CHICAGO – Theatrical satires of the Star Wars Universe are like the number of TV series the universe has wrought … too many to figure out if anything is worthwhile. But “Trade Federation” (subtitled “Or Let’s Explore Globalization Through the Star Wars Prequels”), presented by Otherworld Theatre in Wrigleyville Chicago, gets it right on.
Sony Pictures Releasing
‘A Man Called Otto’ is O-T-T-Oh No for Tom Hanks
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 5, 2023 - 9:25am Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Tom Hanks finds himself – as the title character – stranded in a slough of artificiality in this clumsy manipulative attempt at a crowd pleaser. He plays a grump in “A Man Named Otto,” a remake of a 2015 Swedish film. The setting has been transferred to the grey rust belt of Pittsburgh, and Hanks is a widower with a lot of chips on his shoulder about the world today.
Greatest Love! On-Air Film Review of 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody'
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 23, 2022 - 12:00pm Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on The Eddie Volkman Show with Hannah B on WSSR-FM (Star 96.7 Joliet, Illinois) on December 23rd, reviewing the new Whitney Houston movie bio “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” in theaters beginning December 23rd.
Winning the Battle! On-Air Film Review of ‘The Woman King’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 16, 2022 - 4:26pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on September 15th, 2022, reviewing “The Woman King,” about Woman Warriors in 19th Century Africa. In theaters on September 16th..
Out of Tune! Audio Film Review of ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 14, 2022 - 8:12am Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review on “Where the Crawdads Sing,” the highly anticipated adaptation of the huge best selling novel by Della Owens, and featuring Daisy Edgar-Jones, in theater everywhere beginning July 15th.
‘Bad Boys for Life’ Are Just Too Old For This
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 17, 2020 - 10:32amRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Bad Boys For Life” shows that maybe Will Smith isn’t too old for this kind of sh*t, but Martin Lawrence certainly is. This third installment comes 17 years after “Bad Boys II,” and 25 years after the original film unleashed director Michael Bay on an unsuspecting public. It aims to be just as bombastic as its predecessors, but without Michael Bay behind the lens and a lot more jokes about middle age, creaking bones and dying beards.
Exploring an Inverse Superman Makes ‘Brightburn’ Shine
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 25, 2019 - 4:31am Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The opening to the 1950s “Adventures of Superman” TV series includes the words “strange visitor from another planet.” But because Supes had used his subsequent powers for good, he eventually was found not so strange. What if, however, he had been evil, and used his powers destructively? The new film “Brightburn” speculates on such a phenomenon.
'Sicario: Day of the Soldado' Ripped From Headlines
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 30, 2018 - 10:47am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – We don’t really know what is going on at the Mexican border, nor if we’re lucky understand the desperation in crossing over. “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” is a cynical and sad film, but gives a bit of perspective on the this ongoing situation, especially as it deflates the current presidential administration.
Story Can’t Match Eye-Popping Visuals of ‘Passengers’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 24, 2016 - 10:31amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The use of science fiction for all kind of stories is one of the hottest go-to genres for Hollywood today. “Passengers” is a love story, and adds the visual glory of modern special effects…but the soapy tale of a star-crossed (literally) couple is problematic and cliché ridden, and breaks at the end with heroics that are shoehorned into the rest of the scenario.
‘The Magnificent Seven’ is How the Western Was Lost
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 23, 2016 - 6:16pm Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The appeal of Westerns was mostly lost on me when I was younger. The tales of these hypermasculine wanderers, answering every problem with a gun, never appealed to me. When I got older, I discovered their messages of honor and self-defense against corruption. The genre proved it could be more than one-liners and shootouts, but “The Magnificent Seven” set out to be only that.
‘When the Bough Breaks’ is in Need of Repairs
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 13, 2016 - 7:13pmRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Popular nursery rhymes are told to children as a way to calm them, but also as some kind of cautionary tale. Most of us could hear the melody and be able to sing the words along with it. This predictability is both its greatest strength and weakness, but the predictability that is the nursery cautionary tale in “When the Bough Breaks” is anything but a strength.
