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+.
Robert Downey Jr.
‘Iron Man 3’ Starts Summer with a Mechanized Bang
Submitted by BrianTT on May 2, 2013 - 9:39amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Critics and viewers fell in rapturous adoration of the legend of The Dark Knight when Christopher Nolan and his team took the risk of making character-driven superhero movies. To kick off the second phase of the Marvel Universe of films with this weekend’s “Iron Man 3,” Shane Black and the team behind this guaranteed blockbuster have done the same – presenting us with the most human Marvel flick since “Spider-Man 2.”
Summer Movie Season Explodes with ‘The Avengers’
Submitted by BrianTT on May 1, 2012 - 9:56amRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – When I was a kid, summer movies were an event. They weren’t just marketing tricks, young adult adaptations, or unnecessary sequels. They were blockbusters that you put on the calendar and counted the days until their arrival. Something of that summer movie magic has been lost in recent years – the sense that you weren’t just seeing a movie, you were experiencing something special.
Robert Downey Jr. Personifies ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 16, 2011 - 5:23pmRating: 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.
Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis Are an Odd Pair in Funny ‘Due Date’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 5, 2010 - 2:27amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There is a strong temptation to lead this review with “Hey, ‘Due Date,’ ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles’ just called, they want their plot back,” but this Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis star vehicle drives on its own strange vibe, part road trip and part comedy that depends on suspension of all reality. Yet it mostly works.
Despite Some Superfluous Story, ‘Iron Man 2’ Delivers Hollywood Oomph
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 7, 2010 - 12:42pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Iron Man 2” with returner Robert Downey Jr. and newcomer Scarlett Johansson does what it can within the confines of what it has to do. The Hollywood machine has trained us to have certain expectations for blockbuster sequels and “Iron Man 2” neither deviates nor blazes new territory.
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.
‘The Incredible Hulk’ Indeed Jacked Up on CGI Roids, But Medusa’s in His Face
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 13, 2008 - 12:01amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Technology has done double-edged service and disservice to the legendary Hulk superhero character from Stan Lee’s Marvel Comics.
In peering at the CGI-created ripped body of nothing remotely reminiscent of Edward Norton, the 2008 film iteration of “The Incredible Hulk” has a leg light years up on Lou Ferrigno’s character in the 1978 television series of the “The Incredible Hulk”.
‘Iron Man’ Sits Indisputably in Club of Highest-Rated Superhero Movies of All Time
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 2, 2008 - 11:22amCHICAGO – Move over, Superman. This lush, high-octane playboy never tasted so good.
Robert Downey Jr. fittingly opens “Iron Man” with a cocktail in hand and all the arrogance in the world. As the story goes, his conceit is indeed respected as Earth is his oyster both for the playing and for the taking.