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
Video Game Review: Amazing Ambition of Stellar ‘L.A. Noire’
Submitted by BrianTT on May 23, 2011 - 9:27amCHICAGO – 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’?
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 22, 2011 - 1:57pmCHICAGO – 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.
HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 2 NKOTBSB Albums, Signed Posters
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 22, 2011 - 12:27pmCHICAGO – In this edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Music, we have two albums and signed posters up for grabs for the highly anticipated new NKOTBSB album!
Film News: ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Casts Matt Modine as Nixon, Tom Conti, Joey King
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 20, 2011 - 10:38pmCHICAGO – 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’
Submitted by BrianTT on May 20, 2011 - 4:39pmCHICAGO – 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
Submitted by BrianTT on May 20, 2011 - 3:28pmCHICAGO – USA 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
Submitted by BrianTT on May 20, 2011 - 2:49pmCHICAGO – 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
Submitted by mattmovieman on May 20, 2011 - 10:36amCHICAGO – 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. Launches ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Viral Marketing, Reveals Tom Hardy as Bane
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 20, 2011 - 10:10amCHICAGO – Warner Bros. on Friday launched the official Web site for “The Dark Knight Rises” at http://thedarkknightrises.warnerbros.com with an all-black screen and mysterious, tribal-like chanting.
Film News: Warner Bros. Officially Confirms ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Principal Photography
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 19, 2011 - 2:42pmLast 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’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 19, 2011 - 2:31pmCHICAGO – 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
Submitted by BrianTT on May 19, 2011 - 1:51pmCHICAGO – 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
Submitted by BrianTT on May 19, 2011 - 1:06pmCHICAGO – 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.