CHICAGO – There is no better time to take in a stage play that is based in U.S. history, depicting the battle between fact and religion. The old theater chestnut – first mounted in 1955 – is “Inherit the Wind,” now at the Goodman Theatre, completing it’s short run through October 20th. For tickets and more information, click INHERIT.
HollywoodChicago.com Movie Reviews
Brit Marling Speaks Volumes in ‘Sound of My Voice’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 11, 2012 - 6:22pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Fresh off her Spirit Award nominated film “Another Earth,” the up-and-coming filmmaker Brit Marling again writes and stars in “Sound of My Voice,” portraying another mysterious and mood-inducing character. The future of humanity is the basis for this simple but vivid narrative.
Bobcat Goldthwait’s ‘God Bless America’ Takes Aim at Stupidity
Submitted by BrianTT on May 11, 2012 - 12:29pmRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – While I’m writing this, a commercial for “My American Big Fat Gypsy Wedding” is playing on TV. It seems appropriate to kick off writing about a film that takes satirical aim at the bottom-feeding world of reality TV and the cult of personality that has devolved the 15-minute fame cycle into a 15-second one.
Keep Tim Burton’s ‘Dark Shadows’ Out of the Light
Submitted by BrianTT on May 11, 2012 - 11:38amRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Tim Burton’s “Dark Shadows” is one of the most inconsistent and frustrating major films in a long time. There are elements here and there that work but Burton and writer Seth Grahame-Smith seem incapable of figuring out how to wrangle them into a coherent, successful film.
Judi Dench Checks Into ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 4, 2012 - 2:28pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Seven desperate souls are taking risks to save some part of their world, which describes both “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and “The Avengers.” Which will win the box office war? The “heroes” of the Marigold residence include Judi Dench, Tom Wilkerson, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith and Dev Patel.
‘A Simple Life’ Celebrates the Transcendent Beauty of Human Selflessness
Submitted by mattmovieman on May 4, 2012 - 8:55amRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The inherent drama of reality is trickier to capture on camera than one might suspect. Cinéma verité failed as soon as filmmakers utilized manipulative techniques to contrive on-camera drama. The staged shouting matches, comedic barbs and tearful breakdowns prevalent on Reality TV are as phony (or, dare I say, phonier) than the human behavior witnessed in scripted productions.
Kate Hudson Reveals Hell in ‘A Little Bit of Heaven’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 4, 2012 - 7:23amRating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Kate Hudson portrays a dying woman in “A Little Bit of Heaven,” and the film is so annoying that her extinguishment can’t come fast enough. The film insults both living and dying, and virtually everything in between, and brings along Lucy Punch, Kathy Bates, Gael Garciá Bernal, Peter Dinklage and Whoopi Goldberg for the funeral.
Jenna Fischer Stars in Sweet ‘The Giant Mechanical Man’
Submitted by BrianTT on May 2, 2012 - 3:48pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Don’t let the awful title fool you — “The Giant Mechanical Man” is not sci-fi. This cute dramedy tackles well-trod ground in the world of indie film but Lee Kirk conveys enough honest affection for his well-crafted characters that the piece works.
Summer Movie Season Explodes with ‘The Avengers’
Submitted by BrianTT on May 1, 2012 - 9:56amRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – When I was a kid, summer movies were an event. They weren’t just marketing tricks, young adult adaptations, or unnecessary sequels. They were blockbusters that you put on the calendar and counted the days until their arrival. Something of that summer movie magic has been lost in recent years – the sense that you weren’t just seeing a movie, you were experiencing something special.
Mel Gibson Stars in Mediocre ‘Get the Gringo’
Submitted by BrianTT on April 30, 2012 - 4:22pmRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Originally titled “How I Spent My Summer Vacation,” Mel Gibson’s latest star vehicle is taking an unusual road to your viewing pleasure, bypassing theatrical release and even skipping Blu-ray/DVD for a debut this week on DirecTV On Demand. Is this the new delivery system of the future?
Jason Statham in Highly Charged, Metaphoric ‘Safe’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 27, 2012 - 8:16pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There is an underlying smokiness to the ultra-violent “Safe” that is worth exploring. By creating a triangle of doom between the Chinese mob (the Triads), the Russian mob and the corrupt New York City Police Department, it’s just a small leap to apply the same function between the countries they represent. Action star Jason Statham puts it all together.
The Dog Days of Diane Keaton in ‘Darling Companion’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 27, 2012 - 5:40pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “If you want a friend in Washington,” Harry S Truman once said, “get a dog.” The same can be said for the film industry, as they keep producing canine quandaries. Diane Keaton, Kevin Kline, Sam Shepard and Elisabeth Moss cozy up to their own ‘Darling Companion.’
Edgar Allan Poe Deserves Better Than ‘The Raven’
Submitted by BrianTT on April 27, 2012 - 12:33pmRating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “The Raven” is such a snooze fest that it could have the disastrous effect of turning young viewers off from actually reading Edgar Allan Poe. Trust me, young readers – nothing by Poe is this generic, dull, boring, or plain stupid. Taking the two hours of your life that it would take to see “The Raven” and reading anything by the man who inspired it would be a smarter use of your time. And you’d be less likely to fall asleep.
Emotionally Devastating Lesson on Grief From ‘Monsieur Lazhar’
Submitted by BrianTT on April 27, 2012 - 10:59amRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Monsieur Lazhar,” an Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film that is now opening at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago, deftly handles delicate themes in a way that saves them from the cliché they so often become in the cogs of the Hollywood machine. The set-up sounds like a ‘90s Robin Williams movie as a teacher helps an elementary class deal with tragic loss but this remarkably human, touching, brilliant film never succumbs to melodrama, finding something truthful in the complex relationship between adults and children forced to grow up too soon.