CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.
Patrick Wilson
Watery! Audio Film Review of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 22, 2023 - 9:22pm Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review for “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” part of the DC Comics Universe directed by James Wan and featuring … in this second outing as the watery character … Jason Momoa. In theaters beginning on December 22nd.
‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It’ is Haunted By Its Past
Submitted by JonHC on June 4, 2021 - 5:28am Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is our third official, not-counting-the-spinoffs foray into the “based on true events” shenanigans of Ed and Lorraine Warren, and it’s starting to show. If you’re a tea drinker and equally as frugal as I am, you have reused a tea bag to make a second (sometimes even a third) cup of tea.
Horror is Worth a Visit in 'Annabelle Comes Home'
Submitted by JonHC on June 26, 2019 - 6:48amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There is such an unnerving quality to older dolls, which is why they lend themselves so perfectly to horror stories. There’s just an unsettling feeling when looking at their static expression, usually plastered with a permanent smile that gives me terrible flashbacks to when I worked retail. Oddly enough, “Annabelle Comes Home” similarly elicits familiar feelings of terror but channels it through an 80’s horror homage.
‘Aquaman’ is a Watery Sleep with the Fishes
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 20, 2018 - 9:39am Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The dripping sound of water you will hear this upcoming weekend will be the tears of DC Comics fans, as they cry from frustration over the latest cinema hit job on one of the Super-Friends. The tepid and overlong “Aquaman” is another hero movie that tries to combine origin story and “first case” adventure, and fails at both.
‘The Commuter’ is a Fun, Butt-Kicking Good Time
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 12, 2018 - 10:21am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Sometimes you’re just in the mood for a good old Liam Neeson ass-kicker… and “The Commuter” fits that bill. It asks, damn near requires, you to leave your brain safely at the station, but it moves too fast that you don’t have much time to think about it. It’s ludicrous, dumb and fun entertainment for January.
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.
‘Insidious: Chapter 2’ is Mere Ghost of Original
Submitted by BrianTT on September 13, 2013 - 9:39amRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Writer Leigh Whannell and director James Wan reunite for “Insidious: Chapter 2,” a repetitive, cluttered, just silly variation on the first movie that will feel like a step back for anyone who admired Wan’s notable advancement as a filmmaker in this summer’s stellar “The Conjuring.”
Effective ‘The Conjuring’ Captures the Sum of All Fears
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 19, 2013 - 7:57am Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – True scary movies have a couple of things going for them – the source of the scare and the psychology of the scare. The source provides the “boo,” the audience provides the interactive psychology. “The Conjuring” is a true scary movie.
Jason Reitman, Diablo Cody Sway Us to Like the Unlikable in ‘Young Adult’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on December 9, 2011 - 5:22pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) isn’t a girl you’d Facebook like. She’s got one too many dark passengers, she’s a repugnant drunk, she likes too much pink, her white dog is too puffy and most would consider it less than Usher cool that she’s throwing herself at a married man she couldn’t bag back in high school. Or is she? And is Mavis so different than you?
‘Saw’ Creators Fall Just Short of True Scares With ‘Insidious’
Submitted by BrianTT on April 1, 2011 - 11:38amRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – I have written over a thousand reviews and have rarely been as conflicted as I am about my response to James Wan’s “Insidious.” It comes down to this question — do you judge the effort or the execution?
