Interview

CHICAGO – Director Michael Bay’s new film interpretation of the controversial Libyan battle, “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” began with the true events. Consulting the production were three of the actual participants in that tense battle, Kris “Tanto” Paronto, Mark “Oz” Geist and John “Tig” Tiegan.

CHICAGO – One of the most substantial local show business advocacy groups is Women in Film Chicago (WIFC). What began in Los Angeles in the 1970s, has become viable in Chicago over the last several years, and continues to be voice for women in the business in the city and in general. Carrie Hunter was just named the new president of WIFC, which will be conducting an open house on January 14th, 2016.

CHICAGO – HollywoodChicago.com presents our exclusive red-carpet video interviews with “Chicago Med” stars Brian Tee (Dr. Ethan Choi) and Marlyne Barrett (Maggie Lockwood) from the hit NBC TV show. Brian Tee plays Shredder in 2016’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows”.

CHICAGO – Voiceover artist Alex Borstein is familiar to TV audiences as the legendary Lois Griffin of “Family Guy,” but she also is a stellar character actress, recently in a role on the HBO series “Getting On.” She is back in the animation saddle with a couple of voiceover parts in the new FOX Network show ‘Bordertown.’

CHICAGO – Charlie Kaufman is one of the most inventive and creative minds in film – he has written “Being John Malkovich,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “Adaptation.” He recently teamed up with an animation director, Duke Johnson, to produce an unusual and contemporary stop-motion film, “Anomalisa.”

CHICAGO – Television has changed so much in the last generation that it’s hard to imagine a time of only three networks and a limited number of shows premiering every fall. But in the 1970s there were two such TV series, “The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries,” starring Parker Stevenson, and “What’s Happening!!,” starring Ernest Thomas. They both made appearances at the “Hollywood Show” in Chicagoland.

CHICAGO – One of the best films of 2015 is the atmospheric and kinetically performed “Carol.” The film, set in the early 1950s, depicts a love that dares not speak its name, and also showcases the breathtaking presence of actress Cate Blanchett as the title character. The director of the film is the veteran Todd Haynes, known for another set-in-the-1950s classic, “Far from Heaven,” as well as “Velvet Goldmine,” “I’m Not There” and the recent HBO miniseries “Mildred Pierce.”

CHICAGO – When HollywoodChicago.com last spoke to writer/director Adam McKay in 2013, he was about to release “Anchorman 2,” and wasn’t really known for anything but his wacky comedy films. That all changed this month, with the release of “The Big Short,” a brilliant indictment of the financial meltdown of 2007 and ’08, and an impressively creative and serious effort from the comic director.

CHICAGO – An extraordinary filmed recently screened in Chicago, but not for the reasons that are expected. The Japanese film “Poison Berry in My Brain” was directed by Yuichi Satoh, and starred popular native actress Yoko Maki. What was extraordinary about the film is that the plot parallels the well-received animated movie, “Inside Out,” except “Poison Berry” is live action, and the character representations of the brain controllers are manipulating a frustrated woman, not a little girl. Funny they were both conceived around the same time, and were released in the same year.

CHICAGO – Occasionally we can be surprised through true wonder and serendipity. In August of 2015, John Michael – a Texas native and one-man-show artist – crushed out the funny at the Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins theater festival, by making his Chicago debut with “John Michael & the Order of the Penix.” For two consecutive upcoming Saturdays – Dec. 5th and 12th – he returns to the scene of his debut, the Mary-Arrchie Theater at Angel Island in Chicago, to perform the show once again.