables.”
Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek Elevate Drama ‘Get Low’
Submitted by BrianTT on August 6, 2010 - 4:30pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – What could possibly drive a man into such a deep pit of despair that he would choose to break from society and take on the life of a hermit? The mystery of such a decision is the driving force behind Aaron Schneider’s “Get Low,” a based-on-a-true-story drama that has already earned Oscar buzz for star Rubert Duvall and praise for co-stars Bill Murray, Sissy Spacek, Lucas Black, and Bill Cobbs.
‘Life During Wartime’ Provides Haunting Coda to ‘Happiness’
Submitted by BrianTT on August 6, 2010 - 1:16pmRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Todd Solondz’s 1998 masterpiece, “Happiness,” is the darkest American comedy ever made. It’s so brutal and uncompromising that it calls into question the very definition of comedy. When one character explains to her sister that she isn’t laughing at her, but with her, the sister responds, “But I’m not laughing.” Solondz isn’t laughing either.
Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg Partner in Cop Farce ‘The Other Guys’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 6, 2010 - 5:29amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – While a cop film take-off is filed under the fish-in-a-barrel category, writer/director Adam McKay manages to spin some absurd gold threads into the thin blue cloth. In other words, Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg are damn funny in this all-in cop farce, with enough familiar co-star support to prop up the whole enchilada.
