CHICAGO – We all need some help. The stage play group Nothing Without a Company realizes that, and has collaborated with the organization “Cornerstone” to provide that assistance. Cornerstone is a seminar and a happening in downtown Chicago, facilitated by “experts” to generate your potential. The presentation has a Thursday-Sunday run at Michigan Avenue’s Artspace 8 through May 6th, 2018. Click here for more details, including ticket information.
Steven Spielberg
For Better or Worse, ‘Ready Player One’ is Nostalgia at its Purest
Submitted by JonHC on March 29, 2018 - 12:19pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Just in time for Easter, there’s a film filled with enough Easter eggs to drown a small country. “Ready Player One” is a “Where’s Waldo” of mostly 80’s pop culture references that are meant to trigger our (and especially filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s) sentimental, nostalgic cores by bombarding us with reminders of our childhood. These trips down memory lane are fun until they’re not.
‘The Post’ Illuminates the Skills of Meryl Streep
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 4, 2018 - 11:45am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – For all the films Meryl Streep is privileged to make – which is remarkable considering the industry’s attitude toward older actresses – she has even admitted that the audience may be tired of seeing her. But as publisher Katherine Graham in ‘The Post’, she nails yet another great performance.
Sweetness & Light is the Character of ‘The BFG’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 1, 2016 - 11:07amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – One observation…when ‘The BFG” was written in 1982 by iconic children’s author Roald Dahl, little did he know that acronyms would become the way we talk. When I first saw that title, I wondered what that “F” stood for. It’s “Friendly,” by the way, which is perfect for this film.
More Than a Popcorn Flick, ‘Jurassic World’ Makes a Climactic Comeback Worth Making
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 14, 2015 - 4:39pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Blockbuster films are obsessed with bigger, louder and faster. They often think they need to spend more money to outdo what they’ve done before – especially when coming from a beloved original like “Jurassic Park”.
‘Poltergeist’ Remake Has a Soul of Its Own
Submitted by NickHC on May 22, 2015 - 5:22pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Whether it’s the 1982 original or the remake just released in theaters today to the wrath of numerous fans, the lesson of “Poltergeist” remains the same: Don’t do a half-assed job when relocating skeletons for corporate greed, or suffer the supernatural consequences. Fear not, however, as this is one remake that doesn’t just dress up a nostalgic skeleton for the modern horror crowd, but one that reminisces, and looks forward, with a mostly intelligent, genuine heart.
Emotion of ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’ in ‘Earth to Echo’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 2, 2014 - 10:09amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Oh those meddling kids, they can’t keep their noses out of anything, and for one lost space alien that’s a good thing. “Earth to Echo” is a wonderfully mastered combination of “found footage” composition and a Spielbergian-style encounter with an extra-terrestrial.
‘Lincoln’ Magnificently Humanizes the Man, Our History
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 9, 2012 - 11:37am Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There is an argument that Steven Spielberg is the most “American” of directors, at least in his generation. He deftly and brilliantly teams up with playwright Tony Kushner and actor Daniel Day-Lewis to humanize and realize our 16th president in “Lincoln.”
Steven Spielberg Casts a Golden Light Upon ‘War Horse’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 23, 2011 - 8:50amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Opening on Christmas Day is a film about a boy, his horse and war, brought to the screen by America’s most popular living director. “War Horse” is the most critic proof film ever realized. Kidding. This equine epic is Steven Spielberg’s latest, taking advantage of precise filmmaking, emotion and cinematography to deliver a decent holiday package.
Steven Spielberg’s Disappointing ‘The Adventures of Tintin’
Submitted by BrianTT on December 20, 2011 - 4:57pm Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Being a huge Steven Spielberg fan and a pretty big aficionado of Peter Jackson (who produced) as well, I was pretty psyched to see what these two undeniable geniuses could do in the world of motion-capture animation with their collaboration on the adaptation of the hit Herge cartoon “The Adventures of Tintin.” That’s why it hurts me to say that, excepting a few stand-out action scenes, this is a shockingly dull affair, something that lulled me to sleep far more often than it inspired my imagination to life.
‘Real Steel’ Overcomes Harebrained Premise With Heart, Quenching Hollywood Wizardry
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on October 8, 2011 - 4:08pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Try selling a friend on paying to see a movie with you about machine-operated boxing where humans control robots for money.
Just call your friend on his Motorola DynaTAC retro brickphone and say: “Hey, Billy! Remember all those swell nights we had as kids when I smoked you every time in Rock’em Sock’em Robots with our two dueling robot boxers mechanically manipulated by us?
