CHICAGO – Excelsior! Comic book legend Stan Lee’s famous exclamation puts a fine point on the third and final play of Mark Pracht’s FOUR COLOR TRILOGY, “The House of Ideas,” presented by and staged at City Lit Theater in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. For tickets/details, click HOUSE OF IDEAS.
HollywoodChicago.com Movie Reviews
‘Bad Boys for Life’ Are Just Too Old For This
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 17, 2020 - 10:32am Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Bad Boys For Life” shows that maybe Will Smith isn’t too old for this kind of sh*t, but Martin Lawrence certainly is. This third installment comes 17 years after “Bad Boys II,” and 25 years after the original film unleashed director Michael Bay on an unsuspecting public. It aims to be just as bombastic as its predecessors, but without Michael Bay behind the lens and a lot more jokes about middle age, creaking bones and dying beards.
'Zombieland: Double Tap' Not As Fresh But Still Has Some Life Left
Submitted by JonHC on October 21, 2019 - 2:04pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO - Zombieland: Double Tap lacks the freshness or the belly laughs of its predecessor, but I was surprised to see that this outrageously overqualified cast has not worn out its welcome. It’s ridiculous that three Oscar nominees and one Oscar winner headline a movie devoted solely to blowing zombies up. But when you employ Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin, you’re going to get some unexpected surprises.
Visual Beauty Can't Cover Up Cultural Vagueness in 'Abominable'
Submitted by JonHC on September 29, 2019 - 3:04pm Rating: 2.5/2.5 |
CHICAGO – The changing view on yetis goes to show just how different my childhood was from kids growing up today. Back in my day, yeti’s were elusive creatures meant to be feared, much like Big Foot or Loch Ness. Films like “Smallfoot” and “Abominable” are paving the way towards acceptance were we ever to encounter a yeti, but the latter is more of a step back than forwards.
Zellweger's Star Power Single-Handedly Saves Stale 'Judy'
Submitted by JonHC on September 28, 2019 - 4:31pm Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Even before I figured out my own sexuality, Judy Garland’s status as a gay icon was known to me. I wouldn’t understand why until much later in my life, but sure as the sky was blue, the city was emerald, and the brick road was yellow, I knew I was a friend of Dorothy. Heartbreakingly, “Judy” paints a bleak portrait of the star, but never takes a look at the bigger picture.
'Hustlers' Is Flashy But Empty Stripper Crime Caper
Submitted by JonHC on September 14, 2019 - 11:43amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – This striper crime caper is flashy, buffed to a high gloss, and more entertaining and watchable than it has any right to be. But it’s never quite as smart, or layered as it seems to think it is.
Constance Wu from “Crazy Rich Asians” stars as the proverbial stripper with a heart of gold, Destiny.
HollywoodChicago.com ESP, En Español: 'It Chapter Two' y 'Official Secrets'
Submitted by JonHC on September 6, 2019 - 8:33pm- andy muschietti
- Bill Hader
- En Español
- Esta Semana en Peliculas
- Gary Dauberman
- Gavin Hood
- Hollywood Chicago en español
- HollywoodChicago ESP
- HollywoodChicago.com
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- It Chapter Two
- James McAvoy
- Jessica Chastain
- Jon Espino
- Kiera Knightley
- Movie Review
- Official Secrets
- Stephen King
CHICAGO – Cada semana, HollywoodChicago.com le traerá las criticas de las películas que hemos visto y que están saliendo esa semana, pero en español. HollywoodChicago.com ESP no sólo representa HollywoodChicago.com Espanol, sino también Esta Semana en Peliculas.
"Chapter 2" Lacks crucial "IT" factor
Submitted by JonHC on September 6, 2019 - 5:14pm- Andy Bean
- andy muschietti
- Bill Hader
- Bill Skarsgard
- Chosen Jacobs
- Finn Wolfhard
- Gary Dauberman
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Isaiah Mustafa
- Jack Dylan Grazer
- Jaeden Martell
- James McAvoy
- James Ransone
- Jay Ray
- Jeremy Ray Taylor
- Jessica Chastain
- Movie Review
- Sophia Lillis
- Spike Walters
- Stephen King
- Warner Bros
- Wyatt Oleff
Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “It Chapter 2” has some of the same problems as its source material, and the previous adaptation of the Stephen King spine-tingler. It has a great beginning, but the ensuing story never tops or reaches the same level as that first scene. So in Chapter 2’s slog on to an ultimately unsatisfying ending, we are witnessing a yarn literally unraveling before our very eyes.
Finding One’s Self in ‘Where’d You Go, Bernadette’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 19, 2019 - 9:29am Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There is something so lovely about a film that unfolds slowly, until the moment occurs when a multi-layered story occurrence takes the breath away. “Where’d You Go, Bernadette” is such a film, portrayed with a magic subtlety by Cate Blanchett, one of the finest film actors working. She lives a life that is broken, but not in ways we suspect.
‘Good Boys’ Misses the Mark But Manages to Land
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 16, 2019 - 5:08pmRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The innocence of childhood is about to be wrecked for the gazillionth time, c’est la vie. “Good Boys” is a raunchy film with foul-mouthed middle schoolers going on wacky adventures. The pretzel logic to set up these adventures are weak, but the core of the conclusion is the strength.
‘The Kitchen’ is Once Upon a Time in New York City
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 8, 2019 - 11:31pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – It’s the ladies turn to harken back to the badass 1970s, more precisely 1977 in Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City. In an adaptation of a DC Vertigo comic series, “The Kitchen” features Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss finding their destiny in taking over mobster duties.
Popcorn Ready ‘Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 1, 2019 - 7:11pmRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The dog days of the summer are upon us, which also reflects from the silver screen. “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” is a spin-off of the eight film “The Fast and the Furious” franchise. Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham are the title characters, fighting and driving their way into our hearts.
A Soul Laid Bare in ‘David Crosby: Remember My Name’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 31, 2019 - 10:22am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Getting into the mind of a creative person requires a delicate brush, or on the opposite end of that spectrum a new wing of a mental hospital. Submitted for your approval, one David Van Cortlandt Crosby, in the new documentary produced by Cameron Crowe, “David Crosby: Remember My Name.”
‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ is a Cinematic Poem
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 26, 2019 - 9:45amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – What does Quentin Tarantino think about? That question immediately comes to mind when experiencing his latest film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” QT meditates on TV westerns, the summer of 1969 in Los Angeles and the Manson family, and it’s a tone and mood rather than a story. But it works.
