CHICAGO – If you can remember the 1990s outside of childhood, you are in the glow of middle age, so congratulations. The Brown Paper Box Co. theater ensemble takes us back to those thrilling days of yesteryear with “Spike Heels,” a relationship comedy centering on the co-mingling antics of two couples, with a slight nod toward George Bernard Shaw and the play “Pygmalion” (or its musical counterpart, “My Fair Lady”).
John Turturro
No Faith in the Spectacle of ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 12, 2014 - 8:54pm Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The world certainly didn’t need another “Ten Commandments,” but director Ridley Scott tries to remake the 50’s Biblical epic anyway – led by Christian Bale as a scowling and shouting Moses. Yet Bale can’t hold a staff to Charlton Heston and Scott is no Cecil B. DeMille. Ostensibly this is a movie about the power of faith, but Scott’s film has no soul within.
Philip Seymour Hoffman Lives Again in ‘God’s Pocket’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 20, 2014 - 10:34am Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Watching Philip Seymour Hoffman perform, now that he has passed on, is a bittersweet reminder of his ability and power to embody his deeply felt characters. He does it again in one of his last roles, adding his special brand of acting to the messy story within the gritty noir drama, “God’s Pocket.”
Warm ‘Fading Gigolo’ Has Odd Romance, Woody Allen
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 5, 2014 - 4:06pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – How do you make a Woody Allen-style film? You hire Allen to act in it. Writer, director and lead actor John Turturro channels the soul of Allen’s films by creating a strange and romantic scenario with different types of relationships, including one with Allen himself in “Fading Gigolo.”
Despite a Ferrari Predecessor, ‘Cars 2’ is a Honda Requiring Repair
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 24, 2011 - 3:16pm Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Cars 2” is an unequal Pixar blend for adults and kiddies that never evolves into the storytelling success of its predecessor. The film, which draws thematic elements from “The Bourne Identity,” “Beverly Hillbillies” and “Transformers,” is a Honda needing a body shop as compared to the pristine Ferrari that was “Cars”.
‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’ is Galaxies Away From its Predecessor
Submitted by Ebeth on June 24, 2009 - 2:23pm Rating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There are often many reasons sequels should not be made. “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is one of them.
Seeking that “Allspark” exhilaration pumped into many of us from the original “Transformers,” moviegoers will flock to the sequel with anticipation.
Denzel Washington, John Travolta in Average ‘The Taking of Pelham 123’
Submitted by BrianTT on June 12, 2009 - 10:26amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Tony Scott’s remake of “The Taking of Pelham 123,” starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta, is likely to meet sun-drained audience expectations for a straight-forward, adult-driven action film this season but the overly stylized and not-so-thrilling train ride is ultimately merely average at best and will disappoint fans looking for anything more.
Robert De Niro, Director Barry Levinson Wade Through Hollywood’s Mud in ‘What Just Happened?’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on October 17, 2008 - 11:27am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In his long and distinguished career, Robert De Niro has probably seen it all when it comes to Hollywood excesses and quagmires. Given that experience, he seems the perfect choice to portray an aging film producer and power broker whose influence is on the decline.
Adam Sandler is White Ladies Man in Judd Apatow’s ‘You Don’t Mess With the Zohan’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 5, 2008 - 11:01pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In the relatively anemic anthology of recent Adam Sandler flops, “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan” hangs above with comedic charm and a nonsensically amusing plotline. The story is divisively intermingled with racial and ethnic sensitivities between the Israelis and Palestinians.
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