HollywoodChicago.com Arts & Entertainment News

Video Game Review: Amazing Ambition of Stellar ‘L.A. Noire’

CHICAGO – Game developers have spent decades fine-tuning the art of puzzle-solving. How do I get from point A to point B? How do I defeat enemy X to do so? It is the foundation of almost every video game. But most developers have used the same tools to build on that foundation, primarily building their houses with hand-eye coordination, whether it’s jumping a platform at the right time or shooting an enemy with perfect precision.

Film Rumor: ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Teaser Trailer Attached to ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’?

The Dark Knight Rises teaser trailer with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

CHICAGO – While we rarely run rumors and primarily only publish confirmed news, this one has teeth: the first teaser trailer for “The Dark Knight Rises” might be attached to “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” in theatres.

Film News: ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Casts Matt Modine as Nixon, Tom Conti, Joey King

The Dark Knight Rises casts Matt Modine, Tom Conti and Joey King

CHICAGO – On the same day the Batman world was set ablaze by the launch of “The Dark Knight Rises” viral marketing (where the villain Bane was revealed), Variety on Friday had fun by misleadingly breaking the news of a “joker” being cast in the highly anticipated 2012 film.

Video Game Review: Flawed Tactical Shooter ‘SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy Seals’

CHICAGO – Now that the PSN is back up, what are you going to do with it? You need a solid multi-player experience to try out the car that’s been in the shop for the last few weeks, right? I hoped that experience would lie within my review copy of “SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy Seals” but I’m sorry to say that this target misses just left.

DVD Review: USA Hit Shows ‘Covert Affairs,’ ‘Royal Pains’ Make Perfect Summer Escapism

Covert Affairs

CHICAGOUSA has a proven formula for success and they show no sign of slowing down in that department, adding new hits like “Covert Affairs” and “Fairly Legal” to a line-up of proven successes like “Burn Notice” and “Psych.” The first season of the very hit-and-miss “Affairs” and the second season of the more-consistent “Royal Pains” recently hit DVD from Universal and they’re both sets designed for fans of the network.

Blu-Ray Review: Paul Newman, John Wayne Classics For Father’s Day

The Hustler

CHICAGO – Two of cinema’s most iconic actors appeared on Blu-ray new release shelves this week with excellent HD transfers and hours of special features for 50th Anniversary Editions of Paul Newman’s “The Hustler” and John Wayne’s “The Comancheros.” History has well-documented that the Newman is one of the best films from one of the form’s best actors. The Wayne film may have a more niche audience but they’re surely be satisfied with a very solid release.

DVD Review: ‘Red White & Blue’ Plays on the Mind, Not the Gag Reflex

Red White & Blue

CHICAGO – There are few modern horror films that possess the power to shock an audience into a state of dazed, mouth-gaping awe. Audiences of increasingly young ages are well-accustomed to copious amounts of blood and gore. The excess of violence quickly and irrevocably numbs the senses. That may be why Simon Rumley’s “Red White & Blue” works so well. It plays on the mind rather than the gag reflex.

Film News: Warner Bros. Officially Confirms ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Principal Photography

The Dark Knight Rises with Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures

Last update: 9:59 a.m. on May 20, 2011
CHICAGO – Warner Bros. on Thursday finally issued an official statement confirming that principal photography is under way for “The Dark Knight Rises”. That’s like telling a mom she’s a mom two weeks after she delivers. The press release contained 455 words – yes, we counted – and literally only one word in it is new. Everything else we’ve already reported.

Film Review: Entertaining ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’

CHICAGO – It’s easy to remember that the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series is on its fourth formulaic film, but harder to remember that it’s based on a freaking amusement park ride! Director Rob Marshall livens it up with “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Vanishing on 7th Street’ Likely to Disappear Into Horror History

Vanishing on 7th Street

CHICAGO – Horror writers and directors have been afraid of the dark since the start of the genre. Sadly, that fear of blackness has never translated to film as successfully as one would hope. There’s an inherent problem in watching a movie about darkness in that it can never make that fear fully real unless it goes to complete black screen. The latest entry in this flawed subgenre is Brad Anderson’s “Vanishing on 7th Street,” a minor work from a major director.

Blu-ray Review: ‘Justin Bieber: Never Say Never’ Croons to the Choir

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never

CHICAGO – Music documentaries and concert films, by their very nature, are pieces of advertising and propaganda. They play to the fans…as they should. Wouldn’t it be much worse if they didn’t? What if you were a hardcore fan of an artist and paid your money to sit through something that didn’t put them on a high-enough pedestal for you? On those terms, “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” completely works — it’s a movie made for fans of its famous star and I can’t imagine them not adoring it.

User Login

Free Giveaway Mailing

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.

Advertisement



HollywoodChicago.com on Twitter

archive

HollywoodChicago.com Top Ten Discussions
tracker