CHICAGO – Society, or at least certain elements of society, are always looking for scapegoats to hide the sins of themselves and authority. In the so-called “great America” of the 1950s, the scapegoat target was comic books … specifically through a sociological study called “The Seduction of the Innocent.” City Lit Theater Company, in part two of a trilogy on comic culture by Mark Pracht, presents “The Innocence of Seduction … now through October 8th, 2023. For details and tickets, click COMIC BOOK.
Hamish Linklater
Exposé of ‘The Big Short’ is an American Masterwork
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 11, 2015 - 10:30am Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – This is a rare film that will fill you with anger, while making you laugh at the absurdity of 21st Century life. “The Big Short” is an inside look at the mortgage meltdown that began in 2007, that cost eight million jobs and an untold amount of foreclosures, and the men who knew it was coming.
‘Magic in the Moonlight’ is Woody Allen By the Book
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 25, 2014 - 3:49pm Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – After last year’s powerful “Blue Jasmine,” writer/director Woody Allen’s trajectory seemed destined toward another film masterpiece, but “Magic in the Moonlight” isn’t it. Colin Firth and Emma Stone are an unlikely pairing in this seen-it-before-Woody film trifle.
‘42’ Celebrates Jackie Robinson, the Promise of America
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 12, 2013 - 3:23pm Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – It took baseball, that noble sport, to recognize in 1947 what the universe had dictated since day one – all persons are equal and all deserve an equal chance. Jackie Robinson was the first African-American to break the “color line” in baseball, and the story of that achievement is magnificently told in “42.”
PItfalls of Love for Greta Gerwig in ‘Lola Versus’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 15, 2012 - 7:15pm Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Greta Gerwig is now being recognized in the movie universe, and has climbed a ladder from micro-budget independent (“Baghead”) to mainstream monstrosities (the “Arthur” remake). She takes the lead role in “Lola Versus,” and anchors a terrific story about “settling down” and the decisions behind that certain time of life.
Despite Rihanna, Peter Berg’s ‘Battleship’ Lands as One of the Best Popcorn Flicks Ever
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 18, 2012 - 1:01amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Battleship” certainly could simplistically be reduced to a 131-minute propaganda piece of why you might want to enlist in the U.S. Navy – that is, if Earth had to ward off lizard-like creatures from a deep-space solar system we can only reach by slingshotting a highly amplified “What’s up, aliens?” broadcast to them.
The Universe of Miranda July Foresees ‘The Future’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 5, 2011 - 11:09amRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The beauty of indie filmmaker Miranda July lies in her ability to create substance and mystery out of the most mundane everyday circumstances. Ms. July wrote, directed and stars in the symbolically rich new film “The Future,” and nurtures the concept of “the relationship” into another realm.
