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+.
Anthony Mackie
‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ Pledges Allegiance to Strong Action, Twists
Submitted by NickHC on April 3, 2014 - 9:49pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In record-breaking time, even for Marvel, a comic book character has had their existence (basically) rebooted. The arc may be continued from the previous film, and some of the actors may reappear, but this take on Captain America is bonafide divergent. It’s not the hollow nostalgic relic seen in his debut “Captain America: The First Avenger”, nor is this the goofy time alien/boy scout he was made in to be in the ensemble film “The Avengers”. This version of Captain America, and the world he lives in, is leaner and meaner.
Ben Affleck Can’t Save Limp ‘Runner Runner’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 4, 2013 - 9:03am Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Off shore internet gambling sites, tons of money, glorious glamorous women, parties all the time – how the heck can all of that be dull? The new film “Runner Runner” found a way. Ben Affleck phones it in and Justin Timberlake is name recognition window dressing in this limp drama.
Clever Cast Can’t Quite Save Crazy ‘Pain & Gain’
Submitted by BrianTT on April 25, 2013 - 9:43am Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Michael Bay’s “Pain & Gain” tells such a ridiculous story that it has to be true. Based on the infamous case of the Sun Gym Gang, a trio of bodybuilders who committed some unspeakable, bizarre crimes, “Pain & Gain” nearly works through the sheer charisma and talent of its A-list cast.
Josh Brolin, Sean Penn Sleep Through Dull ‘Gangster Squad’
Submitted by BrianTT on January 11, 2013 - 12:38pm Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – I know it’s only January but Ruben Fleischer’s “Gangster Squad” is sure to be one of the most disappointing films of 2013. Look at that cast! Look at them playing caricatures and doing absolutely nothing of interest! “Gangster Squad” is a total mess and absolutely none of it has to do with notorious reshoots after the shooting in Aurora that pushed the flick back four months.
‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’ Proves History Bites
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 22, 2012 - 8:42amRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In this new film, don’t describe the 16th U.S. President as “The Great Emancipator,” call him “The Great Kick-Ass-ipator.” In this high concept romp, the President who presided over the Civil War is now winning it single-handedly by fighting his demons in “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter.”
Elizabeth Banks Teeters With the ‘Man on a Ledge’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 27, 2012 - 5:21pmRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – New York City. Mid-day. A man steps outside the window on the edge of the Roosevelt Hotel. Is he jumping? That’s the question that street level onlookers and moviegoers want answered from Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell and Ed Harris in “Man on a Ledge”
‘Real Steel’ Overcomes Harebrained Premise With Heart, Quenching Hollywood Wizardry
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on October 8, 2011 - 4:08pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Try selling a friend on paying to see a movie with you about machine-operated boxing where humans control robots for money.
Just call your friend on his Motorola DynaTAC retro brickphone and say: “Hey, Billy! Remember all those swell nights we had as kids when I smoked you every time in Rock’em Sock’em Robots with our two dueling robot boxers mechanically manipulated by us?
Anna Faris Falls Flat in Awful ‘What’s Your Number?’
Submitted by BrianTT on September 30, 2011 - 10:14am Rating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Why can’t anyone figure out how to use Anna Faris effectively? She’s got some of the best comic timing of any actress working today but she can’t find a good script in which to display it. Take her latest venture, the misogynistic, creepy, and just BAD “What’s Your Number?,” a pale excuse for a chick flick that should look even more ghostly in light of the similarly-themed and far-superior “Bridesmaids” earlier this year.
Chemistry of Matt Damon, Emily Blunt Drives ‘The Adjustment Bureau’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 3, 2011 - 8:31pm Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – George Nolfi’s “The Adjustment Bureau,” starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, is a nearly-great movie, a rare piece that merges romance and science fiction into something that is at-times mesmerizing. A few hiccups in the screenwriting late in the film hold it back from its true potential but this is still worth a look for genre fans and even those usually uninterested in the genre.
Anthony Mackie, Kerry Washington Nearly Save ‘Night Catches Us’
Submitted by BrianTT on December 10, 2010 - 11:15amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “They’re all around us. Ghosts. They’re everywhere.” People don’t talk like that. Especially kids. Especially not after a major revelation about their dad. It just doesn’t feel real. And that’s the problem with “Night Catches Us,” a well-intentioned drama with strong performances that somehow can’t find the realism at the heart of its story. Anthony Mackie and Kerry Washington nearly rescue the piece but it just doesn’t come together into anything memorable enough to recommend.
