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+.
Film Review
Tom Hanks Guides Intense ‘Captain Phillips’
Submitted by BrianTT on October 10, 2013 - 4:36pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) leaves his wife Andrea (Catherine Keener) for yet another journey captaining a cargo ship off the coast of Africa. Shortly thereafter, a Somali boy named Muse (Barkhad Abdi) heads into the same waters on a collision course with the Maersk Alabama.
‘Muscle Shoals’ Conveys Magic of Musical Hotbed
Submitted by BrianTT on October 3, 2013 - 1:03pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Greg Camalier’s “Muscle Shoals” is a robust, entertaining piece of work that captures the power of a place that has produced some of the most remarkable music in the history of the recorded form. It’s a testament to power of the “Muscle Shoals sound” that so many music legends sat down for Camalier to discuss it but the director wisely doesn’t turn this into cavalcade of stars, keeping the focus as much on the man who built this hotbed of creativity and the musicians who played behind the household names.
Alfonso Cuaron’s ‘Gravity’ Rekindles Wonder of Cinema
Submitted by BrianTT on October 3, 2013 - 10:28amRating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – There used to be a stronger sense that films could take us someplace new. From the days of audience members screaming at the train coming at the camera because they didn’t understand that they wouldn’t be run over to Dorothy’s trip to Oz to young Skywalker’s family problems, movies captured a sense of wonder that’s been lost in an era when CGI is in KFC commercials and it feels like Hollywood has run out of new places to take us.
Frustrating Distance Travelled by ‘Blue Caprice’
Submitted by BrianTT on September 26, 2013 - 2:59pmRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Alexandre Moors’ “Blue Caprice” presents no easy answers to a situation that likely doesn’t have any. I get that. I don’t need a traditional, TV-movie dissection of the D.C. sniper. However, Moors’ complete refusal to give the viewer anything substantial to hold on to in this stylish telling of a dark story pushed me out of the film both times I saw it, first at Sundance and then again more recently.
Andrew Bujalski’s Wonderful Commitment to ‘Computer Chess’
Submitted by BrianTT on September 26, 2013 - 2:20pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Andrew Bujalski’s “Computer Chess,” opening tomorrow at the Music Box Theatre here in Chicago and playing soon On Demand as it expands around the country after a very successful festival run, is a film utterly committed to its concept.
Romantic Comedy ‘Enough Said’ is a Sweet, Gentle Gem
Submitted by BrianTT on September 26, 2013 - 12:34pmRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The plot description which this review will eventually get to is going to make Nicole Holofcener’s “Enough Said” sound sitcomish. It’s a conceit straight out of Must-See TV. And so I want to say up front that you need to dismiss the overly slapstick-y preview and your hesitation about the plot and embrace this gem of a comedy, the rare laugher made by adults for adults that understands dynamics of human relationships beyond meet-cutes and slapstick humor.
‘Wadjda’ Captures Story of Memorable Young Heroine
Submitted by BrianTT on September 20, 2013 - 12:39pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Haifaa Al-Mansour’s “Wadjda” is a deceptive film. It feels like a relatively slight story in that it’s about a headstrong girl who wants a bike. That’s it. Pretty simple stuff. And yet it’s not simple at all in Wadjda’s part of the world. She is a 10-year-old Saudi girl and not only are Saudi girls not supposed to ride bikes, they’re not supposed to even show their faces if men could possibly be in their line of sight.
Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman Enter Darkness of ‘Prisoners’
Submitted by BrianTT on September 19, 2013 - 3:28pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – What would you do if your child was in jeopardy? We all love to answer quickly and instinctually that we would do absolutely anything but the fact is that we’re incredibly lucky to never be put in that situation. Would you torture someone else? What if you weren’t sure they were responsible?
Great Performances Anchor Melancholy ‘Four’
Submitted by BrianTT on September 18, 2013 - 2:03pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Like so many great plays, Joshua Sanchez’s debut drama “Four,” adapted from the stage by Christopher Shinn, is a tale of people who can find sexual connections but long for something more. It is about two hook-ups on the Fourth of July, both of which seem to do little to break their participants from their melancholy, and one of which has the potential to tear a family apart.
Sam Rockwell Carries Harrowing ‘A Single Shot’
Submitted by BrianTT on September 18, 2013 - 12:54pmRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Sam Rockwell does no wrong. He takes parts in movies major (“Iron Man 2”) and minor (“A Single Shot,” now available On Demand and opening theatrically in limited release this Friday, September 20, 2013) and makes decisions that other actors wouldn’t even consider. He is so completely, believably in the moment.