CHICAGO – When two brothers confront the sins of each other and it expands into a psychology of an entire race, it’s at a stage play found in Chicago’s Invictus Theatre Company production of “Topdog/Underdog,” now at their new home at the Windy City Playhouse through March 31st, 2024. Click TD/UD for tickets/info.
Rachel Weisz
Fists of Feminism! On-Air Review of ‘Black Widow’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 8, 2021 - 4:10pm- Black Widow
- David Harbour
- Disney+
- Florence Pugh
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Marvel Cinematic Universe
- Monroe
- Movie Review
- Natasha Romanoff
- Pat Über TV
- Patrick McDonald
- Premiere Access
- Rachel Weisz
- Ray Winstone
- Russia
- Scarlett Johansson
- Scott Thompson
- The Morning Mess
- Walt Disney Pictures
- WBGR-FM
- Wisconsin
Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on July 8th, 2021, reviewing the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Black Widow,” in theaters and streaming on Disney+ Premium Access on July 9th.
A Hilarious Combination of Crass and Class in ‘The Favourite’
Submitted by JonHC on November 29, 2018 - 10:11pmRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Looking through auteur Yorgos Lanthimos’ filmography, you’ll recognize a style that combines both visual beauty and narrative absurdism. The Lanthimos effect, or Lanthimo-nium as I like to call it, elevates any piece of work to such a high degree that often times the meanings go over our heads. In his most mainstream effort to date, “The Favourite” will likely become your favorite of his works.
Strange Story of ‘Disobedience’ is Constant Distraction
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 9, 2018 - 10:22amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The director Sebastían Lelio is no stranger to oddball human stories. His 2017 film, “A Fantastic Woman” – the Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film – was a one-of-a-kind but amazingly poignant story of identity. His latest, “Disobedience,” mines the same human territory with lesser results.
Strong Cast Turns on ‘The Light Between Oceans’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 2, 2016 - 1:27pmRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In the early 1970s, “Love Story” was all the rage, with its catchphrase “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Just as sudsy, and with its own catchphrase, is “The Light Between the Oceans.” The film, set in the early 20th Century, salvages a by-the-numbers tale with fine performances.
Elegant, Delicate Emotions Are Forged in ‘Youth’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 12, 2015 - 3:13pmRating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – When a film tries to be philosophical, it easily can devolve into heavy handedness. But the exception is the latest from writer/director Paolo Sorrentino, the richly presented “Youth.” It treads upon many definitions of the title, and lands upon all of them, because that’s life.
Story Dims Visionary ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 8, 2013 - 9:35amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Oz the Great and Powerful” is a great and powerful visual and 3D experience. It expands the landscape of what cinema can produce in a visceral and evolutionary way. But a great film also needs a great story, and this Land of Oz tale is not equivalent to the awe-inspiring imagery.
Jeremy Renner Propels Clever ‘The Bourne Legacy’
Submitted by BrianTT on August 9, 2012 - 10:18amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Tony Gilroy’s world of double crosses, super spies, and covert government programs returns in the writer/director’s clever expansion of the world he created as the writer of “The Bourne Identity,” “The Bourne Supremacy,” and “The Bourne Ultimatum.” The Oscar winner doesn’t just offer a traditional sequel, presenting a new leading man and a story that takes place in the same world of international espionage as its predecessors but feels more like a spin-off than a follow-up.
Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston Bare Their Souls in ‘The Deep Blue Sea’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 30, 2012 - 11:43amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Terence Davies’ “The Deep Blue Sea” has been earning raves around the world for its dramatic portrayal of doomed love. Personally, I found the film more inert than engaging but the two lead performances are so consistently powerful that the talent of their performers ultimately drew me into this depressing whirlpool. It’s not the film it could have been but the sheer skill of the great Rachel Weisz and the great Tom Hiddleston make it a film worth seeing.
Not Much to Build Upon in Vague ‘Dream House’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 30, 2011 - 3:31pmRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Mixing three actors with great reputations – Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Naomi Watts – with Jim Sheridan, a six time Oscar nominated director, would assume to yield some fruitful results. But with “Dream House,” the artifice is indistinct and ill-defined, ultimately much ado about nothing.
Rachel Weisz Anchors Melodrama of ‘The Whistleblower’
Submitted by BrianTT on August 12, 2011 - 4:23pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Rachel Weisz elevates the harrowing true story of “The Whistleblower,” a pull-no-punches drama about a disturbing international conspiracy to cover up a sex trafficking ring involving the men tasked with protecting the innocent who turned to exploiting them. This is a graphic, dark, violent piece of drama, as it should be given its subject matter, but it’s the work of one of our best working actresses that truly makes it worth venturing into the darkness.