CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio review for the streaming series “Emily in Paris” the adventures of Emily Cooper and her fanciful/fashionable Paris friends and lovers, now in its fourth season. Episodes 1-5 currently on Netflix.
Logan Lerman
Unexpected Lessons for the Student of ‘Indignation’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 10, 2016 - 9:20am Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – America was a very different place in 1951, and there are very few people around to tell us about it. That is why reminders of the more confining social order that existed back then is necessary, and is expressed in the film “Indignation.” This is an adaptation of a recent Philip Roth novel, and he was able to articulate the era.
World War II Drama ‘Fury’ Fires on All Cylinders
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 17, 2014 - 7:02pmRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Fury” just might be Brad Pitt’s “Saving Private Ryan.” At its heart it’s a crowd pleaser, but it never shies away from the sheer brutality of war. While it doesn’t have anything quite so devastating as “Saving Private Ryan’s” D-Day sequence, it depicts the everyday horrors of killing the enemy and the men who must force themselves to make their peace with the casualties that pile up in the muck.
Daring Vision of Darren Aronofsky’s Epic ‘Noah’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 27, 2014 - 12:55pm Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
Darren Aronofsky’s controversial “Noah” exists somewhere between the sentimental, straight-faced versions of biblical tales that Hollywood has been producing for decades and more auteur-driven fare like Martin Scorsese’s “The Last Temptation of Christ”.
‘Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters’ is Driven by Myth
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 7, 2013 - 9:08am Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Although on the surface, the Percy Jackson stories may seem like Harry Potter rip-offs, the use of a mythology theme and a slyer sense of humor does give them some distinction and life. It also provides several moments of unintentional laughs in “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.”
Wonderful ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ Captures Teenage Life with Grace
Submitted by BrianTT on September 27, 2012 - 4:13pm Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Stephen Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” based on his hit book of the same name, is the most pleasant and accomplished surprise of the year, a delightful, sweet, funny, and moving examination of teenage life that merits comparison to John Hughes and Cameron Crowe.
‘The Three Musketeers’ Lets Down Legendary Heroes
Submitted by BrianTT on October 21, 2011 - 6:09pm Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Seriously?!?! Another “The Three Musketeers”?!?! Just because source material is beloved, why does it need to be remade over and over again? Perhaps Paul W. S. Anderson’s new take on the legendary trio complete with “Resident Evil”-esque action sequences can serve as the final word on this over-done story although if it somehow ends being the only version that future generations end up seeing they will surely wonder why such a boring tale was retold so many times in the first place.
‘Percy Jackson & the Olympians:The Lightning Thief’ Conjures Up a Big Bolt of Bland
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 12, 2010 - 10:00am Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Oh, those nutty kids today. At one moment they’re regular high schoolers, doing all those post millennium teen rituals, then suddenly they’re demigods in “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.”
