CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio review for the doc series “Charlie Hustle & the Matter of Pete Rose,” about the rise and bitter fall of the major league legend, the MLB’s all-time hits leader, only to be banned from the sport because of gambling. Streaming on MAX and on HBO since July 24th.
HollywoodChicago.com Movie Reviews
Oscar-Winning ‘The Secret in Their Eyes’ Peers Into Argentina’s Past
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 23, 2010 - 7:02pm Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The 2009 Best Foreign Language Film, the compelling “The Secret in Their Eyes” from Argentina, explores a corrupt past with a longing and regret, through characters who seek to rectify their bygone days.
‘The Girl on the Train’ Favors Character Study Over Social Commentary
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 23, 2010 - 10:09am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Here’s a film that pulls off the tricky feat of moving quickly while taking its time. Like its rollerblading protagonist, “The Girl on the Train” is constantly on the move, hurtling headfirst into a series of interlocking relationships.
No Redeeming Quality to Jennifer Lopez’s ‘The Back-up Plan’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 23, 2010 - 9:30am Rating: 0.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “The Back-up Plan,” starring Jennifer Lopez, is spectacularly bad. Filled with leaden, supposedly comedic lines, stupid generalities and no basis in reality, this film ranks first in class for worst of 2010 so far.
Akira Kurosawa’s ‘Ran’ a Must-See on the Big Screen
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 19, 2010 - 6:00pm Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Of all the cinematic variations on Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” Akira Kurosawa’s “Ran” is one of the few that, dare I say, improves on the Bard’s original blueprint.
‘The Perfect Game’ Proves That Baseball Fiction is Duller Than Truth
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 19, 2010 - 1:43pm Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The 1957 Little League team from Monterrey, Mexico, was the first non-U.S. team to win that league’s World Series. That is a fact. “The Perfect Game” creates a story based on that fact that is as improbable as a team from Mars winning the big game.
‘Dancing Across Borders’ Documents a Man’s Bittersweet Triumph
Submitted by BrianTT on April 16, 2010 - 8:19pm Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – It’s rather serendipitous that the new film “Dancing Across Borders” will have it’s Chicago premiere at the Gene Siskel Film Center, which is literally around the corner from the Oriental Theater’s production of “Billy Elliot.”
Wildly Entertaining ‘Kick-Ass’ Lives Up to Its Title
Submitted by BrianTT on April 16, 2010 - 8:07pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – With a half dozen superhero movies every year that feel as if they were created by a Hollywood blockbuster machine, it’s so refreshing to see one with its own distinct, subversive personality like Matthew Vaughn’s “Kick-Ass”.
David Duchovny, Demi Moore Can’t Keep Up With ‘The Joneses’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 16, 2010 - 7:00amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Introduced with one of the easier movie pundit headlines ever, “The Joneses” indeed cannot keep up with itself, despite a sharp script and the plausible efforts of David Duchovny and Demi Moore.
Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence Are Stiff in Tepid ‘Death at a Funeral’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 16, 2010 - 6:38amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – When some of the funniest comedians in the business – Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Tracy Morgan – can’t deliver a absurdist comedy about family secrets, then there truly is “Death at a Funeral.”
‘The Eclipse’ Blends Human Drama With Spooky Horror
Submitted by BrianTT on April 15, 2010 - 7:13pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – I often find that the most interesting characters in a ghost story are not the ghosts themselves, but the humans who encounter them. Ghosts are reflections of a past we are unwilling to depart from, even if it halts us from entering the future. It’s a consolation for us to believe that our departed loved ones view us as their “unfinished business.”
‘My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done’ Inspires Genuine Head-Scratching
Submitted by BrianTT on April 14, 2010 - 10:58am Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – When David Lynch came to Chicago for an “Inland Empire” screening back in 2007, he offered memorable advice to a moviegoer baffled by his work. He said that his audience should meditate not on the “intellectual experience” provided by his films, but the emotional ideas that they conjure.
Annoyingly Inept ‘After.Life’ Bores Audience to Death
Submitted by BrianTT on April 9, 2010 - 10:34am Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “After.Life” is one of the first truly awful films of 2010. Its aggressive solemnity combined with its head-slapping silliness will cause most viewers to simply laugh it off the screen. There’s at least two possible ways to interpret its murky story, and they’re both ludicrous.
Touching ‘The Greatest’ With Carey Mulligan Transcends Melodrama
Submitted by BrianTT on April 9, 2010 - 10:16amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The surprisingly good “The Greatest” opens and closes with two very different car rides — one silent and mournful and one loud and full of laughter; one on the way from death and one on the way to life. They are bookends for a well-performed tearjerker of the kind that mostly transcends its melodramatic set-up to become something genuinely moving.
