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.
Dominic Cooper
‘Warcraft’ Tries, But Eventually Has Got No Game
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 10, 2016 - 8:22am Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The best that can be said for the video game adaptation “Warcraft” is that it’s not the incoherent, CGI heavy and Michael-Bay-type nightmare it could have been. It’s still somewhat incoherent – full of computer generated cannon fodder – but I am surprised and happy to report it did not induce any headaches, even in pointless 3D.
Artificially Glorified ‘Dracula Untold’ Lacks Reason for Being Retold
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on October 11, 2014 - 6:02pmRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – For moviegoers, each new film is a chance to escape, feel, fear, cry, be thrilled or laugh. Filmmakers and actors want you to experience this range of emotions, but producers and investors care most about the film making money. That’s why Hollywood is scared of truly original stories. Originality is an unknown without a built-in fan base.
‘Need for Speed’ Also Has Need for a Better Script
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 15, 2014 - 12:21pm Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In interviews to promote the movie, Aaron Paul has said that he was chosen by Steven Spielberg himself to be the lead in this high-speed action thriller, while the executive producer was binge-watching “Breaking Bad”. Those are certainly some undeniable cool points that I can’t blame him for mentioning, regardless of how the movie is received.
Colin Farrell Can’t Let Go in ‘Dead Man Down’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 9, 2013 - 11:24am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Nothing like a high concept crime story to compliment “spring forward.” Colin Farrell plays the revenge card to the nth degree in the unusual and slowly paced “Dead Man Down,” and takes Noomi Rapace (of the Swedish “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”) along for the ride.
‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’ Proves History Bites
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 22, 2012 - 8:42amRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In this new film, don’t describe the 16th U.S. President as “The Great Emancipator,” call him “The Great Kick-Ass-ipator.” In this high concept romp, the President who presided over the Civil War is now winning it single-handedly by fighting his demons in “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter.”
‘The Devil’s Double’ Magnifies the Sorrows of Iraq
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 7, 2011 - 9:32pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There is evil all over the world, as long as there are human beings whose lust for power overcomes any semblance of morality. Iraq seems to be ground zero for those consequences, broken from within and invaded from the outside. It is the surreal tale of Saddam Hussein’s oldest son Uday that’s outlined in “The Devil’s Double.”
Despite Disastrous Skinny Steve, ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ is Perfectly Imperfect
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on July 23, 2011 - 1:13am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – With mammoth special effects budgets carelessly puked into blockbuster films these days without story or heart, it’s effortless to wow audiences with beguiling explosions and one or two trademark, “The Matrix”-like innovations.
