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
French Film ‘Tell No One’ a Journey of Mystery Down Road of Twists, Turns
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on July 15, 2008 - 12:42am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The most perfect description for the new French suspense film “Tell No One” comes from the most unlikely source: a 1957 American film called “Sweet Smell of Success”.
Describing one of the characters in that film, one line observes that he has “more twists than a barrel of pretzels”. Take that barrel and put it through the zigzag of a taffy-pulling machine and those results might be able to straighten out the labyrinth of circumstances in “Tell No One”.
It’s Eddie Murphy Inside Eddie Murphy in Made-For-Children Sci-Fi Comedy ‘Meet Dave’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on July 14, 2008 - 3:27pm Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The longtime career of Eddie Murphy has lately taken an interesting turn.
After a meteoric career with huge box-office comedies, Murphy has steered toward more family oriented fare (“Daddy Day Care,” the “Shrek” movies, etc.) before his Oscar-nominated performance in “Dreamgirls”. After the stumble of 2007’s “Norbit,” Murphy has again returned this summer in kid-friendly mode with “Meet Dave”.
Jules Verne’s ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ With Brendan Fraser Stars Film’s 3-D Effects
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on July 13, 2008 - 10:59pm Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Jules Verne’s classic 1864 science-fiction novel “Journey to the Center of the Earth” has been adapted well in excess of a dozen times into films, radio and stage plays along with several made-for-TV movies and video games. It has even been adapted into two amusement-park rides.
Following ‘Pan’s Labyrinth,’ ‘Hellboy II: The Golden Army’ Regresses From Best to Worst For Guillermo del Toro
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on July 11, 2008 - 12:01amRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Hellboy is plugged as the world’s brawniest, kitten-loving superhero. While that paradox is supposed to be both funny and action packed, “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” from famed writer and director Guillermo del Toro falls flat on the funny front and instead winds up on the funny farm.
Superhero Film ‘Hancock’ With No Superhero Ancestry Proves Bold But Deadly Decision
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on July 2, 2008 - 3:19am Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – With superhero films as hot in 2008 as psychedelics were in the 1960s, the new blockbuster superhero film “Hancock” fits in with the label but without any of the ancestry.
Director Guy Maddin Contemplates His Canadian Hometown in Dreamlike ‘My Winnipeg’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on July 1, 2008 - 2:50am Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The distinct, gauzy style of director Guy Maddin has created unique cinematic prisms to look through including his depression-era meditation in “The Saddest Music in the World”.
In his latest film, which is a documentary of sorts, Maddin explores his own life through his hometown of Winnipeg in western Canada.
1960s-Era James Bond is Skewered in New Spoof ‘OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 27, 2008 - 2:32amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The heroic nature of the James Bond series of films begs several questions about his representation of western world power.
For one, just who did he act for and what was he fighting against? The new French film “OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies” attempts to answer this question through a subtle and sporadically funny satire, a skewering of the Bond image and geopolitics in the 1960s.
‘Wanted’ With Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy Concocts Curving Bullet in Gluttonously Entertaining Blockbuster
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 27, 2008 - 12:01amRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – With curving, clinking and kissing bullets, “Wanted” indeed does Chicago proud. And Angelina Jolie sells it. And Morgan Freeman is ominous. And in his body of work, James McAvoy – the star of this orgasmic summer blockbuster – becomes a man.
‘WALL-E’ Earns Accolade as 2008’s First Perfect Film, One of Best Pixar Films Ever
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 26, 2008 - 12:01am Rating: 5.0/5.0 (rarely perfect) |
CHICAGO – While perfection can be characterized in many ways, there’s only one way to define perfect in the world of film: a picture that has everything you could ask for with nothing you could cut. Though this is a highly unlikely proposition, “WALL-E” has become 2008’s first perfect film and one of the best Pixar projects of all time.
The Poor in China on River Without a Paddle in Documentary ‘Up the Yangtze’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 22, 2008 - 10:48pmRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – China is on the world’s mind. The once-mysterious communist “enemy” is now the economic friend of all the essential profiteers.
There’s a defining joke told in the new documentary “Up the Yangtze” about American and Chinese businessmen going traveling on a river. They come to a fork in the journey with the signs “socialist” and “capitalist” illustrating the next turn.
In ‘Get Smart’ Lifeless Retread, Steve Carell Can’t Fill Don Adams’ Shoe
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 20, 2008 - 12:23pmRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Observing the new “Get Smart” film, which is based on the 1960s TV sitcom of the same name, is to note how much has changed since the Cold War ended.
KAOS and CONTROL – the U.S. and Russian spy agencies that square off in the movie – seem like relics of another era.
Uproarious, Talent-Packed ‘The Love Guru’ a Script of Destiny From Funnyman Mike Myers
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 20, 2008 - 2:17amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Commendably co-written by Mike Myers (who also wrote characters for 2002’s “Austin Powers in Goldmember” and 1999’s “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me”), you know lines like “sheket bevakasha” came directly from his bowels.
‘When Did You Last See Your Father?’ a Family Affair Between Colin Firth, Jim Broadbent
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 19, 2008 - 3:41amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – With Father’s Day upon us, what better time to take in a film about a dysfunctional relationship between a father and a son?
The tongue-tying title “When Did You Last See Your Father?” is a true story exploring the secrets and lies over a lifetime of dealing with dad and a son’s bitterness when confronting everything during the time of a patriarch’s death.
