CHICAGO – Excelsior! Comic book legend Stan Lee’s famous exclamation puts a fine point on the third and final play of Mark Pracht’s FOUR COLOR TRILOGY, “The House of Ideas,” presented by and staged at City Lit Theater in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. For tickets/details, click HOUSE OF IDEAS.
HollywoodChicago.com Content
Charlie Sheen Opens Up in ‘A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III’
Submitted by BrianTT on February 13, 2013 - 3:39pm Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Roman Coppola, Oscar-nominated as you read this for his great work co-writing “Moonrise Kingdom” (he also co-wrote “The Darjeeling Limited” with Wes Anderson) brings us the truly odd “A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III,” now available On Demand and opening this Friday in Chicago. The film proves two things – that Charlie Sheen is a better actor than his public persona and stint on “Two and a Half Men” may have led you to believe and that he needs to find a character to prove that instead of this riff on his real-life drama.
‘A Good Day to Die Hard’ Makes For Bad Movie Night
Submitted by BrianTT on February 13, 2013 - 12:09pm Rating: 0.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The franchise has been in steady decline since the original “Die Hard,” quite simply one of the best action films of all time, but that still doesn’t prepare one for the truly horrendous “A Good to Day to Die Hard,” a complete waste of time on every level. Loud, obnoxious, boring, cartoonish, morally reprehensible, and just plain stupid, “A Good Day to Die Hard” is just bad, bad, bad.
Challenging ‘Lore’ Features Captivating Central Performance
Submitted by BrianTT on February 12, 2013 - 5:19pm Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Lore,” opening this weekend at the Landmark Century and Landmark Renaissance theaters here in Chicago and now playing in New York and Los Angeles, is a very unique coming-of-age film. It features a star-making performance from its lead, a girl who learns the truth about not just the brutality of life but the dark secrets of her family and country.
Rooney Mara, Jude Law Star in Steven Soderbergh’s Thrilling, Stellar ‘Side Effects’
Submitted by BrianTT on February 7, 2013 - 1:25pm Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Steven Soderbergh has given interviews in which he claims that his latest film, the fantastic “Side Effects,” will be his last. As much as I have my doubts that this is true, it makes more sense after viewing the thriller starring Rooney Mara, Jude Law, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Channing Tatum. It plays like a proof of the auteur theory; like a “Greatest Hits” of Soderbergh’s career.
‘John Dies at the End’ Kills Its Own Creativity
Submitted by BrianTT on February 6, 2013 - 11:21amRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – You’re at a party. It’s getting late. Chemicals have been ingested, booze has been imbibed, and conversation has been exhausted. You spot an interesting looking fella in the corner and he says he has a story to tell you. Maybe it’s the rush of something different, but the first half hour of that story is fascinating, filled with potential and creative in so many ways.
‘Be Good’ to Get Fest Premiere at Midwest Independent Film Festival
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 2, 2013 - 10:55am Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Possibly one of the most perplexing times of life is the aftermath of the couple having their first child. The anticipation and joy quickly morphs into the reality of lifelong responsibility and care. Writer/Director Todd Looby captures that reality succinctly in his latest film, “Be Good.”
‘Stand Up Guys’ Worst Waste of Talent Since Booth Shot Lincoln
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 1, 2013 - 6:25pm Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Three actors, with three Oscars and an astounding 14 nominations between them, obviously have lost the ability to read a script late in their careers. That or the producers had dirt on them. There is no other reason why Al Pacino, Alan Arkin and Christopher Walken would be the “Stand Up Guys.”
Zombie Flick ‘Warm Bodies’ Resurrects the Undead
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 1, 2013 - 4:57pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – For the one millionth time in movie history, zombies walk among us in “Warm Bodies.” But this isn’t an ordinary entry in the undead genre, this has a load of romance, symbolism and John Malkovich. “It” couple Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer give a whole new meaning to going steady.
‘Bullet to the Head’ Could Motivate You to Do Same
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 1, 2013 - 9:50amRating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – These are the times that try a film critic’s soul. Right after the awards season, and the lofty artistic films, comes the dump zone of January and the rejected reel orphans of the “industry.” Sylvester Stallone, once an Oscar winner, now “entertains” us with harsh violence in the ‘Bullet to the Head.’
Inventive, Complex World of ‘The Institute’
Submitted by BrianTT on January 28, 2013 - 4:35pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “To those dark horses with the spirit to look up and see, a recondite family awaits.” While the Sundance Film Festival goes on all through Park City, a select group of truly independent films is unspooling up on Main Street under the banner of Slamdance. One of the more interesting Slamdance selections this year was the great “The Institute,” a quasi-documentary about an “Alternate Reality Game” that took place in San Francisco from 2008 to 2011.
