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+.
Jude Law
‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ is Built by Wes Anderson
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 15, 2014 - 9:34am Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The distinct and strangely-alluring style of director Wes Anderson is on opulent display in “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” In what is an eccentric, European style fairy tale, Anderson creates a legend that is forged in his signature, along with the performances of a brilliant cast.
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.
Banal Story, Unique Visuals Define ‘Rise of the Guardians’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 21, 2012 - 7:36pm Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Okay, we get it. The current crop of animators can create amazing worlds, full of sensory-expanding images and visions of magical awe (and in 3D). But, if there is a dull story interacting with the eye candy, it can feel like a fancy cake that tastes like sawdust. Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Isla Fisher Jude Law and Hugh Jackman lend their voices to “Rise of the Guardians.”
Brilliant Staging Bolsters Emotionally Hollow ‘Anna Karenina’
Submitted by mattmovieman on November 16, 2012 - 9:22am Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Though cinema is first and foremost a visual medium, too many modern directors have become prone to using it as a stage for long-winded exposition. No matter how polished the lensing is in a film like David Fincher’s “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” remake, the picture basically amounts to a series of dense dialogue passages interrupted by violence.
Robert Downey Jr. Personifies ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 16, 2011 - 5:23pm Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The production team of “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” – designers, crew, writers, director and actors – should be proud of the level of respect they have given and embodied in delivering an updated Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Professor Moriarty and the like. They take liberties, of course, but they also make sure that the truth of the characters are always intact.
Gorgeous ‘Hugo’ Plays Like Cinematic Snow Globe
Submitted by BrianTT on November 23, 2011 - 1:58pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” is a deeply personal piece, a magical tale about imagination and the importance of film preservation presented with some of the most technical expertise in years. It is also a strikingly cold film, an adventure that doesn’t contain the whimsy, pace, or charm that it really needed to in order to connect emotionally as well as intellectually.
Steven Soderbergh’s Riveting ‘Contagion’ With Matt Damon
Submitted by BrianTT on September 8, 2011 - 10:01amRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – A few weeks ago saw the release of the R-rated “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” a gore-free creature feature that was given the MPAA stamp of 17-plus due to “pervasive scariness.” This week sees the PG-13-rated “Contagion,” a film SO much more pervasively scary than the movie about goblins in a distant mansion because, well, it’s about the fact that the world is pervasively scary.
Jude Law, Forest Whitaker Misfire With Awful ‘Repo Men’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 19, 2010 - 3:05pm Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Reminiscent of vastly superior work by David Cronenberg and Paul Verhoeven but with none of the directorial skill apparent in the films of those two talented men, “Repo Men” with Jude Law and Forest Whitaker is a total disaster possibly unmatched in the careers of its talented stars.
Heath Ledger Still Lives in ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 8, 2010 - 9:00amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Bogart, James Dean and Heath Ledger are not dead, they’re just stuck in the Netflix queue. And Ledger, with a little help from some friends, gets one more theatrical release in “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.”
Robert Downey Jr.’s Low-Tech ‘Sherlock Holmes’ Packs Powerful Punch
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on December 27, 2009 - 10:18pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Instead of relying of high-tech gadgetry and big-budget Hollywood CGI, Guy Ritchie’s gritty “Sherlock Holmes” does what major films often don’t: delivers big-payoff action sequences merely utilizing the body and mind.
