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
Aubrey Plaza Steers the Unsettling ‘Ingrid Goes West’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 23, 2017 - 6:04pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Aubrey Plaza (“Parks and Recreation”) is an actor who always seems to do something memorable in her performances. In “Ingrid Goes West,” she carries an entire movie on her quirky and sometimes disturbing character… that of a bipolar stalker who can’t find balance.
Magic & Creativity is Formula for ‘Dave Made a Maze’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 18, 2017 - 9:56am Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – When the magnificently creative film “Dave Made a Maze” begins, it seems like another Millennial generation stab at micro budget filmmaking, with a claustrophobic set and extreme archetypes instead of characters. But then the “exploration” of the title maze starts, and suddenly “Dave” becomes a marvel of invention, tribute, hilarity and even truth.
Un-Buddy-Like Violence in ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 17, 2017 - 5:55pm Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – One day I would like to meet a professional assassin. Are they as quippy and biblical as Samuel L. Jackson? This tired movie occupation is trotted out again, this time pairing Jackson with Ryan Reynolds, in an overwrought and ultra-violent buddy comedy, “The Hitman’s Bodyguard.”
Individualism in ‘Menashe’ Challenges the Tribe
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 15, 2017 - 11:05am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – We all belong to something, be it a family, workplace, congregation or (expansively) a tribe. But within all that belonging is a sometimes nagging feeling of being an outsider. There is not a human being in existence that hasn’t felt that way, and a new film expresses that feeling in “Menashe.”
Story in ‘Wind River’ Gets Scattered in the Breeze
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 12, 2017 - 9:36amRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Writer/Director Taylor Sheridan is a deep thinker regarding humanity in these United States. In the third film of his “American Frontier Trilogy” – after “Sicario” and “Hell or High Water” – he goes to the Wyoming Native American reservation, for a unwieldy story titled “Wind River.”
‘The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature’ is in the No-Fun Zone
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 10, 2017 - 10:30pm Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Anyone showing up to the “The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature” will know exactly what they’re going to get… it’s a late summer sequel to an animated movie you may be surprised was successful enough to warrant a sequel at all, much less a theatrically released one.
HollywoodChicago.com ESP, En Español: ‘The Dark Tower' y 'Wind River'
Submitted by JonHC on August 8, 2017 - 2:32pmCHICAGO – 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. Esta semana haremos un viaje a una tierra extranjera para salvar al mundo (‘The Dark Tower’), y luego investigamos un crimen en una tierra extranjera para tratar de salvar a una comunidad (‘Wind River’).
Good vs. Evil Brightly Entertaining in ‘The Dark Tower’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 4, 2017 - 1:17amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Nobody does good vs. evil archetypes like author Stephen King, and this framework is purposeful in the film adaptation of King’s “The Dark Tower.” The popular book series gets a visual kick through the rendering of director Nikolaj Arcel and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment.
HollywoodChicago.com ESP, En Español: ‘Atomic Blonde,’ ‘Detroit,’ y ‘Dunkirk’
Submitted by JonHC on August 2, 2017 - 4:09am- Atomic Blonde
- Charlize Theron
- Christopher Nolan
- Detroit
- Dunkirk
- En Español
- Esta Semana en Peliculas
- Harry Styles
- Hollywood Chicago en español
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- James McAvoy
- John Boyega
- Jon Espino
- Kathryn Bigelow
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- Sofia Boutella
- Tom Hardy
- Will Poulter
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. Esta semana haremos una gira de guerra a través de la historia de la Segunda Guerra Mundial (‘Dunkirk’), a la Guerra Fría (‘Atomic Blonde’) y a la zona de guerra en casa (‘Detroit’).
‘Detroit’ is Stark, Blunt & Honest U.S. History
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 28, 2017 - 10:34amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – It has become clear to anyone who is making an observation about authority and “order” in America, that for certain people it comes with a severe price. “Detroit” explores an incident within the 1967 riots there, when white police officers raided a hotel and perpetuated crimes of their own.
‘City of Ghosts’ Puts Citizen Faces on Syrian Crisis
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 24, 2017 - 10:28amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Syria has become a distant place, disconnected from the wider world through civil war and extreme sociopolitical instability, including the takeover of some regions by ISIS (the Islamic State). “City of Ghosts” looks at Raqqa, a Syrian city with the iron boot of ISIS on their necks, and the citizens who risk their lives to tell that story to the world.
Strong Performance Makes ‘Lady Macbeth’ a Cogent Character Study
Submitted by JonHC on July 24, 2017 - 2:36amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Separating a performance from the rest of the film is usually an easy task. One may be stronger than the other, or vice versa, but either way, they can be judged individually and as a whole. “Lady Macbeth” proves to be that rare character study where a single performance (from breakout actress Florence Pugh) not only makes the film but essentially is the film.
Heroics of ‘Dunkirk’ Portrayed Ardently & Humanely
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 19, 2017 - 8:25amRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – War is hell, even in “The Good War.” The early days of World War II were a desperate time for the British, and the events of “Dunkirk” were largely about loss, yet mostly about inspiration. Director Christopher Nolan gives his film a grand cinematic treatment, evoking an era that has mostly faded away.
