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+.
FBI
Taken in by Liam! On-Air Review of ‘Honest Thief’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 16, 2020 - 8:12pm Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on The Eddie Volkman Show on WSSR-FM (Star 96.7 Joliet, Illinois) on October 16th, 2020, reviewing the new Liam Neeson action movie, ‘Honest Thief, also featuring Robert Patrick of “Terminator 2.”
1970s Caper Film in Enjoyable ‘Finding Steve McQueen’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 15, 2019 - 2:00pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The “caper” film, AKA the heist film, is one of the old reliable genres in the movies, and usually involves a gang of mismatched thieves. “Finding Steve McQueen” goes all the way back to the 1970s to spotlight a based-on-truth burglary that involves Tricky Dick himself, President Richard M. Nixon.
Aaron Sorkin’s Directorial Debut in ‘Molly’s Game’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 26, 2017 - 1:55pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – High stakes poker are for folks who prefer to get their rush of adrenalin from the turn of a card rather than other life risks. The positives, the negatives and everything in between are in “Molly’s Game,” the feature directorial debut of Aaron Sorkin (“The West Wing” creator). Let’s walk and talk.
Story in ‘Wind River’ Gets Scattered in the Breeze
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 12, 2017 - 9:36am Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Writer/Director Taylor Sheridan is a deep thinker regarding humanity in these United States. In the third film of his “American Frontier Trilogy” – after “Sicario” and “Hell or High Water” – he goes to the Wyoming Native American reservation, for a unwieldy story titled “Wind River.”
Important History in ‘The Black Panthers: Vanguard of a Revolution’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 25, 2015 - 1:08pm Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – If you want to experience the old cliché of “everything old is new again,” look no further than the excellent documentary, “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of a Revolution.” The formation of the famous 1960s political group is rooted in the same issues that came out of Ferguson and Baltimore – the marginalization and harassment of African Americans by law enforcement authority.
Ben Affleck Can’t Save Limp ‘Runner Runner’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 4, 2013 - 9:03amRating: 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.
Leonardo DiCaprio Embodies the G-Man in ‘J. Edgar’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 9, 2011 - 11:04am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Much of history is determined by the petty quirks and strange psychosis of “great leaders.” J. Edgar Hoover, FBI director for 48 years, worked hard to hide his very nature by squelching the nature of others – enemies, friends and perceived enemies. Leonardo DiCaprio is Hoover in “J. Edgar.”
Steven Soderbergh’s ‘The Informant!’ Puts Matt Damon on a Wire
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 18, 2009 - 7:09amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Behind every great fortune lies a great crime, as the saying goes. In director Steven Soderbergh’s “The Informant!,” he and Matt Damon carve out a satire where the “crime” becomes entangled with the larger issues of “justice.”
