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.
Timothy Spall
Going Postal! Audio Film Review of ‘Wicked Little Letters’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 4, 2024 - 10:41am Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review for the newly released “Wicked Little Letters,” a based-on-truth story featuring Olivia Coleman and Jessie Buckley, set in England right after World War One. In theaters on April 5th.
Princess Diana-Rama! On-Air Review of ‘Spencer’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 4, 2021 - 12:22pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on November 4th, 2021, reviewing the new film by director Pablo Lorrain (“Jackie”) about Princess Diana, “Spencer,” in theaters on November 5th.
‘Early Man’ is Unabashedly Freaking Hilarious
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 19, 2018 - 1:08pm Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Humor flows from one individual, and reaches another. Whether the receiver laughs or not is subjective, based on experiences and worldview. It can be agreed, however, that animator Nick Park (“Wallace & Gromit”) is hilarious, and he’ll make the world laugh in “Early Man.”
Eccentric Story of ‘Mr. Turner’ Still Visually Arresting
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 26, 2014 - 9:17amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The thing that can be said for British writer/director Mike Leigh is that it’s never known what story may capture his fancy. The auteur of “Happy-Go-Lucky,” “Topsy-Turvy,” “Secrets and Lies” and “Life is Sweet” now tackles the last quarter century of a notable British painter’s life, through his strange maneuverings and unconventionality, in “Mr. Turner.”
Convoluted British Heist Flick ‘Wasteland’ Tests Your Patience
Submitted by BrianTT on July 31, 2013 - 3:14pm Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – I’m not sure there’s ever been a heist film in which the heist is discussed, debated, and argued about more than “Wasteland,” opening in Chicago this Friday, August 2, 2013. We know from the beginning, with its “Usual Suspects” narrative trick of an arrested man telling a cop how he got there, that things went wrong. And then we get to hear about the plan for things to go wrong over and over and over again.
Odd Fairy Tale of ‘Upside Down’ is Also Inside Out
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 15, 2013 - 11:44pm Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Definitely one of the strangest films so far in 2013 is “Upside Down,” featuring a dream pairing of Kirsten Dunst and Jim Sturgess. The problem is they exist as disparate lovers on opposing planets, with opposite gravitational pulls. Thus what is up for Kirsten is down for Jim, or vice-versa?
Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush Star in Confident ‘The King’s Speech’
Submitted by BrianTT on December 17, 2010 - 9:08amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Tom Hooper’s “The King’s Speech” has been barreling through the awards season with a number of significant nominations, including six from the Chicago Film Critics Association just today. I understand why. The film does nothing wrong. It features confident production values and good performances but never reaches the peak of excellence for this critic. “The King’s Speech” is a good film that’s been inflated by some viewers to great even if it doesn’t quite deserve the throne.
