CHICAGO – YIPPIE! It’s back, in the neighborhood of its roots. YippieFest 2023 will be August 4th-6th in the Lakeview/Buena Park venue of PRIDE ARTS, 4139 North Broadway in Chicago. The space is less than a half mile from the former Mary-Arrchie Theatre, whose “Abbie Hoffman Festival” was the template for the three-day performance celebration. YippieFest currently has slots for theater acts, including one-act plays, monologue, sketch, improv, vaudeville and other stage performance arts. Artists get free admission to the rest of the festival, so click YiPPIE FEST 2023 to sign up.
Jay Baruchel
Addicted to CrackBerry! On-Air Review of ‘Blackberry’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 13, 2023 - 8:19am![]() Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on May 11th, reviewing “BlackBerry,” the story of the rise and fall of the world’s first smartphone. In theaters on May 12th.
Satisfying Emotion in ‘How to Train Your Dragon: Hidden World’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 22, 2019 - 10:22am![]() Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO –All fiery things must come to an extinguishing point, and the “How to Train Your Dragon” animated film series concludes with its third entry, subtitled “Hidden World.” To finish things up the creators turn on the Dragon power, there are literally thousands of them flamed up and ready to go.
Heroic, Visually Bold ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 13, 2014 - 4:46pm![]() Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “How to Train Your Dragon 2” is spectacular in 3D, the filmmakers actually geared the film to enhance that much maligned vision. It also features a warm and heroic story about the coming-of-age for the character Hiccup, and his now fully trained dragon, Toothless.
‘RoboCop’ Reboot Lacks Fun Factor, Fearful Villain
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on February 14, 2014 - 12:22am![]() Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – You get the sense that a writer for the new “RoboCop” felt very proud of himself when he coined the cheeky word “robophobic” as a play on a current cultural hot button. The Samuel L. Jackson moment of self-fulfilled glory reminded me of the rest of the plot that was missing.
‘This is the End’ Turns Stoner Fantasy Into Comedy
Submitted by BrianTT on June 11, 2013 - 12:59pm![]() Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – When David Gordon Green’s “Your Highness” hit fans of its writer/director and talented stars like a really bad pot hangover, its creators admitted that the project began life as a stoned what-if scenario. “Hey, let’s make a pot-laced fantasy movie, dude.” Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg’s “This is the End” clearly had similar origins.
Robert Pattinson Takes Interesting Ride Through David Cronenberg’s ‘Cosmopolis’
Submitted by BrianTT on August 23, 2012 - 4:07pm![]() Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – One of our best living filmmakers, one of our best working authors, and a teen heartthrob who has largely been known for looks over skill get into a slow-moving limousine in David Cronenberg’s adaptation of Don DeLillo’s “Cosmopolis” starring Robert Pattinson in almost exclusively one-on-one scenes with some great supporting actors and actresses.
Seann William Scott Skates Through Funny ‘Goon’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 30, 2012 - 2:02pm![]() Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Seann William Scott gives a surprisingly engaging, even sweet performance as the title character in the brutal, raunchy hockey comedy “Goon,” written by “Superbad” scribe Evan Goldberg and comedy actor Jay Baruchel. This “Slap Shot meets Fight Club” is a definite must-see for hockey fans but feels a little too slight for everyone else. Still, there’s a lot to like here, especially for those who want an interesting alternative On Demand (it’s already available there and opening in Chicago theaters today, March 30th, 2012).
Forged in Myth, Nicolas Cage Shines in ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 14, 2010 - 11:56am![]() Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The fantasy action epic has joined the animated film as the go-to genre for summer films. Disney joins the fray with “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” featuring magic, special effects action and a deep mythology, spiced with Nicolas Cage doing a slightly warped version of a King Arthur-era apprentice for Merlin the Magician.
