Robert De Niro

Film Review: Turn Down the Invitation to ‘The Big Wedding’

CHICAGO – “The Big Wedding” begins with Robert De Niro performing a particular love making maneuver on Susan Sarandon, and is caught in the act by Diane Keaton. What could have happened in a cutting-edge indie feature in 1981 is the basis of a lame bit in 2013, and so it goes for the rest of the film.

Blu-ray Review: Terry Gilliam’s ‘Brazil’ Remains One of ‘80s Best

Brazil

CHICAGO – “Brazil” is more than a movie. The story behind the film’s tumultuous production and release became nearly as essential to its history and arguably more so than the film itself. The special feature on the new Criterion release, “The Battle of Brazil” is a fascinating examination of expectation, ego, and commerce vs. art that all movie fans must see. And, of course, the movie is an undeniable sci-fi masterpiece.

Film Feature: The Best Supporting Performances of 2012

CHICAGO – A mother trying to protect her son from an assassin, a man who coordinates lap dances for a living, a woman whose dreams have died, a gambler betting on his son, and two people at the heart of Abraham Lincoln’s fight to end slavery and the Civil War — 2012 certainly offered a wide array of memorable supporting characters in motion pictures.

Film Review: Amazing Ensemble Rewrites ‘Silver Linings Playbook’

CHICAGO – It’s funny that a movie with the word “Playbook” in its title is so clearly about how those of us who think we know exactly where life is taking us are merely kidding ourselves. Like so many of us, the hero of “Silver Linings Playbook,” Pat Solatano (Bradley Cooper), has a plan to find happiness, to find his silver lining.

Film News: ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ Added to 48th Chicago International Film Festival

Silver Lining CIFF News Brief

CHICAGO – The 48th Annual Chicago International Film Festival has announced four new additions to this year’s schedule, including David O. Russell’s “Silver Linings Playbook.” The comedic drama has garnered immense praise on the festival circuit and is currently one of the top Oscar contenders. It will screen at 7pm Wednesday, October 24 at the AMC River East 21, 322 E. Illinois St.

Blu-ray Review: Don’t Waste Your Time on Dull ‘Freelancers’

Freelancers

CHICAGO – We get a lot of Blu-rays and DVDs in the HollywoodChicago.com office of films that come straight to the format that we don’t think are really worth our time or yours. The less said about them, the better. And yet every once in awhile, something passes through the USPS that seems like it might draw more attention that the typical straight-to-DVD junk. An action movie with two Oscar winners and gritty style? Sounds like a perfect late summer rental? “Freelancers” is very far from perfect.

Film Review: Cillian Murphy, Robert De Niro in Messy ‘Red Lights’

CHICAGO – “Red Lights” is a mess. And yet it’s also not messy enough. Rodrigo Cortes follows up his vastly superior “Buried” with this supernatural tale filled with plot contrivances that would make M. Night Shyamalan call bullshit. Still, he does so with a direct, straightforward style when a bit less polish would have given it the character it’s missing.

Interview: Cillian Murphy, Rodrigo Cortes Run ‘Red Lights’

CHICAGO – Writer/director Rodrigo Cortes really broke through with the award-winning “Buried,” starring Ryan Reynolds. He returns this week with a very different thriller called “Red Lights,” starring the great Cillian Murphy, who joined Mr. Cortes recently in Chicago for a discussion about “2001,” working with Robert De Niro, and the complexity of audience expectations.

Blu-ray Review: Four More Warner Bros. Titles Join HD Club

Mean Streets

CHICAGO – Warner Brothers has been unleashing catalog titles on Blu-ray at a rate that would strain the bank account of pro athletes. Every week lately sees a wave of movies that have never been on Blu-ray before joining the HD revolution. This quartet is particularly varied with one timeless classic, an underrated performance from an underrated actor, and two moderate action movies. Pick your favorite. My order of preference is as follows:

Blu-ray Review: ‘Being Flynn’ Can’t Capture Spirit of Nick Flynn’s Fine Memoir

Being Flynn Blu-ray

CHICAGO – A decade ago, director Paul Weitz made a wonderful film about the unusual friendship that developed between an aging loner and a fatherless youth preoccupied with the well-being of his suicidal mother. The picture was 2002’s “About a Boy,” and it featured Hugh Grant in a performance sorely deserving of an Oscar nomination.

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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.

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