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+.
HollywoodChicago.com Movie Reviews
‘Megamind’ With Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt Barely Wins Animated Fight
Submitted by BrianTT on November 5, 2010 - 5:25pm Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Being a super-villain is apparently going out of style as “Megamind” follows relatively quickly on the heels of “Despicable Me” and both tell the story of a bad guy realizing that it’s more fun to be good. The title character of “Megamind” (Will Ferrell) is a nefarious super-powered fellow who has just barely lost every fight he’s had with the beloved Metroman (Brad Pitt).
Sean Penn, Naomi Watts Revive Valerie Plame in ‘Fair Game’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 5, 2010 - 10:10am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The key line in “Fair Game,” a distillation of Valerie Plame’s outing as a CIA operative in 2003, is intoned by character actor Bruce McGill, in a scene reminiscent of the “Mr. X” moment in the “JFK” movie. Pointing to the White House and the Bush Administration, he simply says, “there are the most powerful men in the history of the world.”
Cluttered, Melodramatic ‘For Colored Girls’ Never Comes Together
Submitted by BrianTT on November 5, 2010 - 9:20am Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Ntozake Shange’s choreopoem “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf” was a landmark event in 1974, giving voice to a segment of society rarely seen on the stage. It took 34 years for a filmmaker to tackle this remarkable work in film form and Tyler Perry’s “For Colored Girls” retains some of the inherent power of it source and features some strong performances in the process but never finds the narrative cohesion needed to translate it to modern movie audiences.
Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis Are an Odd Pair in Funny ‘Due Date’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 5, 2010 - 2:27am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There is a strong temptation to lead this review with “Hey, ‘Due Date,’ ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles’ just called, they want their plot back,” but this Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis star vehicle drives on its own strange vibe, part road trip and part comedy that depends on suspension of all reality. Yet it mostly works.
‘The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest’ Underlines Franchise Limitations
Submitted by mattmovieman on October 29, 2010 - 7:12amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Now that the third and final installment of Stieg Larsson’s posthumously published, phenomenally popular book series has been turned into a feature film, the questions emerges: ‘Was it worth it?’ To the worldwide box office and the creatively bankrupt Hollywood, of course it was. But were moviegoers truly satisfied by the experience?
Prequel ‘Paranormal Activity 2’ Deftly Exploits a Baby as Emotional Scare Tactic
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on October 23, 2010 - 2:09amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – From its first “The Blair Witch Project”-like film in Sept. 2009, “Paranormal Activity” now reigns as one of the most profitable films ever made based on return on investment. But just a short 13 months later, “Paranormal Activity 2” returns to theaters with content and panic tactics that are much of the same.
Gemma Arterton Displays Luminosity as ‘Tamara Drewe’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 22, 2010 - 9:42pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There are some movies that are gut level great because of plot, atmosphere and pacing, and then there are movies like “Tamara Drewe,” which rely on the elusive star power of the performer to drive its engine. Gemma Arterton portrays the title character and lights up the screen with a vivid presence in the simple story of a woman’s homecoming.
‘11/4/08’ Assembles Interactive Portrait of Fateful Night
Submitted by mattmovieman on October 22, 2010 - 7:33amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – When Barack Obama took to the podium at Grant Park and gave his acceptance speech on the evening of November 4, 2008, his face appeared strangely reserved. His eyes did not reflect the overwhelming excitement of his supporters. Their grassroots efforts led to the election of a candidate whose popularity transcended national boundaries, injecting cynics with hope.
Clint Eastwood, Matt Damon Deliver Poignant ‘Hereafter’
Submitted by BrianTT on October 20, 2010 - 9:27am Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Clint Eastwood’s “Hereafter” is a dramatic examination of a subject rarely dealt with in American cinema with even an ounce of honest emotion: What happens after we die.
Ed Norton, Robert De Niro Misfire in Pretentious ‘Stone’
Submitted by BrianTT on October 15, 2010 - 2:01pm Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Ed Norton and Robert De Niro used to be two of the most consistent actors alive, both with streaks of amazing, Oscar-nominated films that guarantee them places in the history books. Sadly, their reunion in the overcooked “Stone” presents merely a shadow of what these talented stars used to deliver.
Documentary ‘Inside Job’ Should Be Required Viewing
Submitted by BrianTT on October 15, 2010 - 11:13am Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Director Charles Ferguson is an absolute genius at distilling incredibly-complex subjects down to their bare essentials without dumbing them down in the slightest. He produced the best documentary about the Iraq War in the amazing “No End in Sight” and he’s now delivered a nearly-equal masterful feature on how our economy got to where it is today with the excellent “Inside Job,” arguably the best documentary of a great year for the form.
Talented Ensemble Wasted on Incredibly Dull ‘Red’
Submitted by BrianTT on October 15, 2010 - 9:51am Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – They say you can learn as much from a bad movie as you can from a good one. If that’s true, what’s the lesson to be taken from the extremely boring and misguided “Red”? Perhaps that moviemaking is not the sum of its parts and that you can’t just get together an amazing cast, shout action, and expect magic.
Aaron Johnson as John Lennon is a Real ‘Nowhere Boy’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 15, 2010 - 9:37amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The great John Lennon would have been 70 years old on October 9th, but never got to expand upon the journey that started in a small British port town called Liverpool, where a young Lennon was shuffled from home-to-home between his Aunt Mimi and his mother Julia. Aaron Johnson plays the teenage rock icon in a crucial point in his life in the poignant “Nowhere Boy.”
