CHICAGO – If you’ve never seen the farcical ensemble theater chestnut “Noises Off,” you will see no better version than on the Steppenwolf Theatre stage, now at their northside Chicago venue through November 3rd. For tickets and details for this riotous theater experience, click NOISES OFF.
John Hurt
Natalie Portman Embodies a Magnificent ‘Jackie’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 2, 2016 - 8:23am Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Capturing one of the most familiar woman of the last fifty years would seem impossible, except when focusing on one of the defining moments of her life. “Jackie” reveals Jacqueline Kennedy during the time of her husband John’s assassination, and when the nation lost a president.
‘A’ for Effort, ‘C’ for Execution in Dwayne Johnson’s Unmemorable ‘Hercules’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on July 26, 2014 - 7:01pm Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – I empathize with Dwayne Johnson and simultaneously don’t. Most people never get rich and famous once let alone twice. Sure, it’s hard to rebrand people from the wrestling superstar you once were into the dramatic action star you’re trying to become, but your past is forever immortal.
‘Snowpiercer’ is a Wild Ride, One-of-a-Kind Dystopia
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 4, 2014 - 1:35pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Travelers. We are travelers in this life, and metaphorically we’re mostly in coach, but sometimes manage to get some first class treatment. What if all this traveling were confined to one vehicle? Imagine a future world contained in a constantly traveling train, and the premise for “Snowpiercer” realizes a one-of-a-kind dystopia.
Annoying, Inconsistent ‘Charlie Countryman’ with Shia LaBeouf
Submitted by BrianTT on November 15, 2013 - 10:46am Rating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – What happens when you give people two months in Romania to make a movie about a lost soul dealing with grief, love, drug use, and general excess? You get a spoiled, bizarre, annoying piece of work like “Charlie Countryman,” starring talented people given absolutely nothing to do that proves that talent. It’s a film more in love with slow-motion shots of its abrasive lead running to electronic dance music than anything approaching character or plot. It’s like watching the travel video of the most annoying guy you know.
Billy Bob Thornton’s ‘Jayne Mansfield’s Car’ Stalls Out
Submitted by BrianTT on September 11, 2013 - 1:05pm Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There was a time when it looked like not only would Oscar winner Billy Bob Thornton be one of our great actors but possibly a threat behind the camera as well. Everyone knows the impression of his character from “Sling Blade” but many forget that he directed it as well. He followed that up with the flawed but ambitious and interesting “All the Pretty Horses.”
Stoic Gary Oldman Uncovers ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 16, 2011 - 7:16amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Espionage sure isn’t like it used to be. The new film “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” is set during the Cold War period of the early 1970s, when lines were drawn by their proximity in front of and behind the Iron Curtain. Gary Oldman plays an old British spook in this thriller adapted from the famous John le Carré novel.
‘Immortals’ is Model of a Modern Major Epic
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 11, 2011 - 7:27pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The sword and sandals epic has been around since the costume department fashioned the first toga. A modern take on this tried-and-true story line is “Immortals,” using the latest computer generated imagery to create the gods of Mount Olympus, the mortals of ancient Greece and their severed heads in 3D.
Lars Von Trier’s Mesmerizing ‘Melancholia’ Turns Depression Into Art
Submitted by BrianTT on November 10, 2011 - 12:33pmRating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Lars Von Trier’s “Melancholia” is a mesmerizing, haunting portrayal of the world-shattering force of depression from a filmmaker who has first-hand knowledge of the debilitating disease. With career-best work by Kirsten Dunst and some of the most confident filmmaking from its controversial director, this is one of the best films of 2011, a stunningly original examination of that which is completely out of our control.
‘Brighton Rock’ Remake Fails to Justify its Existence
Submitted by BrianTT on August 26, 2011 - 3:56pmRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Rowan Joffe’s long-gestating remake of “Brighton Rock” (the 1947 noir classic was based on the beloved book by Graham Greene) raises the question least-desired in one of these situations – why bother? Sure, the story is a nifty little tale of a rising criminal undone by his own avarice and the love of a girl and the cast assembled for the remake is an undeniably talented ensemble.
