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+.
Vanessa Hudgens
‘Bad Boys for Life’ Are Just Too Old For This
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 17, 2020 - 10:32am Rating: 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.
Earnest ‘Gimme Shelter’ Needs More Truth
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 24, 2014 - 7:53am Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The balancing act between reality and drama in based-on-truth narratives is as delicate as walking the high wire. Pour in too much drama, and a story can feel like a soap opera. “Gimme Shelter,” although earnestly and achingly performed, has that sudsy protocol.
Nicolas Cage, John Cusack Get Buried in ‘The Frozen Ground’
Submitted by BrianTT on August 22, 2013 - 11:55amRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There have been a depressing number of bad career choices on the part of Oscar winner Nicolas Cage and once-great actor John Cusack in recent years. Anyone seen “Seeking Justice,” “Stolen,” “The Numbers Station,” or “The Factory”? Someone owes you an apology.
Bikini Girls with Machine Guns in Mesmerizing ‘Spring Breakers’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 21, 2013 - 10:52am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Already hailed as this generation’s “Fight Club,” Harmony Korine’s “Spring Breakers” is a mesmerizing piece of satire, a journey into the dark side of teenage excess. And what’s a better symbol of excess than the ritual of spring break? But lest you think this is like MTV’s watered-down version of pop bands and bikini girls, Korine has something much more intense in store for you.
Don’t Buy Ticket For ‘Journey 2: The Mysterious Island’
Submitted by BrianTT on February 10, 2012 - 12:53pm Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – If you hear an unusual sound this weekend, it may be Jules Verne, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Jonathan Swift spinning in their graves. The writers who have become an essential part of any growing person’s library have now been associated with a piece of 3D junk that insults the intelligence of everyone who sees it. “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” is not a trip worth taking.
‘Sucker Punch’ Has Dazzling Imagery, Comic Book Wham-Bam
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 25, 2011 - 5:36am Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – It’s a pleasure to see the comic book film done right, especially with the visionary guidance of director Zach Snyder (”300”). “Sucker Punch” is an amazing treat, a feast of eye candy and incredible adventure.
Vanessa Hudgens, Alex Pettyfer Wallow in Aptly Titled ‘Beastly’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 4, 2011 - 1:44pmRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The main problem with “Beastly,” a modern high schooler retelling of “Beauty and the Beast,” is that the outcome is known (Beast will learn lessons, become handsome again). That leaves only the way it gets to that end for creating story. This film cannot find its way.
