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
‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’ is Perfect Background Noise For Making Out
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 29, 2010 - 11:49amCHICAGO – Historically, video game adaptations are recipes for disaster when translated into film. While “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” with Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton has a blockbuster opportunity to buck the decades-old trend, we’re just subjected to more of the same soul-deadening time drain.
Interview: Willie Garson as Stanford Blatch Toasts ‘Sex and the City 2’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 28, 2010 - 6:01pmCHICAGO – Willie Garson is one busy actor this week. When you portray Stanford Blatch, Carrie Bradshaw’s gay best friend, then the “Sex and the City 2” release will undoubtedly fill up the schedule, including his introduction of the film May 28-30th at the Hollywood Palms Cinema in Naperville, Illinois.
Theater Review: Summer’s ‘Fuerza Bruta’ Parties On
Submitted by Alissa Norby on May 28, 2010 - 5:03pmCHICAGO – During the climactic sequence in the new amp-infused, celebrity-verified production “Fuerza Bruta”, hundreds of expectant hands reach toward the transparent Mylar pool descending upon them. Four bathing coryphees, exploring the tank as a child would a slip-n-slide, peer through the translucent water with the same anticipation as their onlookers. In the moments that proceed, hands reach body, giving rise to manifest excitement. The audience has not only viewed the art, it has experienced it.
Interview: Sundance, Midwest Independent Film Festival Headliner Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 28, 2010 - 10:05amCHICAGO – “Successful Alcoholics,” a new short comedy film by Chicagoan Jordan Vogt-Roberts, has been making the major film festival rounds, including the Sundance Film Festival, and will be the featured film at the Midwest Independent Film Festival in Chicago on their Comedic Shorts Night, Tuesday, June 1st.
Blu-Ray Review: Second Season of HBO’s Addictive ‘True Blood’
Submitted by BrianTT on May 27, 2010 - 3:26pmCHICAGO – The second season of HBO’s wildly addictive “True Blood” may not have been quite as stellar as the first but Alan Ball’s often-mesmerizing creation still stands as one of the best shows on television. There’s nothing quite like it on the air and HBO pulls out all the stops with their best Blu-ray season release to date.
One Sequel Too Many For Sarah Jessica Parker, ‘Sex and the City 2’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 27, 2010 - 7:37amCHICAGO – “Sex in the City 2” has very little sex and even less city. That is the least of its sins. This bloated, directionless semi-narrative take the familiar foursome – Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis – into unfamiliar geographic territory, but with no dramatic arc there is simply nothing there.
Footless ‘Body Awareness’ Asks the Tough Questions
Submitted by Alissa Norby on May 26, 2010 - 10:57pmCHICAGO – It is a quandary that has plagued the minds of the nations foremost feminists, and even those who would better prefer the perspired mirrors of strippercize classes to the contents of “The Feminine Mystique”. Yet from Betty Friedan to Hillary Clinton, Susan B. Anthony to Katy Perry, the question regarding the often thinly drawn crease between sexual empowerment and objectification still wants for absolution..
Video Game Review: Entertaining, Adrenalin-Pumping ‘Split/Second’
Submitted by BrianTT on May 26, 2010 - 9:10pmCHICAGO – Have you ever wondered what it would be like to play an over-the-top car chase like the centerpiece of a Jerry Bruckheimer production like “Bad Boys II”? Dodging explosions, other vehicles, and your own tendency to swerve left when you should swerve right? Welcome to the world of “Split/Second,” a variation on the “Death Race” concept in that it’s often the last man standing named the winner.
‘The Karate Kid’ Interview: Jackie Chan Aspires to Be an ‘Asian Robert De Niro’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 26, 2010 - 8:04pmCHICAGO – When you think of Jackie Chan, you think of comedy blended with marital arts. Not any more, thanks to Will Smith and his new film “The Karate Kid,” which stars Jaden Smith.
Interview: Dana Delany, Dara Torres at More Magazine ‘Reinvention’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 26, 2010 - 12:19amCHICAGO – One of the recent stellar events in Chicago was the More Magazine “Reinvention Convention,” a gathering of the magazine’s readers to meet and hear speakers. The featured speaker was actor Dana Delany [“Desperate Housewives”]. Signing her book at the event was Olympic Swimmer Dara Torres.
Blu-Ray Review: BBC Earth’s ‘Life’ Miniseries Proves Impossible to Resist
Submitted by mattmovieman on May 25, 2010 - 10:52pmCHICAGO – No network or film company has ever come close to equaling the nature documentaries produced by BBC’s Natural History Unit. From 1979’s “Life on Earth” to 2001’s “The Blue Planet” and 2006’s “Planet Earth,” the BBC has electrified viewers worldwide with its stunning and often humbling images of life on our planet. This is the type of programming that Blu-Ray players were made for.
DVD Review: Hilarious ‘Mystery Team’ With ‘Community’ Star Donald Glover
Submitted by BrianTT on May 25, 2010 - 3:14pmCHICAGO – Featuring starring or cameo roles from an actor from all four shows on NBC Thursday nights, “Mystery Team” is one of the funniest movies to hit DVD in the last few months, a great comedy that deserved a bigger audience in theaters but should make for a shockingly enjoyable rental for viewers lucky enough to happen upon it on the new releases shelf.
Blu-Ray Review: Honest, Human Drama of Excellent ‘The Messenger’
Submitted by BrianTT on May 25, 2010 - 12:08pmCHICAGO – Just before the Oscar nominations for 2009 were to be announced, a few pundits went out on a limb and predicted that not only would Oren Moverman’s “The Messenger” be nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Woody Harrelson) and Best Original Screenplay but that it would also find its way into several more categories, including even Best Picture.