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
Whole Truth Becomes a Modern-Era Reality in ‘Catfish’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 24, 2010 - 7:05pm Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Catfish” is a real oddball of a film, set in the Twilight Zone of our own virtual cyberspace. Three twentysomething men navigate through the mysterious rigors of a journey they never expected to take. Nev Schulman is the main subject and directors Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost provide the video exposition in this true story.
Philip Seymour Hoffman Stars in Directorial Debut ‘Jack Goes Boating’
Submitted by BrianTT on September 24, 2010 - 11:00am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – One of the best working actors takes his skills behind camera in Philip Seymour Hoffman’s “Jack Goes Boating,” a character drama about one couple forming as another relationship falls apart at the same time. This gentle story of modern relationships is a subtle, slow-moving drama of moments and repercussions that works due to the talents of its cast and quality of its source material despite a few notable flaws.
Shia LaBeouf, Michael Douglas Drive Energetic ‘Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps’
Submitted by BrianTT on September 24, 2010 - 9:29am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – After a string of disappointments that include “Alexander,” “World Trade Center” and “W,” one of the best directors of the 1980s and 1990s at least draws closer to form with the entertaining “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”. The film is a great vehicle for Shia LaBeouf, Josh Brolin and Michael Douglas that occasionally disappoints but crackles more often than it fizzles.
‘Enter the Void’ Takes Viewers on the Next Ultimate Trip
Submitted by mattmovieman on September 24, 2010 - 8:26am Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Dying would be the ultimate trip.” This line is uttered early on in “Enter the Void,” the extraordinary new film from Gaspar Noé, a director who enjoys referencing his previous work almost as much as his hero, Stanley Kubrick. This line pays subtle homage to the “2001: A Space Odyssey” poster prominently framed toward the end of Noé’s previous film, “Irreversible.”
Ryan Reynolds Gets Beneath it in Tense Thriller ‘Buried’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 24, 2010 - 7:21amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In one of the most unusual settings for a film, actor Ryan Reynolds performs as a one-man tour de force as the only on-screen character in the new film “Buried.” Set in a coffin buried beneath the sands of Iraq, Reynolds conveys the panic, hope and inevitable outcome of a man buried alive and fighting for his very existence.
Ben Affleck’s ‘The Town’ Proves ‘Gone Baby Gone’ Wasn’t Beginner’s Luck
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on September 18, 2010 - 5:35pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Only three years since the Chicago Film Critics Association awarded Ben Affleck as our most promising filmmaker, he’s back in the director’s seat a second time with “The Town”. While the film dramatically centers on the business of robbery in his familiar streets of Boston, Affleck importantly proves that his 2007 Oscar-nominated film “Gone Baby Gone” wasn’t just beginner’s luck.
Low Grade on Report Card For ‘Easy A’ With Emma Stone
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 18, 2010 - 7:37am Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO - “Easy A” is simply a hard film to swallow. Set in a high school on another planet, it wants everything and ends up giving very little. The cast is game - Emma Stone, Patricia Clarkson, Stanley Tucci, Thomas Haden Church and Lisa Kudrow - but with few exceptions the players cannot handle the lead balloon banter that passes for jokey dialogue. It wants also to be a grand statement on gossip and those who get hurt by it, but perky Stone doesn’t seem that affected.
‘Heartbreaker’ Makes Romantic Comedy Look Effortless
Submitted by mattmovieman on September 17, 2010 - 7:30amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – If there’s one genre Hollywood has managed to screw up beyond all recognition, it’s the romantic comedy. Many of the worst films in recent years have brought the genre to an all-time low, such as “Leap Year,” “Love Happens,” and anything starring Gerard Butler. These dumbed-down products use stereotypes in place of characters, incessant sparring in place of chemistry and gooey sentiment in place of a tangible heart.
Cyber Society is Basis For Losing it in Funny ‘The Virginity Hit’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 17, 2010 - 7:22amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – A great percentage of the population inevitably gets to the moment in their life when co-mingling becomes the next phase of interaction – the loss of virginity. Despite braggadocio to the contrary, for most people it is fraught with a bit of the undiscovered country. “The Virginity Hit” mines that territory with some cyber-age big brotherism thrown in.
Awful Execution Fails Clever Concept of ‘Devil’
Submitted by BrianTT on September 17, 2010 - 2:51am Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Being a hardcore fan of anthology series like “The Twilight Zone” and “Tales From the Crypt,” the simple set-up of “Devil,” the new horror film based on a story by and produced by M. Night Shyamalan, intrigued me — five people are stuck in an elevator and one turns out to be the devil. Sadly, the concept is the only interesting thing about this horribly-executed tale from the dull side of the genre.
Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck Annoy in Worthless ‘I’m Still Here’
Submitted by BrianTT on September 10, 2010 - 5:36pmRating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Is “I’m Still Here,” the story of Joaquin Phoenix’s attempts to leave behind his acting career and try to make it as a hip-hop star, an elaborate piece of performance art or a documentary about an identity crisis of a man committing professional suicide? The problem is that the answer is irrelevant. Either way, “I’m Still Here” is grating, boring, and completely without value.
Drew Barrymore, Justin Long Fall Short of ‘Going the Distance’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 3, 2010 - 5:01pm Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Drew Barrymore no doubt is working hard to become Queen of the Romantic Comedy. She has done over ten of them, more if you count “Bad Girls.” (kidding) When recycling themes even the best of them can get redundant when seeing the same actress involved. “Going the Distance” is not even among the best of them.
Robert Rodriguez’s ‘Machete’ Pushes Excess Past Breaking Point
Submitted by BrianTT on September 3, 2010 - 12:29amRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Not everything should be filet mignon. Sometimes you just want a greasy, delicious cheeseburger. Now imagine eating ten of those cheeseburgers in a row. Robert Rodriguez’s “Machete” starts as a wonderful gore-fest but falls victim to its creator’s inability to realize he doesn’t need to answer to every violent vision he can dream up. The film is proof that even extremely over-the-top films can be monotonous in that their one tone is “ARGH!”
