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+.
Willem Dafoe
‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ is Built by Wes Anderson
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 15, 2014 - 9:34amRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The distinct and strangely-alluring style of director Wes Anderson is on opulent display in “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” In what is an eccentric, European style fairy tale, Anderson creates a legend that is forged in his signature, along with the performances of a brilliant cast.
Great Cast Can’t Find Truth in False Plotting of ‘Out of the Furnace’
Submitted by BrianTT on December 6, 2013 - 11:18amRating: 1.5/5.0 |
One overriding thought dominated my time with Scott Cooper’s stunningly disappointing “Out of the Furnace” – I just don’t care. When I wasn’t picking apart the gigantic plot holes in the narrative, I was marveling at the overheated characters who have been crafted from cliché instead of the real world.
Mesmerizing Performance From Willem Dafoe Carries ‘The Hunter’
Submitted by BrianTT on April 26, 2012 - 3:04pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “The Hunter” is an uniquely mesmerizing film about a man on a complex journey. While the film threatens to fall into cliché (and sometimes hangs on by its fingernails on the precipice of doing so), excellent cinematography and another mesmerizing performance by Willem Dafoe keep it engaging enough to the point that it develops a fascinating rhythm of its own. There’s a lot to like here in this tale of a lonely man, his elusive prey, and the family he meets that gets caught in the middle.
‘John Carter’ is Poor Man’s ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Avatar’ With Kitschy Taylor Kitsch, Soft-Porn Lynn Collins
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on March 10, 2012 - 5:35amRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Usually it’s critics critically flogging a film when we say it weakly lacks originality and borrows too heavily from others. Disney’s “John Carter” attacks that classic grumble by promotionally comparing itself to “Star Wars” and “Avatar” before critics even had a chance to deduct points for it.
Ryan Reynolds, Julia Roberts Trapped in Dull ‘Fireflies in the Garden’
Submitted by BrianTT on October 14, 2011 - 12:05pmRating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – It’s always risky for a screenwriter to craft a film about a family of writers in that when the result is a script so generically awful as that for “Fireflies in the Garden” it’s going to stick out even more prominently. After sitting on the shelf for years (it played festivals in 2008 and was supposed to be released that year) and reportedly undergoing some reshoots, this stale drama is finally getting a limited release and will prove just how limited it is to the poor saps who pay to see it.
‘My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done’ Inspires Genuine Head-Scratching
Submitted by BrianTT on April 14, 2010 - 10:58amRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – When David Lynch came to Chicago for an “Inland Empire” screening back in 2007, he offered memorable advice to a moviegoer baffled by his work. He said that his audience should meditate not on the “intellectual experience” provided by his films, but the emotional ideas that they conjure.
Original, Stylish ‘Daybreakers’ With Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe
Submitted by BrianTT on January 8, 2010 - 4:12pmRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In the early part of the last decade, Michael and Peter Spierig (The Spierig Brothers) debuted with the unique zombie cult hit “Undead” and horror nuts waited to see what they’d do next. It took way too long but the brothers are back with the stylish, original “Daybreakers,” a vampire film that injects new life into an often-dead genre.