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+.
Cate Blanchett
Exclusive Portrait: Best Actress Oscar Winner Cate Blanchett
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 3, 2014 - 11:36amCHICAGO – Congratulations to Cate Blanchett as she picks up her second Oscar at the 86th Academy Awards on March 2nd, this time as Best Actress for her brilliant performance in the film “Blue Jasmine.” Blanchett adds the trophy next to the Oscar she won as Best Supporting Actress in 2005 for portraying Katharine Hepburn in “The Aviator.”
Film News: ‘12 Years a Slave’ is Best Picture at 2014 Oscars
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 3, 2014 - 1:41amCHICAGO – Hollywood celebrated its big night at the 86th Academy Awards, and the biggest news was the selfie photo that apparently broke Twitter. The stark film “12 Years a Slave” won Best Picture, and Ellen DeGeneres took the celebrity group selfie that immediately was Tweeted around the world, overloading the popular website.
Film Review: ‘The Monuments Men’ Has Been Drained of Personality
Submitted by BrianTT on February 6, 2014 - 10:12amGeorge Clooney’s “The Monuments Men” is processed cheese. It is a film that has been rewritten, edited, and refined until it has lost all sense of purpose or identity. There’s no flavor left. It is a film that defies genre; not quirky enough to have a comedic personality despite a cast that almost always supplies edge and not engaging enough to work as drama or thriller.
Film News: ‘12 Years a Slave,’ ‘American Hustle’ Poised to Win Golden Globes
Submitted by BrianTT on January 10, 2014 - 10:33amThe Golden Globes will be presented this Sunday, January 12, 2014, and the experts are busy picking their favorites to grace the stage when the winners are announced. Pitched as a more party-like atmosphere than the Oscars, and hosted by the hilarious Tina Fey & Amy Poehler, the Golden Globes have become more difficult to predict than most awards shows, in no small part because they give away SO many awards, breaking up film into drama & comedy and doing TV as well.
Film News: ‘12 Years a Slave’ Leads 2013 Chicago Film Critics Winners
Submitted by BrianTT on December 16, 2013 - 11:45pmSteve McQueen’s harrowing “12 Years a Slave” was the big winner at an awards dinner held on December 16, 2013 by the Chicago Film Critics Association, of which HollywoodChicago.com writer Brian Tallerico is the Vice President and HC film critics Adam Fendelman & Patrick McDonald are voting members.
Blu-ray Review: Lavish Extended Edition of ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’
Submitted by BrianTT on November 16, 2013 - 10:57pmCHICAGO – I had notable problems with “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” when it premiered in theaters but they were softened a bit when I saw it on Blu-ray and not in 3D nor 48 frames per second, two effects that I believe actually hurt the world designed by Peter Jackson in these films in that they make it look less artistic and faker than the standard HD image. Now I’m here to flop back again to the disappointed side with the extended edition of the film, one that runs WAY too long for a flick that was already too short.
Film Review: ‘Blue Jasmine’ Puts Woody Allen Back on Top
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 2, 2013 - 6:02amCHICAGO – The auteur Woody Allen is one of the most prolific post-studio-system directors, averaging one film a year for close to 40 years. His meditations on life have become part of the culture, and he brilliantly expresses himself once again – with help from Cate Blachett – in the emotional “Blue Jasmine.”
HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 30 Pairs of Passes to ‘Blue Jasmine’ with Cate Blanchett From Woody Allen
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on July 25, 2013 - 6:54pm- Adam Fendelman
- Alec Baldwin
- Andrew Dice Clay
- Annie McNamara
- Blue Jasmine
- Bobby Cannavale
- Cate Blanchett
- Charlie Tahan
- Daniel Jenks
- Glen Caspillo
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film
- Joy Carlin
- Kathy Tong
- Louis C.K.
- Max Rutherford
- Michael Stuhlbarg
- Peter Sarsgaard
- Richard Conti
- Sally Hawkins
- Sony Pictures Classics
- Woody Allen
CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 30 pairs of advance-screening movie passes up for grabs to the new Woody Allen film “Blue Jasmine” starring Cate Blanchett!
Blu-ray Review: ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ Works Better in HD Than in Theaters
Submitted by BrianTT on March 20, 2013 - 4:26pmCHICAGO – Can we end this 48fps nonsense now? Having seen “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” in 3D/48fps, I found the film artificial and boring. At home, in traditional, flat HD, the movie works so much better.
Film News: First Look at ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’
Submitted by BrianTT on April 26, 2012 - 1:28pmCHICAGO — Warner Bros. Pictures geared up for the release of Peter Jackson’s upcoming epic “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” by screening 10 minutes of never-before-seen footage at CinemaCon, the official convention of the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) according to a studio press release. Ian McKellan, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom and Elijah Wood return to reprise their roles as seen in the trilogy “The Lord of the Rings”, the sequel to J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit”.