CHICAGO – Like many of you, I have been perusing the digital platforms, looking for the appropriate binge shows that will provide a temporary bit of sanity. Amazon Prime, for example, offers the entire series of “30 Rock” (2006-13), the seminal NBC-TV series created by and featuring Tina Fey.
Blake Lively
Entertaining ‘A Simple Favor’ Can’t Maintain Its Mojo
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 15, 2018 - 11:34am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – As the secrets are revealed in “A Simple Favor,” filtered through the witty and entertaining directorial style of Paul Feig (“Bridesmaids”), the story moves with charm and energy for three-quarters of its running time. But as the mystery gets solved, the conclusion doesn’t live up to the promising beginning.
Old Hollywood Glamour in Woody Allen’s ‘Café Society’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 23, 2016 - 8:33am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In the 1930s, the contrast between the world of Hollywood movie sparkle and the rest of a Depression-era America was as different as peasants and kings. Writer/director Woody Allen captures this dichotomy with an East Coast/West Coast tale of one family in “Café Society.”
Intoxicating ‘The Age of Adaline’ a Featherweight Fantasy
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 24, 2015 - 6:30amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “The Age of Adaline” is a beautifully shot featherweight fantasy that remains charming as long as you don’t think about it too hard, or at all. At one point one character asks another why he loves Adaline, and he replies “because she makes no sense.” The same could be said for this movie.
Oliver Stone’s ‘Savages’ Harpoons Drug War Absurdities
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 6, 2012 - 9:40amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Director Oliver Stone sees a controversy, and comments on a controversy, in his own distinctive cinematic style. The new film “Savages” is no exception, taking on the U.S./Mexican marijuana wars, with performances by Blake Lively, Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Johnson, Salma Hayek and John Travolta.
Story Lets Down Chloe Grace Moretz in Stupid ‘Hick’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 25, 2012 - 2:34pm Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – It’s understandable that people from the Southern or rural United States would criticize the general media. With films like “Hick,” which generally portray them as idiots or sociopathic, there is no balance or honest characterizations. Chloe Moretz, Blake Lively, Eddie Redmayne and Alec Baldwin add their take on it all.
Ryan Reynolds in ‘Green Lantern’ is Spectacle Over Story
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 17, 2011 - 7:58pm Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The tipping point is close approaching in the super hero movie aura, especially as the B-list get their moment in the projection machine. “Green Lantern,” featuring Ryan Reynolds, stays true to its comic book roots, but lacks any cohesive passion within the main story.
Ben Affleck’s ‘The Town’ Proves ‘Gone Baby Gone’ Wasn’t Beginner’s Luck
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on September 18, 2010 - 5:35pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Only three years since the Chicago Film Critics Association awarded Ben Affleck as our most promising filmmaker, he’s back in the director’s seat a second time with “The Town”. While the film dramatically centers on the business of robbery in his familiar streets of Boston, Affleck importantly proves that his 2007 Oscar-nominated film “Gone Baby Gone” wasn’t just beginner’s luck.
