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 Need For Each Other Transcends Politics, Resentment in Absorbing ‘The Edge of Heaven’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 18, 2008 - 1:50am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – As we sit here in the U.S. embroiled in the presidential elections and summertime, the rest of the world simmers within its own unique problems.
What about Germany and Turkey? Director and writer Fatih Akin answers this question in the film “The Edge of Heaven” through several distinct characters who symbolize relations between the countries.
Julianne Moore Pushes Freudian Implications to Limit in True Story of ‘Savage Grace’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 15, 2008 - 10:56am Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The national acting treasure Julianne Moore never shies away from a performance challenge.
From her memorable exposure in Robert Altman’s “Short Cuts” to her willingness to go all the way in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Boogie Nights,” Moore has proven that true vulnerability in a role requires the ability to bare – and bear with – all.
M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘The Happening’ a Creepy, Paranoid Ride Through Today’s Environment
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 13, 2008 - 3:41am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Trying to understand the thought process of writer and director M. Night Shyamalan is akin to analyzing Jell-O. What keeps it wiggling and what binds it together?
“The Happening,” which is his latest creepy film, is a modern cautionary tale ripped from the collective sensibilities of life after Sept. 11, 2001 and the status of human beings in their interaction with today’s environment.
‘The Incredible Hulk’ Indeed Jacked Up on CGI Roids, But Medusa’s in His Face
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 13, 2008 - 12:01amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Technology has done double-edged service and disservice to the legendary Hulk superhero character from Stan Lee’s Marvel Comics.
In peering at the CGI-created ripped body of nothing remotely reminiscent of Edward Norton, the 2008 film iteration of “The Incredible Hulk” has a leg light years up on Lou Ferrigno’s character in the 1978 television series of the “The Incredible Hulk”.
Tepidly Paced ‘The Duchess of Langeais’ a Costume Drama Lacking the Dramatic
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 10, 2008 - 9:30pm Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Honoré de Balzac is a famous French writer from the post-Napoleonic age who focused on the societal mores with a sense of realism that hadn’t been seen in literature until that point. He reveled in the oblique moral ambiguity of the human condition.
Adam Sandler is White Ladies Man in Judd Apatow’s ‘You Don’t Mess With the Zohan’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 6, 2008 - 12:01amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In the relatively anemic anthology of recent Adam Sandler flops, “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan” hangs above with comedic charm and a nonsensically amusing plotline. The story is divisively intermingled with racial and ethnic sensitivities between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Relax, Float Upstream With Mike Judge Assemblage ‘The Animation Show 4’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 4, 2008 - 1:14am
CHICAGO – With its passionate mix of creativity and computers, this modern golden age of animation proceeds to entertain and astound with each passing year. Mike Judge – the preeminent creator of cartoon legends “Beavis & Butt-Head” and “King of the Hill” – presents his latest compilation of the worldwide best in animated short films.
Set in Tel Aviv, New Israeli Film ‘Jellyfish’ Shines With Virtue, Veracity
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 3, 2008 - 2:25amCHICAGO – It has been a banner year so far for the Israeli film industry. Following the American debuts of “The Band’s Visit” and “Beaufort,” we now have the stunningly composed and heart-rending “Jellyfish”.
Covering Up Sins a Harmful Decision For Catholic Church in ‘Constantine’s Sword’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 1, 2008 - 11:24pmCHICAGO – If there ever was an institution that has distressed itself through years of patriarchal rule, it is the Catholic Church. From examples of historical misdeeds through the recent priest scandals, the Catholic Church has done a dance around truth that would make Saint Vitus proud.
Actors Awkwardly Impersonate Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin in ‘Mister Lonely’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 1, 2008 - 8:30pmCHICAGO – The wonder of a filmmaker’s art and perspective is the ability to challenge and reflect the absurdity of our own nature back to us. Few filmmakers have done more to add provocation to that sensibility than Harmony Korine.
‘Sex and the City: The Movie’ a Frilly University For Understanding the Human Condition
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 30, 2008 - 1:14amCHICAGO – To its voracious universe of cult-following fans, it feels like a television marathon that spans an entire season. To everyone else who bats an indifferent eye at the religion that is “Sex and the City,” it may surprise you to find that all the glam and glitz has something even for you to learn, too.
Despite its Title, ‘The Strangers’ Actually a Familiar Repeat of Horror Film Conventions
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 30, 2008 - 1:08am
CHICAGO – Poor Liv Tyler. She’s stuck in a remote vacation home with nothing but the blank-stare acting of Scott Speedman to “save” her. What’s a rock daughter who becomes an actress to do? First, she shouldn’t sign onto yet another version of the couple-in-terror cliché.
After 19 Years, ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ Phenomenally Exhumes Venerated Roots
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 22, 2008 - 12:00amCHICAGO – After such a long respite from the beloved film progression, I was initially just as skittish about seeing Harrison Ford back in the Indy saddle as I was watching Sylvester Stallone back in the ring in “Rocky Balboa” in his 2006 comeback and then again in 2008 in his “Rambo” return.
