Religion

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on April 4th, 2024, reviewing “Monkey Man,” a new film by co-writer, director and lead actor Dev Patel (“Slumdog Millionaire”). In theaters on April 5th.

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on August 5th, 2021, reviewing the new Kristine Stolakis documentary “Pray Away,” now streaming on Netflix..



CHICAGO – One of the crueler uses of psychology or religion is as a “cure” for gay or transgender or even fluid orientations to “become” heterosexual. Although this conversion therapy should never exist, the new doc “Pray Away” has filmmaker Kristine Stolakis providing the background and continued use of the therapies. The film premieres August 3rd, 2021, on Netflix.

CHICAGO – At the recent Doc 10 screening of “Pray Away,” a new documentary by Kristine Stolakis, Illinois State Representative Kelly Cassidy and Evanston (Illinois) Mayor Daniel Biss made introductory remarks regarding their role in establishing laws against “Conversion Therapy” … the industry that promises to “cure” gay or trans orientation.

CHICAGO – Religion, and the separation of those institutions from the “state,” is an ongoing controversy in the United States. One such religious group may have found the ultimate solution to keep that separation in place. The Satanic Temple is an anarchist religion whose goal is to get a place at the table with the other holy influencers. They are profiled in director Penny Lane’s new film, “Hail Satan?”

CHICAGO – Season Six is one of the most successful for Chicago’s Asian Pop-Up Cinema (APUC), as they present gems from the Asian film world that provide mind and cultural expansion. Recently, as part of their Taiwan Cinema Days, APUC brought in director Huang Hsin-yao of “The Great Buddha +,” a meditation on class, religion and the ever present eye-in-the-sky video of the current era.

CHICAGO – In a film that is unsettlingly and regally composed with deep purpose and symbolism, “mother!” fulfills the nature of what it proposes to communicate within layers of essentially rendered storytelling and cinematic perspective. It can potentially change your overall point of view.

CHICAGO – We perpetuate our fears through many sources. All mythology, religion and politics are based on what is “unknown” in our lives, and the desire to placate what frightens us is how we invent and worship those entities. This is all explored in the new film, “The Witch.”

CHICAGO – The myth and fear of witches has fascinated personhood since religion and anti-religion have clashed. “The Witch” is a new film that takes that battle and puts it right back into 17th century America, when religious separatists like the Puritans tamed the New World. Robert Eggers wrote and directed the film.

CHICAGO – Insanity is often a shared phenomenon. One family member can drive another family member over the brink, an incident can break collective spirits and indulgence in religion can alter perspectives. All the bleak darkness of these mental incapacities are on display in the Midwest Premiere of the UrbanTheater Company stage production of “Devil Land.”