-1.thumbnail.jpg "The Wild Hunt CUFF")
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+.
HollywoodChicago.com Arts & Entertainment News
TV Review: ‘Rookie Blue’ Will Have to Handcuff Viewers to Keep Them
Submitted by BrianTT on June 24, 2010 - 10:06amCHICAGO – The ensemble cop drama has disappeared from the network television landscape as the crimes became more entertaining than the people who solved them on shows like “C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation,” “NCIS,” and “Criminal Minds.” After watching ABC’s remarkably generic and cliched “Rookie Blue,” it’s easy to see why.
17th-Annual Chicago Underground Film Festival, Day One: ‘The Wild Hunt’
Submitted by mattmovieman on June 23, 2010 - 10:35pmCHICAGO – In a summer where even the most mainstream sect of the moviegoing public has begun turning its back on lazy mass-marketed mediocrity, it’s especially refreshing to be faced with the 17th Annual Chicago Underground Film Festival. The edginess, unpredictability, and even sporadic clumsiness of this festival’s offerings sharply contrast with the slick, routine pictures that often pass for “independent” filmmaking these days.
HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 10 VIP Prize Packs For ‘The Twilight Saga: Eclipse’ With Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 23, 2010 - 4:03pmCHICAGO – In this edition of the HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 10 VIP prize packs up for grabs to the highly anticipated third film in the series “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” starring Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner!
Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz Meet Cute in High-Octane ‘Knight and Day’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 23, 2010 - 10:32amCHICAGO – Whenever there is a audacious and entertaining action thriller like “Knight and Day,” how do the characters stay so calm? Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise are shot at, nearly blown up, asked to drive and leap around like lunatics, yet remain perfectly white-toothed calm. A normal human reaction would be ‘Oh my gaaaaaaaaaawd!”
Blu-Ray Review: ‘The Last Station’ Showcases Two Great Actors in Top Form
Submitted by mattmovieman on June 23, 2010 - 7:25amCHICAGO – Michael Hoffman is not a director renowned for operatic drama. The closest he ever got to staging Shakespeare onscreen was in his problematic 1999 adaptation of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Emotional outbursts in a Hoffman picture are often tinged with offbeat humor, a fact well-illustrated by his his under-appreciated 1991 comedy “Soapdish.”
Theater Interview: Playwright Charles Grippo Puts the ‘Sex’ in Comedy
Submitted by Alissa Norby on June 22, 2010 - 9:51pmCHICAGO – Charles Grippo doesn’t have much sympathy for politicians who put themselves in hot, scandal-infused water. In fact, he has taken to a platform he knows well, the Chicago theatre scene, to share his satirical insight into the recent trend of sexual enmeshment that has plagued many of the nation’s top pundits and officeholders. Grippo recently caught up with HollywoodChicago.com to discuss how personal disastisifaction with government can beget the most acidic of farce.
Blu-Ray Review: Animated Masterpiece ‘Mary and Max’ Deserves Audience
Submitted by BrianTT on June 22, 2010 - 2:49pmCHICAGO – A disturbingly small number of people were given the chance to see Adam Elliot’s brilliant and moving “Mary and Max,” one of the most notable releases in arguably the best year in the history of modern animation. While “Coraline,” “Up,” “The Princess and the Frog,” and even “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” made headlines, a beautiful little film about an unusual friendship went under the radar. Don’t miss it.
TV Review: Jason Lee Delivers Dead Elvis in ‘Memphis Beat’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 22, 2010 - 11:46amCHICAGO – There have been TV cops in New York, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles and even Hawaii, 5-0, so it stands to reason that Memphis, Tennessee, would get its turn. Jason Lee (“My Name is Earl”) and Alfre Woodard are on the “Memphis Beat,” premiering June 22nd on the TNT Network.
TV Review: ‘Hawthorne’ is Custom-Made Drama For Summer TV Wasteland
Submitted by BrianTT on June 22, 2010 - 8:45amCHICAGO – Summer is the time for fluff. And that’s what “Hawthorne” is. It’s a drama that crosses the genre boundary into the realm of soap opera. Having said that, the second season premiere of “Hawthorne” is not nearly as melodramatic as TNT’s on-air promos might have you believe with their “she’s all woman” tagline.
Blu-Ray Review: ‘When in Rome’ Fails on Every Conceivable Level
Submitted by mattmovieman on June 22, 2010 - 7:25amCHICAGO – Just when you thought Hollywood’s recent slate of romantic comedies couldn’t get any worse, along comes “When in Rome,” a film so deplorable that it should be arrested for cinematic harassment. The filmmakers seem hellbent on systematically humiliating each member of its gifted ensemble, while insulting moviegoers with the very notion that this exercise in laziness could be passed off as entertainment.
‘Youth in Revolt’ Interview: Michael Cera, Portia Doubleday on Bad Guys vs. Good Guys
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 21, 2010 - 4:10pmCHICAGO – “Youth in Revolt,” which hit the street on DVD on June 15, 2010, has about broken even since its theatrical debut on Jan. 8, 2010 with $18.3 million in global box-office earnings on a $18 million production budget.
Video Game Review: ‘Toy Story 3’ Tie-In is Ambitious But Flawed
Submitted by BrianTT on June 21, 2010 - 1:57pmCHICAGO – After seeing the amazing “Toy Story 3” (read our review here) this past weekend, you may be inclined to participate in the adventures of Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and the rest of the gang in one of the many incarnations of the video game tie-in available on Sony Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, and Sony PSP.
DVD Review: Average Release For ‘Burn Notice: Season Three’
Submitted by BrianTT on June 21, 2010 - 1:06pmCHICAGO – The most recent season of one of the sexiest and most stylish shows on television was released on DVD this month and the show itself is still entertaining enough to warrant a look but the home release for it is a bit mediocre. USA’s “Burn Notice” has loyal fans who would undeniably appreciate a more extensive home release than this average one.
