CHICAGO – Excelsior! Comic book legend Stan Lee’s famous exclamation puts a fine point on the third and final play of Mark Pracht’s FOUR COLOR TRILOGY, “The House of Ideas,” presented by and staged at City Lit Theater in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. For tickets/details, click HOUSE OF IDEAS.
HollywoodChicago.com Arts & Entertainment News
DVD Review: Hilarious ‘Mystery Team’ With ‘Community’ Star Donald Glover
Submitted by BrianTT on May 25, 2010 - 3:14pmCHICAGO – Featuring starring or cameo roles from an actor from all four shows on NBC Thursday nights, “Mystery Team” is one of the funniest movies to hit DVD in the last few months, a great comedy that deserved a bigger audience in theaters but should make for a shockingly enjoyable rental for viewers lucky enough to happen upon it on the new releases shelf.
Blu-Ray Review: Honest, Human Drama of Excellent ‘The Messenger’
Submitted by BrianTT on May 25, 2010 - 12:08pmCHICAGO – Just before the Oscar nominations for 2009 were to be announced, a few pundits went out on a limb and predicted that not only would Oren Moverman’s “The Messenger” be nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Woody Harrelson) and Best Original Screenplay but that it would also find its way into several more categories, including even Best Picture.
HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 25 Chicago Passes to ‘Just Wright’ With Queen Latifah, Common
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 25, 2010 - 12:22amCHICAGO – In our latest romantic sports comedy edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 25 admit-two run-of-engagement movie passes up for grabs to the new film “Just Wright” with Queen Latifah and Common!
Blu-Ray Review: Horrors of Fatherhood Examined in ‘The New Daughter’
Submitted by BrianTT on May 24, 2010 - 3:53pmCHICAGO – From “The Exorcist” to “Orphan,” the horror genre has a long history of films about a young lady becoming something truly dangerous. The latest, “The New Daughter,” comes courtesy of the man who wrote the great “[REC]” and stars Kevin Costner and Ivana Baquero (“Pan’s Labryinth”). Sadly, after a strong set-up and with gorgeous cinematography throughout, “The New Daughter” flounders in cliches and ends up too dull to be terrifying.
Blu-Ray Review: Romantic Comedy Fans Deserve Better Than ‘Valentine’s Day’
Submitted by BrianTT on May 24, 2010 - 3:13pmCHICAGO – Clearly conceived as something like an American version of “Love Actually,” Garry Marshall’s “Valentine’s Day” is an unqualified disaster, a film that’s only interesting in that it may hold the record for the most household names sucked into one horrible film.
Blu-Ray Review: Fritz Lang’s ‘M’ Has Lost None of Its Power
Submitted by BrianTT on May 24, 2010 - 11:50amCHICAGO – When does a great film become less powerful? We’ve all seen movies that worked wonderfully for us at one point in our lives and had less impact when we saw them again a decade or two later. The movies that not only remain powerful but, in some ways, improve upon repeat viewing are rare. They’re the true classics. Fritz Lang’s “M,” recently released on Criterion Blu-ray, is one such movie.
Video Game Review: Atmospheric, Entertaining ‘Alan Wake’ Must Be Played
Submitted by BrianTT on May 24, 2010 - 11:08amCHICAGO – With echoes of the literature of Stephen King, “The Twilight Zone,” “Twin Peaks,” and “Lost,” the Xbox-exclusive “Alan Wake” is a daring, ambitious title that demands your attention. Why? Because while it’s an imperfect title on a gameplay level and I wish I could have tweaked the storytelling a bit, games that try to break the mold and present something this unique deserve an audience.
TV News: ‘Glee’ Lands Third Season Pickup
Submitted by BrianTT on May 24, 2010 - 9:08amCHICAGO – Before the first season has even concluded, FOX announced that they have renewed their massive hit show “Glee” for a third season, clearly confident in the long-term potential of this award-winning series. Peter Rice, Chairman, Entertainment, Fox Networks Group; and Kevin Reilly, President, Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company made the announcement today via press release.
Annette Bening, Naomi Watts Lack the Connection in ‘Mother and Child’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 23, 2010 - 3:34pmCHICAGO – “Mother and Child,” with an all star cast of Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, Samuel L. Jackson, Jimmy Smits and Kerry Washington, is mindful of its subject matter, that rare and elusive connection between a mother and their offspring. However, the film has difficulties when the characters become inconsistent with their past backgrounds after that connection is introduced.
Theater Review: ‘The 39 Steps’ is Frolicsome, Hollow Hitchcock
Submitted by Alissa Norby on May 23, 2010 - 3:23pmCHICAGO – The stage may is noticeably stripped, and the absence of technical advancement well-viewed. But the brass creativity emanating from “The 39 Steps”, the rollicking adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s quieted film, is consummately endowed. In a certain albeit undeniable sense, the Master of Suspense’s screen canon has always been ripe for the satirical plucking.
Lazy, Uninspired ‘Shrek Forever After’ With Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz
Submitted by BrianTT on May 21, 2010 - 1:56pmCHICAGO – The laziest big budget film of the year, “Shrek Forever After” is the worst kind of family entertainment in that it relies solely on the goodwill engendered by the hit movies that came before to not only get audience members in seats this weekend but to sell them toys, video games, and tickets to amusement parks.
Love Story of ‘Kites’ Soars as a Marvel of Modern Moviemaking
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 21, 2010 - 4:22amCHICAGO – One of the most provocative and unusual films this year, or any year, is an amazing production from India entitled “Kites.” American director Brett Ratner (”Rush Hour”) was so taken by this film, that he agreed to edit the original (or remix) for the U.S. presentation.
Will Forte, Kristen Wiig Explode a Megaton Bomb in ‘MacGruber’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 21, 2010 - 4:02amCHICAGO – In a parallel universe, perhaps a version of “MacGruber” exists that actually understands that comedy should be funny…oh what a beautiful world that would be.
