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+.
HollywoodChicago.com Arts & Entertainment News
BMA Winners Announced at 2009 Midwest Independent Film Festival
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 3, 2009 - 6:43amCHICAGO – The 2009 Best of the Midwest Awards were given out on Tuesday night, part of a huge celebratory event at the Rockit Bar and Grill in downtown Chicago, capping another successful year at the Midwest Independent Film Festival.
Blu-Ray Review: Wordy ‘Angels & Demons’ Fails to Illuminate
Submitted by BrianTT on December 2, 2009 - 8:45pmCHICAGO – Give Ron Howard an intimate character study like “Frost/Nixon,” and he’ll knock it out of the park. Give him a sprawling plot-driven thriller like…well, let’s face it: anything written by Dan Brown, and he’ll be consumed by the enormity of his subject. Yet while Howard’s “The Da Vinci Code,” failed on a human level, it did succeed in highlighting the tantalizing questions raised by Brown’s text, particularly the implications of historical distortion throughout the centuries. When the characters were allowed to simply analyze the story’s inherent mysteries, the film took flight.
DVD Review: ‘Life on Mars: Series 2’ One of the Best of the Decade
Submitted by BrianTT on December 1, 2009 - 1:19pmCHICAGO – The concluding eight episodes of the great “Life on Mars” have now been collected by Acorn Media, making a two-box set (“Series 1” was released earlier this year) that is a must-own for fans of British television. Perhaps the biggest failing of the recent ABC remake of the show is that it may have sullied the reputation of the original. Even though I believe it was better than given credit, forget the remake and don’t let its rating failure dissuade you from seeing where it all began.
DVD Review: ‘Andy Barker, P.I.’ Deserved More Time to Grow
Submitted by BrianTT on December 1, 2009 - 1:01pmCHICAGO – Created by Conan O’Brien and Jonathan Groff, NBC’s “Andy Barker, P.I.” was barely given even the slightest chance to develop a following when it debuted a few years ago. Andy Richter had the worst luck as a sitcom lead, failing to find an audience for the brilliant-but-canceled “Andy Richter Controls the Universe” and then getting the axe again after only six episodes of the promising “Andy Barker, P.I.”. No wonder he returned to the loving embrace of Conan O’Brien when he went to “The Tonight Show”.
Blu-Ray Review: ‘Gomorrah’ Galvanizes With Raw Portrait of Crime
Submitted by BrianTT on December 1, 2009 - 12:33pmCHICAGO – Matteo Garrone’s revelatory crime picture joins the esteemed group of worthy foreign film Oscar contenders (like “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”) inexplicably snubbed by the Academy. But such accolades are meaningless compared to the reaction it has received, breaking box office records in its limited release, while acquiring the passionate support of film icons like Martin Scorsese.
TV Review: ‘Scrubs’ Returns For Awkward Season-Nine Premiere
Submitted by BrianTT on December 1, 2009 - 12:18pmCHICAGO – With great comedies often being cancelled before their time, how many TV writers and producers look at the trajectory of “Scrubs” with awe?
Video Game Review: Epic ‘Dragon Age: Origins’ Sure to Satisfy RPG Fans
Submitted by BrianTT on November 30, 2009 - 5:50pmCHICAGO – When I told a friend I was getting sucked into the world of the epic-length “Dragon Age: Origins” and worried about the time commitment and how much it would take away from the rest of my life, he used a phrase that I had never heard before: “the RPG hole”. Like a black hole, role-playing games have a way of sucking players in, and when the experience is as immersive, well-designed, and entertaining as “Origins,” it’s easy to see why.
Interview: Robert Sean Leonard of Hugh Laurie’s ‘House M.D.’ on Self-Titled Episode ‘Wilson’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on November 30, 2009 - 2:44pmCHICAGO – Robert Sean Leonard, who plays Dr. James Wilson on “House M.D.” (and the best friend of Golden Globe winner Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House), describes himself as less than ambitious with his career and even “lazy” in an interview with HollywoodChicago.com’s presence.
Video Game Review: ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’ Delivers on High Expectations
Submitted by BrianTT on November 29, 2009 - 5:17pmCHICAGO – One of the more anticipated games in years is finally here and, by now, most diehard fans of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” have played through “Modern Warfare 2” on multiple difficulty levels and spent countless hours working through the variety of multiplayer modes and special ops missions. Hardcore fans of this franchise don’t just “play” these games. They eat, breathe, and live “Modern Warfare” for months after the game’s release and with a title this good, who can blame them?
Blu-Ray Review: Remarkable 20th Anniversary Edition of ‘Say Anything...’
Submitted by BrianTT on November 29, 2009 - 5:04pmCHICAGO – Sometimes fans have the choice between holding on to the standard DVD version of their favorite films or upgrading to the latest format, anniversary, or ultimate collector’s unrated fantastic edition. With many Blu-Ray releases merely improving the technical specs but often leaving the special features alone, it can be a tough call. Such is not the case with the 20th anniversary edition of the great “Say Anything…,” a release packed with excellent bonus material that make it a must-own for fans of Cameron Crowe’s directorial debut.
Blu-Ray Review: Rocky Balboa Fights His Way to ‘Undisputed Collection’
Submitted by BrianTT on November 29, 2009 - 5:01pmCHICAGO – There are very few characters as iconic as Rocky Balboa. A few images, sound bites, or even just a few notes of a song and audiences of the right age are transported back to the first time they saw the Best Picture-winning “Rocky,” the film that made Sylvester Stallone a star over three decades ago. That beloved sports film and the five sequels that followed have been collected on Blu-Ray for the first time in “Rocky: The Undisputed Collection”.
HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 20 ‘Everybody’s Fine’ Chicago Passes With Robert De Niro
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on November 28, 2009 - 10:38pmCHICAGO – In our latest comedy edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 20 admit-two passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of “Everybody’s Fine,” which stars Robert De Niro!
Blu-Ray Review: Tiresome ‘Four Christmases’ is Four Too Many
Submitted by BrianTT on November 25, 2009 - 3:02pmCHICAGO – How has Vince Vaughn become one of the most boring actors in America? It has little to do with his performances and everything to do with his career choices. Sure, Vaughn has pretty much made a habit out of playing the exact same guy since “Wedding Crashers”: a fast-talking, self-absorbed, overgrown adolescent whose funniest quips are delivered under the breath and between punch-lines.
