CHICAGO – In anticipation of the scariest week of the year, HollywoodChicago.com launches its 2024 Movie Gifts series, which will suggest DVDs and collections for holiday giving.
Rosemarie DeWitt
Nothing to Turn the Frown Upside Down in ‘Smile 2’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 17, 2024 - 8:21pm Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The sequel to the surprise horror hit “Smile” won’t give you anything to turn your frown upside down. It’s longer and gorier than the original, but it yields precious few surprises and is an ultimately pointless exercise in commerce and drudgery.
‘La La Land’ Will Create Love for Musicals Again
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 15, 2016 - 1:01pm Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “La La Land” has the spirit of an old time “Singin’ In The Rain”-type Hollywood musical, but this is no throwback or revival. It brings that spirit into the modern age and gets it to live, breathe, and thrive once again. It’s a beautiful technicolor spectacle that celebrates the whimsy of musicals, while finding a way to translate it credibly and wonderfully to the modern age.
‘Poltergeist’ Remake Has a Soul of Its Own
Submitted by NickHC on May 22, 2015 - 4:22pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Whether it’s the 1982 original or the remake just released in theaters today to the wrath of numerous fans, the lesson of “Poltergeist” remains the same: Don’t do a half-assed job when relocating skeletons for corporate greed, or suffer the supernatural consequences. Fear not, however, as this is one remake that doesn’t just dress up a nostalgic skeleton for the modern horror crowd, but one that reminisces, and looks forward, with a mostly intelligent, genuine heart.
Meet the Press in Illuminating ‘Kill the Messenger’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 14, 2014 - 11:19am Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – When journalists were heroes and exposed those in power for their sins, movies were made like “All the President’s Men.” Gary Webb of the San Jose Mercury News was one of those journalist heroes during the 1990s, but he wasn’t celebrated in his time. The indictments, induced paranoia and outright lies against him are distinctly chronicled in the luminary “Kill the Messenger.”
Gus Van Sant’s ‘Promised Land’ Breaks Promise to Audiences
Submitted by mattmovieman on December 28, 2012 - 4:32pm Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – When a Gus Van Sant picture works well, it can be as rousing as “Milk” or as thrillingly experimental as “Elephant.” Few filmmakers have straddled the mainstream and independent realms with such success (Steven Soderbergh would be another). But when a Van Sant film fails, it often fails spectacularly, as proven by “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” and that notoriously pointless “Psycho” remake.
Beguiling Ensemble Nearly Salvages Frustrating ‘Nobody Walks’
Submitted by mattmovieman on November 9, 2012 - 9:37amRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – From the very beginning of her screen career, Olivia Thirlby has specialized in playing youthful seductresses intent on jump-starting their male partners’ sexual coming-of-age. She exuded megawatt allure in everything from David Gordon Green’s “George Washington” to Brett Ratner’s memorable segment in “New York, I Love You.”
‘The Odd Life of Timothy Green’ Misses Emotional Connection
Submitted by BrianTT on August 15, 2012 - 10:04am Rating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Peter Hedges’ “The Odd Life of Timothy Green” has a warm, gooey center that’s admirable in a family movie way but what’s around it can’t hold together as the lack of focus in the narrative and the rather grating performance from the young man playing its title character causes it to annoy more than entertain.
Ben Stiller in ‘The Watch’ Needs a Better Mechanism
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 27, 2012 - 8:42am Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Star studded, special effects ladened “comedies” featuring aliens should have been put to rest after last year’s “Paul.” But “The Watch” is here, and it features Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill and an odd Richard Ayoade as four suburban neighborhood watch volunteers who end up hunting space men. Yep, right after “Paul.”
Great Trio Elevates Lynn Shelton’s ‘Your Sister’s Sister’
Submitted by BrianTT on June 15, 2012 - 9:35amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Lynn Shelton’s “Your Sister’s Sister” is a character-driven piece about hidden feelings and complex relationships. Like her work on “Humpday,” Shelton has a keen ear for the way people alter their behavior as their dynamics with other people continue to shift, often in a sexual direction. When a close friend suddenly looks like something more, when a long-term relationship seems to be falling apart, when a sibling may have betrayed you – Shelton’s gift as a filmmaker is how she can traverse these emotional minefields while still staying true to her characters.
