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: ‘Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit’ Connects Racing Fans
Submitted by BrianTT on December 1, 2010 - 5:45pmCHICAGO – After a few missteps, EA has handed the development reins for the new “Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit” to Criterion Games, the company who hit racing gold with the great “Burnout Paradise” and they’ve delivered an addictive, expertly-designed game that should captivate car fans not entrenched in “Gran Turismo 5” through the holiday season and beyond.
DVD Review: Odd Release of ‘Strictly Ballroom: Special Edition’
Submitted by BrianTT on December 1, 2010 - 4:57pmCHICAGO – A few weeks ago, we acclaimed the beauty of the Blu-ray releases of Baz Luhrmann’s “Moulin Rouge!” and “Romeo + Juliet.” Oh what a difference a studio can make. While Fox treated those Luhrmann films with HD respect, Disney has decided to release his first film, the great “Strictly Ballroom” in a lackluster standard DVD special edition that would have been great in 2006 but times have changed.
DVD Review: Mesmerizing ‘Cairo Time’ Quietly Achieves Greatness
Submitted by mattmovieman on December 1, 2010 - 11:21amCHICAGO – While “Sex and the City 2” and “Eat Pray Love” failed to impress their female target audience this summer, a small art house treasure flew under practically everyone’s radar. It brilliantly delivered precisely what moviegoers expected from those mainstream turkeys, without a trace of cultural insensitivity or superficial excess. That film was “Cairo Time,” and it deserves to be discovered on the small screen.
Video Game Review: Amazing ‘Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood’ Delivers
Submitted by BrianTT on December 1, 2010 - 10:19amCHICAGO – “Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood” is all about power — taking it, keeping it, using it. Expanding on the world and gameplay of the first two “Assassin’s Creed” games, “Brotherhood” is another creative smash for Ubisoft and should easily be one of the highest-selling titles of the holiday season. A few minor glitches hold it back from perfection, but it’s damn close.
Blu-Ray Review: Incredible Release of ‘Avatar: Extended Collector’s Edition’
Submitted by BrianTT on November 30, 2010 - 12:48pmCHICAGO – In April, Fox released one of the best Blu-rays of the year for James Cameron’s “Avatar,” an edition that proved that the film would still work even without the theatrical benefits of 3D or IMAX. It was one of the most impressive-looking HD releases in history but the lack of special features made clear that a double dip was on its way. Seven months later, Fox unveils the “Avatar: Extended Collector’s Edition” and it is simply amazing.
DVD Review: ‘The Disappearance of Alice Creed’ Holds Interest Despite Flaws
Submitted by mattmovieman on November 30, 2010 - 10:29amCHICAGO – There is no doubt that Gemma Arterton is a pretty face. Her natural beauty is so intoxicating that it nearly always upstages whatever talent may reside beneath her scintillating surface. Her aggressively bland work in mediocre action fare like “Clash of the Titans” and “Prince of Persia” had convinced me that she was nothing more than a non-thinking man’s Rachel Weisz.
Blu-Ray Review: ‘Flipped’ Could Nearly Send You Head Over Heels
Submitted by BrianTT on November 30, 2010 - 9:56amCHICAGO – Director Rob Reiner’s career is undeniably a shadow of what it used to be with critical failures like “The Bucket List,” “Alex and Emma,” and “Rumor Has It…” diminishing the fact that this talented man gave us “Stand By Me,” “This is Spinal Tap,” and “The Princess Bride.” “Flipped” certainly doesn’t merit consideration with Reiner’s best but it is closer to form than he has been recently and it’s a film that’s easy to fall at least halfway in love with if not fully flipping head over heels.
HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 5 Blu-Ray, DVD Combo Packs to ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ With Nicholas Cage
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on November 30, 2010 - 2:40amCHICAGO – In our latest Blu-ray and DVD combo pack edition of the HollywoodChicago.com Hookup, we have 5 Blu-ray and DVD combo packs up for grabs to Disney’s “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” with Nicolas Cage and Jay Baruchel!
Blu-Ray Review: Tyler Perry Films Released in HD
Submitted by BrianTT on November 29, 2010 - 3:33pmCHICAGO – Some studios slowly roll their catalog films out to Blu-ray as directors or actors release new films with which to tie-in but Lionsgate has decided that holiday season 2010 is the time to import most of Tyler Perry’s films to the HD format just as his “For Colored Girls” is turning out to be a critical and commercial disappointment.
Video Game Review: Updated ‘Goldeneye 007’ For Nintendo Wii Misfires
Submitted by BrianTT on November 29, 2010 - 2:57pmCHICAGO – Most of us who are old enough to have spent many of our formative hours playing “Goldeneye 64” often point to the title as one of the most memorable shooting games in history. Personally, I spent much of the time I should have been studying in college massacring my friends on the legendary Nintendo 64 game. Like most people of my age group, I was completely psyched for the 2010 reboot of the timeless game. It just makes my disappointment all the more painful.
Blu-Ray Feature: 2010 High-Def Holiday Gift Guide
Submitted by BrianTT on November 29, 2010 - 2:21pmCHICAGO – With hundreds of choices new and old, how can you possibly decide what to get the Blu-ray fan in your circle of gift-giving this holiday season? It’s that time of year — when we try to read the mental wish lists of our friends and family members and get them the perfect gift.
Leslie Nielsen of ‘Airplane!,’ ‘The Naked Gun’ is Dead at 84
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 29, 2010 - 11:53amCHICAGO – One of the funniest lines Leslie Nielsen ever uttered wasn’t in one of his spoofs. In his role as doomed Captain Harrison in ‘The Poseidon Adventure,’ Nielsen is facing the huge wave that will eventually capsize the boat, and as an stern aside says, “by the way, Happy New Year.” A star, comically inadvertent, was born. Leslie Nielsen died yesterday at the age of 84.
HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 5 Pairs of Theatre Tickets to Twin Cities Phenomenon ‘A Klingon Christmas Carol’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on November 28, 2010 - 3:59pmCHICAGO – In this edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Theatre, we have 5 admit-two Chicago theatre tickets up for grabs to see the Twin Cities phenomenon “A Klingon Christmas Carol,” which is the first play ever to be produced entirely in the Klingon language!
