Jessica Lange

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on February 16th, 2023, reviewing “Marlowe,” featuring Liam Neeson as the famous private eye Philip Marlowe. In theaters beginning February 15th.

CHICAGO – 2022 was a year of change and transformation. The former leader of the free world morphed into a horribly photoshopped digital trading card spokesmodel and pitch man. That and a full on spy challenging the DOJ to find the stolen classified documents in a shell game of 3 card monte exactly like a subway car hustler.

CHICAGO – Jessica Lange’s long career as actor is on the record … from “King Kong” to “American Horror Story.” But her new book “Dérive” focuses on the photo artist in her, and she discussed it at the the 2022 Chicago Humanities Festival (CHF) on November 12th. Photographer Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com was there to get the Exclusive Portrait.

CHICAGO – Gritty, funky and quote-worthy, this re-imagining of “The Gambler” – from a 1970s source film – is one of Mark Wahlberg’s best performances. His addicted-to-gaming soul has roots in other frustrations, and the actor is willing to communicate the whole range of emotions.

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 100 pairs of advance-screening SUBURBAN CHICAGO movie passes up for grabs to the new film “The Gambler” starring Mark Wahlberg!

CHICAGO – If stories of Prince Charmings and the liberation from wicked stepmothers are fairy tales, than “In Secret” is the stuff of nightmares, where marriage is not just a prison sentence, but an unlucky life is as well. Based on the novel “Therese Raquin” by Emile Zola as published in 1867, this film’s element of ownership may be considered an artifact in 2014. But thankfully this adaptation earns its own pertinence, as a dark period thriller with real doses of hormonally fueled bad decisions.

CHICAGO – Take this with a giant grain of salt but FX’s “American Horror Story: Coven” shows incredible promise in its premiere episode tonight, setting a number of creative plates spinning in directions that could be fascinating. Why the salt? Well, “American Horror Story: Asylum” started with similar promise and quickly became cluttered and unfocused.

CHICAGO – When we got to the end of FX’s excellent “American Horror Story” and nearly all of the characters were dead, a natural question arose — what the Hell do they do for season two? Welcome to “American Horror Story: Asylum,” a completely new tale with some of the same ensemble from the first season but a new setting, new characters, and new story but the same goal — to rattle your senses and put you on edge in the middle of the week.

CHICAGO – FX’s “American Horror Story” was one of the most addictive programs of 2011 (and my choice for the 7th best) and that season is finally here in time to catch up before the October 17th premiere of the second season of Ryan Murphy’s Emmy-winning hit. So creative, so edgy, and so mesmerizing, “AHS” is just daring storytelling, further evidence that FX is giving talented people freedom to express themselves in ways that other networks just are not.

CHICAGO – I feel like a bit of a confession is necessary to frame my opinion of the truly awful “The Vow.” Lest you think this is just some cynical male critic, I like “The Notebook” and “The Lake House.” I even kind of like “Dear John” and didn’t hate “The Time Traveler’s Wife.” Yes, I’m a cheeseball when the cheese is well-done. I wanted to like “The Vow.” There’s nothing to like here unless you find taking talented, charming actors and making them deadly dull likeable.