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
The Friendship Page of Black & White in ‘Green Book’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 19, 2018 - 9:10am Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In the original sin of racism in America, structured in the societal relationship between whites and African Americans, there had to be small steps before there were larger ones. In 1962, a black piano virtuoso and his white Italian New Yorker driver toured through the Deep South and developed a friendship, in the new film “Green Book.”
‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’ Goes Deeper into Harry Potter World
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 16, 2018 - 1:43pm Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” is like the “Joey” of film franchises, a spinoff which only exists because of its tangential connections to a better (and more beloved) property. But since this is our only current filmed connection to the “wizarding world of Harry Potter,” it’ll have to do.
‘Boy Erased’ Thrives On Empathy, Lacks Overall Conviction
Submitted by JonHC on November 13, 2018 - 3:53pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – America is facing a confusing time of crisis, again. There are giant groups of people who are ready to hate other people for biological traits that can’t—and don’t need to—be changed, like skin color, sexual orientation, and race. “Boy Erased” adds to the national dialogue by showing the devastating effects this type of mentality can have inside our own families, and how to prevent it.
Story Spins Out of Reach for ‘The Girl in the Spider’s Web’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 9, 2018 - 5:26pm- Claes Bang
- Claire Foy
- Columbia Pictures
- Fede Alvarez
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- LaKeith Stanfield
- Lisbeth Salander
- Movie Review
- Patrick McDonald
- Rooney Mara
- Steig Larsson
- Stephen Merchant
- Stockholm
- Sverrir Gudnason
- Sylvia Hooks
- The Girl in the Spider’s Web
- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
- Vicky Krieps
 Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There is nothing wrong with revisiting The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. That tattoo has made beaucoup bucks in book and film forms (both foreign language and Americanized versions), and Claire Foy taking over for Rooney Mara in the title role is seamless. So why the totally lackluster story? Is this a narrative source problem?
He’s a Not-So-Mean-One in Remake of ‘The Grinch’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 9, 2018 - 9:38amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – They should have left well enough alone, didn’t anybody learn anything from the trainwreck of the Jim Carrey live-action-as-The-Grinch? Apparently not. A more kid friendly and modern animated version of “The Grinch” opens six weeks before Christmas, and already I want to return it.
A Star is Re-Examined in ‘Making Montgomery Clift’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 3, 2018 - 10:45pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Montgomery “Monty” Clift was an enigma as a “movie star” from the minute his image reflected from the silver screen. Dark and intense, he exhibited a inner ferocity that was unmatched from any other actor of his era, including Marlon Brando. Because of the enigma, his persona has often been mischaracterized, and he died young in his mid-forties. His nephew Robert Anderson Clift seeks to revitalize the authentic Monty in the new documentary “Making Montgomery Clift.”
‘The Nutcracker and the Four Realms’ is Beautiful, But Broken
Submitted by JonHC on November 1, 2018 - 3:53pm Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Film has always felt like a much more accessible way to get cultured than, say, going to watch a play or opera. Watching a foreign film can educate you about the world and history as well as any play. “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” promised that kind of experience, but your time is better served catching the actual ballet at a local theater instead.
‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was Destined to Celebrate Queen
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 1, 2018 - 10:59amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The lyric “And now it’s ‘Easy Come/Easy Go/Little High/Little low” from the song/movie “Bohemian Rhapsody” might just be the best description of this rock band biopic. The high is the celebration of the band Queen and its unforgettable lead singer Freddie Mercury, and it is enough to get through the story “lows.”
Growing Up Fast in the Skateboard Life of ‘Mid90s’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 29, 2018 - 10:33am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Character actor Jonah Hill has just scored behind the camera. As writer/director of a authentic look back at the “Mid90s” he went back to his inner source of growing up in that 1990s time, skateboarding with his buds and experiencing the teenage life. The story never blinks, as the teens are authentic and the situations they get in even more so.
Sub Movie ‘Hunter Killer’ is Absurd and Entertaining
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 29, 2018 - 7:36amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The United States military as superheroes has never gotten a better workout than in “Hunter Killer,” the title that sounds like a Halloween-themed movie, but it’s a style of submarine that seeks to adjust our geo-political balance. Gerard Butler is the commander hoping to prevent World War 3.
Rebooted ‘Halloween’ Sequel Offers Nothing New in 2018
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 19, 2018 - 12:47pmRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – At this point, the “Halloween” franchise is looking as tattered and tired as Michael Myers old William Shatner mask… fraying around the edges and on the verge of falling apart. The 2018 “reboot” sequel brings back former scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode, along with original Michael Myers, Nick Castle.
'First Man' is Reverential to Moon Landing Mission
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 12, 2018 - 3:31pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There were several “firsts” for humankind in our civilization and technology breakthroughs, but until 1969 no person had even stepped on a planetary surface other than on earth. Neil Armstrong was that man, and he is portrayed by Ryan Gosling in a respectful overview of that Apollo 11 mission in “First Man.”
Spreading Comic Book Fatigue to Everyone, ‘Venom’ Poisons the Well
Submitted by JonHC on October 5, 2018 - 5:20am Rating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – I was one of the last sentinels; a conscientious objector in the war against comic book films. The handful of these that come out yearly had yet to weigh heavy on my film soul, especially when so many of the newer ones creating unique experiences, like “Deadpool” and “Thor: Ragnarok”. Even DC films, in all their failure, are products of their time. “Venom” changed all that.
