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
Story Can’t Match Eye-Popping Visuals of ‘Passengers’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 24, 2016 - 10:31am Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The use of science fiction for all kind of stories is one of the hottest go-to genres for Hollywood today. “Passengers” is a love story, and adds the visual glory of modern special effects…but the soapy tale of a star-crossed (literally) couple is problematic and cliché ridden, and breaks at the end with heroics that are shoehorned into the rest of the scenario.
Denzel Washington & Viola Davis Swing for the ‘Fences’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 24, 2016 - 9:14am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Viola Davis and Denzel Washington are actors who are likely to give plays adapted for the screen a good name. Their commitment to the material shines through in the new film “Fences.” Davis and Washington have a well worn familiarity with the characters –having portrayed them on Broadway in the 2010 revival of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize winning play.
Despite Cast, ‘Sing’ Fails to Strike a Chord
Submitted by JonHC on December 23, 2016 - 12:14am Rating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Singing is something that everyone can do. I tend to do it while in the shower or sitting in traffic. I’ve been told I have the singing voice of an angel… of death. Okay, I’m exaggerating, but the point is that while everyone can sing, not everyone should. The same extends to creating films like “Sing,” which is loud but seldom harmonious.
There is Little Beauty to Be Found in ‘Collateral Beauty’
Submitted by JonHC on December 17, 2016 - 6:33am Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Charles Dickens once said, “Reflect upon your present blessings — of which every man has many — not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” Seeing the trailer for “Collateral Beauty,” it’s obvious this is the theme of the film, but it is also the theme of this review. My “blessing” to you is the foresight not to waste your time with this film.
‘La La Land’ Will Create Love for Musicals Again
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 15, 2016 - 2:01pm Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “La La Land” has the spirit of an old time “Singin’ In The Rain”-type Hollywood musical, but this is no throwback or revival. It brings that spirit into the modern age and gets it to live, breathe, and thrive once again. It’s a beautiful technicolor spectacle that celebrates the whimsy of musicals, while finding a way to translate it credibly and wonderfully to the modern age.
‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ is a Worthy Addition
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 13, 2016 - 4:37pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – I guess from now on, it will never be the holidays without a Star Wars movie, and why not? Every year, we’ll have a celebration with the ardent fans and characters that are one in that universe, “a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away.” For 2016, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.”
‘Miss Sloane’ Thrills Politically, But Drags Narratively
Submitted by JonHC on December 9, 2016 - 7:27pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Nothing says the holiday season like a film about lobbying and politics. If you read that sarcastically, you’d be wrong. “Miss Sloane” offers a female spin for an otherwise male dominated political landscape. Most of you are trying to tune out politics after the elections, but this film builds off of that momentum by reminding us how we arrived to that point.
‘Office Christmas Party’ is Just Ho-Hum Humbug
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 8, 2016 - 9:41pm- Abbey Lee
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- Ben Falcone
- Courtney B. Vance
- Dan Mazer
- Fortune Feistier
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- Jason Bateman
- Jennifer Aniston
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- Josh Gordon
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 Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Office Christmas Party” summons up a few jolly ho-ho-ho’s, but can’t quite deliver even one decent belly laugh you’d expect, considering the talented cast chock full of funny folks. It’s halfway decent premise is drowned in a sea of unfulfilled potential and weak material that the ensemble can only do so much to save.
Natalie Portman Embodies a Magnificent ‘Jackie’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 2, 2016 - 8:23amRating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Capturing one of the most familiar woman of the last fifty years would seem impossible, except when focusing on one of the defining moments of her life. “Jackie” reveals Jacqueline Kennedy during the time of her husband John’s assassination, and when the nation lost a president.
Casey Affleck Anchors ‘Manchester by the Sea’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 25, 2016 - 1:28pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Tis the season for earnest character studies, and Casey Affleck in “Manchester by the Sea” has a doozy. Portraying a Boston guy with a mountain of sadness within, Affleck harbors the range of emotions like a coiled snake ready to strike, but manages to keep it all undercover.
Two Stories Clash in Uneven ‘Rules Don’t Apply’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 24, 2016 - 9:41amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Movie icon Warren Beatty had wanted to make a film about 20th Century billionaire Howard Hughes for close to 40 years. On the heels of Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator,” Beatty has written, directed and portrays Hughes in “Rules Don’t Apply,” and has created a strange farce about the mogul and a romance tale around him.
‘Moana’ is Walt Disney Pictures at its Breezy Best
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 23, 2016 - 2:28pm Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Moana” is a solid example of the time honored Disney musical. It is exactly the sort of sun drenched warm weather beacon we residents of cold weather climes can enjoy as the holiday season approaches, and it a refreshing change from another spin of Mele Kalikimaka.
‘Nocturnal Animals’ Takes Two Stories to New Levels
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 19, 2016 - 12:08pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Reality and fantasy have separate rules, and in fantasy there are no rules. This is the philosophy of “Nocturnal Animals,” a wild character study that exists on the reality/fantasy planes. And it has the bonus of the Amy Adams/Isla Fisher mix-up and Jake Gyllenhaal at his Gyllenhaal-iest.
