CHICAGO – The funny meter of Netflix went off the scale last week, as the animated series “Chicago Party Aunt” made its debut on September 17th. What began as a Twitter account by comic actor Chris Witaske (who also provides his voice talent) has morphed into the cartoon adventures of Aunt Diane Dumbowski, her nephew Daniel, and an array of familiar Chicago-isms and characters.
Bill Murray
On-Air Reviews of ‘On the Rocks’ & ‘A Call to Spy’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 2, 2020 - 9:24am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on October 1st, 2020, reviewing the new films On the Rocks” (In select theaters October 2nd and on AppleTV+ starting October 23rd.) and “A Call to Spy” (In theaters & Video-On-Demand).
'The Dead Don't Die' Offers Full-On Horror Homage But Little Else
Submitted by JonHC on June 18, 2019 - 6:44pm Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Before Jordan Peele, before Mike Flanagan, before James Wan, and especially before all of Blumhouse, there were other masters of horror who paved the way for the filmmakers we know today. The Carpenters, the Cravens, and the Argentos of the world helped turn horror into the thriving genre it is today. Jim Jarmusch’s “The Dead Don’t Die” openly acknowledges this with their love letter approach to the genre itself.
Gilda Radner Becomes Live Again in ‘Love, Gilda’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 29, 2018 - 12:46pm- 1975
- Bill Murray
- Chevy Chase
- Dan Aykroyd
- Detroit
- Gilda Radner
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Jane Curtin
- John Belushi
- Lorne Michaels
- Lorraine Newman
- Love Gilda
- Movie Review
- National Lampoon Radio Hour
- Original Cast
- Patrick McDonald
- Roseanne Roseannadanna
- Saturday Night Live
- SNL
- The Second City
- Toronto
 Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – It’s always something, as the great Gilda Radner often said (through her character Roseanne Roseannadanna), and the documentary “Love, Gilda” is about all her somethings… her childhood, the early comedy days, the rise through “Saturday Night Live” and her succumbing to the dread disease of cancer. She had it all, did it all, but as always “it” could not save her, and eventually us.
Wes Anderson’s ‘Isle of Dogs’ is Inventive Delight
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 28, 2018 - 1:09pm- akira takayama
- Bill Murray
- Bob Balaban
- Bryan Cranston
- Edward Norton
- F. Murray Abraham
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
- Fisher Stevens
- Fox Searchlight Pictures
- Frances McDormand
- Greta Gerwig
- Harvey Keitel
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Isle of Dogs
- Jeff Goldblum
- Ken Watanabe
- koyu rankin
- kunichi nomura
- Liev Schreiber
- Movie Review
- Scarlett Johansson
- Spike Walters
- Tilda Swinton
- Wes Anderson
- Yoko Ono
Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Fans of director Wes Anderson will find plenty to love in his second stop motion animated feature (after “Fantastic Mr. Fox”), entitled “Isle Of Dogs.” It’s an immersive and intricately detailed story set in Japan, and features a dizzying array of visual gags, along with Anderson’s trademark whimsy.
‘Ghostbusters’ Entertains, But Lacks the Paul Feig Edge
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 15, 2016 - 10:18amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO –Throughout the reboot of “Ghostbusters,” it becomes obvious that co-writer/director Paul Feig (“Bridesmaids,” “The Heat”) is just going to do a straight re-do of the 1984 film, because the film lacks his sardonic touch, even though it does entertain and has the requisite big special effects.
‘The Jungle Book’ is a Technical Marvel Missing Some Magic
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 15, 2016 - 7:57am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – While Disney Studios’ new live action version of “The Jungle Book” is an improvement over the 1967 animated version, it’s more of a technical marvel than magical fable. And it’s unable to completely transcend the earlier version’s limitations.
Bill Murray Rolls Downhill in ‘Rock the Kasbah’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 25, 2015 - 11:09am Rating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – What’s up with this movie? Everything in it is so wrong headed, despite movie star casting and a attempt toward “current events.” Setting itself in a modern and complex country – Afghanistan – but creating a perspective on that country that is straight ugly American, “Rock the Kasbah” is a total downer.
Unusual, Passionate ‘Aloha’ is Deeply Resonant
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 29, 2015 - 9:34amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Films with major movie stars that take real chances on story formula are rare. “Aloha” is one such example, and produces considerations that are way off the beaten path. Is it an allegory? An absurdity? An homage to 1960s paranoia? Only writer/director Cameron Crowe knows for sure.
‘Dumb and Dumber To’ Too Dumb to Be Funny
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 14, 2014 - 6:32am Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Dumb And Dumber To” is an exercise in diminishing returns. Jim Carrey and The Farrelly Brothers expend twice the effort for less than a third of the laughs. It benefits greatly from the enormous well of goodwill created by the original’s inspired idiocy. But one can only suspend disbelief for so long and this sequel has problems that the warm glow of nostalgia can’t solve.
Phony ‘St. Vincent’ is Bill Murray’s Worst Choice Since ‘Garfield’
Submitted by NickHC on October 17, 2014 - 11:42amRating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Garfield, maybe” was the sole utterance of regret that iconic actor/prolific movie-golfer Bill Murray expressed in 2009’s “Zombieland” before he died. Should the adoration for this cameo resurrect him for that film’s announced sequel, Murray will hopefully denounce “St. Vincent,” his most needless and perverse career choice since vocally birthing “Garfield” (and yes, that includes getting a handjob as Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 2012’s also terrible “Hyde Park on Hudson”).
