HollywoodChicago.com Arts & Entertainment News

‘Casino Jack and the United States of Money’ Infuriates While it Entertains

Casino Jack and the United States of Money
HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 4.5/5.0
Rating: 4.5/5.0

CHICAGO – There’s a memorable moment in “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room,” in which one of director Alex Gibney’s interview subjects compares an Enron press conference to the musical sequence in “Chicago,” where a slickly manipulative lawyer has all of the city’s reporters on marionette strings.

Vanessa Redgrave Shines in ‘Letters to Juliet,’ But Romantic Leads Bore

Letters to Juliet
HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 2.5/5.0
Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – I want to live in the alternate universe where Vanessa Redgrave’s Claire is the lead of “Letters to Juliet” and the two vapid dorks who trail her on a journey of lost love can learn a lesson or two but never take the spotlight. Sadly, such is not the case with this Amanda Seyfried and Christopher Egan vehicle, a romantic drama entirely stolen from its young stars by a timeless actress.

HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Free Blu-Rays, DVDs to BBC’s ‘Hamlet’ With David Tennant, Patrick Stewart

CHICAGO – Following our rave review this week of the new BBC and Royal Shakespeare Company production of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” we have secured for you a rare opportunity to win two Blu-rays and two DVDs for four winners!

Theater Interview: Lucy, We’re Home With Performer Suzanne LaRusch

Suzanne LaRusch in An Evening with Lucille Ball

CHICAGO – Suzanne LaRusch knows that it takes more than novelty to tell a good story. Or in the comedienne’s case, more than a healthy wollop of Vitameatavegamin. LaRusch, a seasoned impressionist, has teamed with Lucie Arnaz in the development of “An Evening with Lucille Ball: Thank You For Asking”, a solo endeavor that explores both the public celebrity and closed-door trials of the original Queen of Comedy.

Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett Forge an Epic Adventure in ‘Robin Hood’

CHICAGO – “T’wang!” is the the sound of an archer’s arrow going right into the center of the summer movie kick-off season.

Haunting ‘Lourdes’ Revels in the Poetry of Ambiguity

Lourdes
HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 5.0/5.0
Rating: 5.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Most films about faith seem artistically limited by their spiritual subject matter. Some religiously devout filmmakers are so fixed in their beliefs that they lack the ability to perceive life with the complexity necessary to create resonant art. A perennial classic like Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” may have magnificent scope and spectacle, but it has all the dramatic depth and nuance of a Bible card.

Interview: Christopher Egan Woos Amanda Seyfried in ‘Letters to Juliet’

CHICAGO – Christopher Egan is an Australian actor portraying a Londoner on holiday in Italy. That internationalism has helped him tackle his first major lead role opposite Amanda Seyfried and Vanessa Redgrave in the new film “Letters to Juliet.”

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Hamlet’ With ‘Doctor Who’ Star David Tennant

Hamlet - BBC

CHICAGO – Having been a theater major who openly knelt at the altar of William Shakespeare for many of my formative stage years and then later became a film critic, I believe the number of versions of “Hamlet” I have seen to number around eight - three times on stage and five on celluloid. And yet I still was blown away by BBC’s production of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre version of the timeless play.

Video Game Review: ‘Dead to Rights: Retribution’ Frustrates

Dead to Rights: Retribution
HollywoodChicago.com Video Game Rating: 2.5/5.0
Video Game Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Namco Bandai’s latest punch-and-shoot game, “Dead to Rights: Retribution,” has moments of visceral enjoyment but they become fewer and farther between as the structural flaws and awful combat system make the title nearly impossible to enjoy. As poorly designed games get more difficult, their drawbacks go from annoying to aggravating with deaths caused more by game design than player control. “Dead to Rights: Retribution” is such a game.

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Edge of Darkness’ Illuminates Mel Gibson’s Inner Demons

Edge of Darkness Blu-Ray

CHICAGO – When WGN-TV’s Dean Richards asked Mel Gibson whether he believes the public will perceive him in a different light after “all that’s been in the news” about him, the “Edge of Darkness” star answered by calling Richards an “a—hole.” This amusing interview-turned-Internet sensation once again proved that Gibson clearly has issues.

Blu-Ray Review: Surprisingly Clever, Original ‘Daybreakers’

Daybreakers

CHICAGO – “Daybreakers” didn’t make much of a dent at the box office ($30 million domestically) but I expect that a number of hardcore horror nuts will love this film when they finally catch up with it on Blu-ray and DVD. Not only is it an original, clever film but the Blu-ray release for it is a stunner with spectacular special features and technical specs.

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TV, DVD, BLU-RAY & THEATER REVIEWS

  • Manhunt

    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+.

  • Topdog/Underdog, Invictus Theatre

    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.

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