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+.
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Blu-ray Review: Disney’s ‘The Rocketeer’ Misfires With Lackluster Rerelease
Submitted by mattmovieman on December 23, 2011 - 8:16amCHICAGO – Twenty years before helming “Captain America,” director Joe Johnston made another superhero picture that was equal parts nostalgic and bombastically patriotic. Though 1991’s “The Rocketeer” was distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, the material is so dark that it’s worthy of Touchstone. As a throwback to Saturday morning serials and classic Hollywood archetypes, the film is likably breezy and instantly disposable.
Blu-Ray Review: Disney’s Sugar-Coated ‘Prom’ Lacks Tangible Insight
Submitted by mattmovieman on September 5, 2011 - 9:52amCHICAGO – If your ideal vision of prom is best represented by “Carrie,” then odds are Disney’s “Prom” is not for you. In fact, if you are a high schooler, were a high schooler or may become a high schooler, “Prom” is guaranteed to strike you as monumentally childish. It’s the sort of harmless dreck so mediocre and generic that it could’ve been made in any time period. In a sense, it’s timeless dreck.
Blu-Ray Review: Disney’s ‘Mars Needs Moms’ Surprises, Delights
Submitted by mattmovieman on August 18, 2011 - 7:35amCHICAGO – Sometimes all a film needs is a bad title to repel audiences. “Mars Needs Moms” is based on the Berkeley Breathed picture book of the same name, which derived its own title from the 1966 film, “Mars Needs Women.” Even as an obscure homage, the title falls flat, and most certainly could’ve been replaced. Yet that’s not the only reason why this woefully overlooked film became one of the biggest box office bombs in history.
Blu-Ray Review: Disney’s ‘The Fox and the Hound’ Deserves Better Release
Submitted by mattmovieman on August 12, 2011 - 9:26amCHICAGO – As far as kiddie tearjerkers go, “The Fox and the Hound” is one of Disney’s finest. It’s not a great film, and certainly not in the same league as the watershed game-changers that came before or the renaissance masterworks that followed. But it is a tender and bittersweet fable with a message of refreshing complexity. At its heart is a friendship that society has deemed unsustainable, and the film doesn’t shy away from its troubling repercussions.
Blu-Ray Review: Silly ‘Secretariat’ Bolstered By Superb Extras
Submitted by mattmovieman on February 3, 2011 - 3:38pmCHICAGO – There are few things more unsightly than a small-minded film that pats itself on the back for being enlightened. “Secretariat” is no more about a horse than “The Blind Side” was about a football player. Instead, both films revolve around insufferable, blonde, finger-wagging, pontificating heroines who confuse bold feminism with extreme self-absorption.
HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 5 Blu-Ray, DVD Combo Packs to ‘Step Up 3’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on December 15, 2010 - 5:26pmCHICAGO – 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 “Step Up 3”!
Blu-Ray Review: ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ Conjures Little Magic
Submitted by mattmovieman on December 2, 2010 - 9:43amCHICAGO – On a good day, Nicolas Cage can be one of the most exciting and enjoyable actors in the business. Whether he’s angrily reciting the alphabet in Robert Bierman’s 1988 satire “Vampire’s Kiss,” or hallucinating about iguanas in Werner Herzog’s 2009 comic masterpiece “The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans,” Cage has proven to be the most fun to watch when granted the opportunity to cut loose.
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!