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.
Nick Offerman
‘The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part’ is Flat Out Funny
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 8, 2019 - 4:48pm Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There are two things I love as a film observer. The pretty colors of modern animation … and to laugh. I got both in the appropriately titled “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.” Picking up where the first first left off, the gang of Lego brick figures, including Emmet, Wyldstyle and Batman, have a new adventure.
Despite One Premise, Laughs Are Plenty in ‘The Little Hours’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 14, 2017 - 11:01am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – It occurred to me in assessing “The Little Hours” that the basic premise is somewhat like “The Beguiled” – a man is taken in, rooster-like, into a henhouse where there are women with “needs.” Except this time, instead of a girl’s boarding school, it is a 14th Century nunnery. Get thee to it, if thou wants to laugheth.
Emotionally Perfect Cowboy Elegy in ‘The Hero’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 20, 2017 - 12:25pm Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The great character actor Sam Elliott – known mostly for his cowboy roles in film/TV and his unique bass sounding voiceovers – gets an opportunity to deliver a nuanced and emotional performance as a hyper-realized version of himself. There is virtue and truth in this character journey.
Emotionally Animated ‘My Life as a Zucchini’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 11, 2017 - 9:40amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Leave it to the Europeans to inject some realistic drama into the art of animation. The recently Oscar nominated “My Life as a Zucchini” is opening in Chicago this weekend, and tells the story of parental abandonment, orphanages and finding family. Co-produced by France and Switzerland, it uses a familiar claymation stop-motion style for more emotional resonance.
Michael Keaton is a Man with a Brand in ‘The Founder’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 19, 2017 - 8:52pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Michael Keaton is the real reason to see “The Founder” – it’s a movie that probably wouldn’t work at all without him. Keaton portrays Ray Kroc, the man who turned McDonald’s into a multinational fast food behemoth. But “The Founder” is an origin story of both the man and the brand…and Kroc is not the genius of American business he’s been made out to be.
Terence Malick’s Feverish Dream in ‘Knight of Cups’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 11, 2016 - 10:46amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – I’ve been quoting Martin Scorsese over the years, that he said “movies are a psychotic’s feverish dream on display.” In searching for those words, I found he never said it. He did say they are “dreams with eyes open.” So let us combine the two quotes in analyzing Terence Malick’s “Knight of Cups.”
Drac Pack Still a Drag in ‘Hotel Transylvania 2’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 25, 2015 - 8:57am- Adam Sandler
- Andy Samberg
- Columbia Pictures
- Dana Carvey
- David Spade
- Fran Drescher
- Genndy Tartakovsky
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Hotel Transylvania 2
- Jon Lovitz
- Keegan-Michael Key
- Kevin James
- Megan Mullally
- Mel Brooks
- Molly Shannon
- Nick Offerman
- Robert Smigel
- Selena Gomez
- Sony Pictures Releasing
- Spike Walters
- Steve Buscemi
 Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – For the younger set unable to experience the mystique of Dracula, Wolfman and Frankenstein in their original creations, “Hotel Transylvania 2” may prove to be an introduction to the legendary bloodsucker and his band of movie monsters – and for that Adam Sandler deserves a stake through his heart.
Ever-Present Passion in ‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 12, 2015 - 11:18amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There are feelings encoded in a film, imparted by the creators, which sometimes takes a while to become apparent. “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” is an example, with a deceptive surface story that contains an ocean of feelings and emotions within its passionate core.
Imagine What Could Have Been for ‘Danny Collins’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 27, 2015 - 10:14am Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Danny Collins” is a shoulda-woulda-coulda film. It was inspired by the true story of a John Lennon letter acquired by a musician 40 years after he was suppose to to have received it, and then re-imagined as a cheap soap opera, punctuated by far superior John Lennon songs.
‘22 Jump Street’ is a Proud Bargain Bin Blockbuster
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 13, 2014 - 7:58am Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “22 Jump Street” is a big budget Hollywood sequel that actively comments on the diminishing returns of sequels. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller know that for every “Lethal Weapon 2,” that manages to surpass the original, there are a dozen “Another 48 Hours” that try and fail to give audiences an approximation of what they enjoyed before.
