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.
Los Angeles
Kumail Nanjiani is the Only Reason to See ‘Stuber’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 14, 2019 - 9:17am Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Kumail Nanjiani is reaching the next level of stardom. Recently, he was the best thing in the rebooted “MIB: International” (as a cartoon sprite), and now he is the only reason to indulge in “Stuber.” Kumail portrays a nervy UBER driver named Stu (get it?), and upholds everything about the buddy movie that is enjoyable. The rest of it, including his buddy Dave Bautista, land with a dull thud.
Growing Up Fast in the Skateboard Life of ‘Mid90s’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 29, 2018 - 10:33am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Character actor Jonah Hill has just scored behind the camera. As writer/director of a authentic look back at the “Mid90s” he went back to his inner source of growing up in that 1990s time, skateboarding with his buds and experiencing the teenage life. The story never blinks, as the teens are authentic and the situations they get in even more so.
‘Generation Wealth’ Tells Us What We Already Know
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 8, 2018 - 10:00amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – When it comes to really being rich, what do we already know? Money doesn’t buy happiness. Family and friendship connections are more important than accumulation. Yet those simple lessons keep being broken up by the excess of more, the values of which are in the documentary “Generation Wealth.”
Film Review: Rotating Perspectives Converge in ‘Train Station’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 15, 2017 - 2:07pm Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Taking on the variance of choice in a very unique and compelling way, “Train Station” was interpreted through 40 filmmakers in 25 countries, following a character – The Person in Brown – in a singular story that flexes and changes as the role is exposed. Chicago was one of those filming locations, and “Train Station” will screen here at the Music Box Theatre on Wednesday, February 15, 2017.
Alternate American Dream Played Out in ‘Dope’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 19, 2015 - 12:33pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – If you’re lucky enough, you’ll never know what it’s like to grow up in a poor American neighborhood. But what if the notions of such societies are flipped on its ear, and what if the message draws attention to our current perceptions of race? This is what the new film “Dope” conveys.
Pre-Apocalyptic Darkness Found in ‘Maps to the Stars’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 11, 2015 - 10:50am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There is a moral darkness in director David Cronenberg’s “Maps to the Stars” that is hard to shake. It is filled with circumstance and souls right at the edge of insanity, polluted by an atmosphere that doesn’t give them much of a chance. The apocalypse is now, and living in Los Angeles.
Jake Gyllenhaal is Eerily Seductive as the ‘Nightcrawler’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 30, 2014 - 9:58pmRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – This film can be defined as “Network” meets Norman Bates, but it also exposes virtually all our modern sins, in a chilling story about a loser who spouts business self help while taping bloody crimes that sell on the morning news. Jake Gyllenhaal is the “Nightcrawler.”
Tense Thriller Has Halle Berry Answering ‘The Call’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 16, 2013 - 12:20amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “The Call” rises above the usual crime drama for a couple of reasons. First, it is a thriller that runs at a breakneck speed, using the driving culture of Los Angeles in a cat-and-mouse chase. Secondly, it symbolically emphasizes the plight of women, and honors their empowerment.
Street Fight of ‘End of Watch’ Adds in Deep Emotion
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 21, 2012 - 7:32amRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In the genre known as the cop movie, there are expectations. There will be street evil, informants, ride-alongs and camaraderie. What is surprising and welcome in “End of Watch” is how it takes all those elements and expands them with an emotional link between the cop partners, portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña.
Sirens Flash Red For Woody Harrelson in ‘Rampart’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 17, 2012 - 5:56pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The “thin blue line” is a police term. It represents the designation between the protection the police provides and the anarchy that is on the other side of that protection. The cop that Woody Harrelson portrays in “Rampart” crosses that line repeatably, formulating his own retribution.
