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 Movie Reviews
Awful ‘Playing for Keeps’ Wastes Talent of Notable Cast
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 7, 2012 - 5:41pm Rating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – When will the movie universe stop lionizing the upper middle class and their “problems” as a standard for storytelling? The idiotic crawl of “Playing for Keeps” is a prime example of that style, a sad exercise in contradictions that pass for narrative. Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, Dennis Quaid and Catherine Zeta-Jones get punked by the script.
Bizarre Friendship Forms in Center of ‘Starlet’
Submitted by BrianTT on December 7, 2012 - 4:55pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Sean Baker’s “Starlet” is about an incredibly unlikely friendship between two women six decades apart and, like a lot of acclaimed independent films, it plays like an interesting short story adapted to celluloid. The first forty-five minutes of Baker’s debut really work, as the writer/director works with his two talented leads to craft an interesting character study. When the film has to get into more depth regarding its characters futures and pasts, it falters a bit but there’s still a lot to like here.
Riveting Doc ‘Burn’ Chronicles City on Fire
Submitted by BrianTT on December 7, 2012 - 11:26am Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Detroit, Michigan has more fires every year than any other city in the United States. As the city’s population dwindles (from 1.8 million in 1950 to just over 710k in 2010), people are burning what’s left behind to the tune of 30,000 fire calls a year. Executive produced by Denis Leary, the stellar documentary “Burn,” opening in Detroit and Chicago today, offers viewers a chance to spend a year in a Motown firehouse and the result is riveting filmmaking that both captures the personalities on the truck and the larger issues at play in a city on fire.
Miscarriage of Justice Befalls ‘The Central Park Five’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 7, 2012 - 10:57am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – It takes a provocative subject to capture the attention of famous documentarian Ken Burns. There are few things more provocative than the story of “The Central Park Five.” Burns, his daughter Sarah Burns and son-in-law David McMahon were co-directors for this exploration of justice denied.
Metaphor is Message in Violent ‘Killing Them Softly’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 30, 2012 - 1:50pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – If there ever was an industry that deserved a good metaphor bashing, it would be the financial sector. “Killing Them Softly” does a hit-over-the-head with the symbolism, but at the same time delivers a gritty and literate parable, featuring Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini and Ray Liotta.
Andrea Arnold Finds New Way to Capture ‘Wuthering Heights’
Submitted by BrianTT on November 30, 2012 - 10:36amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Andrea Arnold continues to make the case that she’s one of the world’s most interesting filmmakers with the unexpected creative success of her adaptation of “Wuthering Heights,” a story that may not at first seem to fit in her narrative framework but proves to be a perfect choice for this multi-talented filmmaker.
‘The Collection’ Assaults Viewers with Nonsensical Gore
Submitted by BrianTT on November 29, 2012 - 10:31am Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “The Collection” is a very, very, very, very bad movie. It is really only watchable because it’s so bad. It’s one of those flicks that encourages talking or tweeting in the theater merely so you can make it enjoyable by laughing at it and not really with it. However, one cannot deny that Marcus Dunstan’s completely illogical mess of a horror film certainly never bores. It’s too bafflingly stupid to be truly boring.
Banal Story, Unique Visuals Define ‘Rise of the Guardians’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 21, 2012 - 7:36pm Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Okay, we get it. The current crop of animators can create amazing worlds, full of sensory-expanding images and visions of magical awe (and in 3D). But, if there is a dull story interacting with the eye candy, it can feel like a fancy cake that tastes like sawdust. Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Isla Fisher Jude Law and Hugh Jackman lend their voices to “Rise of the Guardians.”
‘Hitchcock’ at its Heart is a Relationship Film
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 21, 2012 - 7:01pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The great director Alfred Hitchcock had morphed to legend rather than a man, so it’s interesting that two films have recently been released about his all-too-human foibles. The feature film, starring Sir Anthony Hopkins as the director, gets inside the man’s relationships in “Hitchcock.”
Geopolitics Aside, ‘Red Dawn’ is Decent Action Movie
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 21, 2012 - 8:52amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Given the state of the post-9/11 world, and the delicate negotiations between nations, remaking “Red Dawn” posed a considerable risk. But the film takes a ‘“damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead,” approach, and pulls off an adrenaline rush featuring Chris Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson and Josh Peck.
‘Life of Pi’ Offers Little More Than Stunning Visuals
Submitted by BrianTT on November 20, 2012 - 4:13pm Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi” is a film that defies much critical thought in that it demands dismissal of such things in order to work. It is a story that needs to be transcendent in the way it transports the viewer through its fantastic tale that promises nothing less than evidence of God.
Strange, Beguiling Sean Penn in ‘This Must Be the Place’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 18, 2012 - 2:06amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Sean Penn picks his roles carefully, and famously said he didn’t know what the story meant in “Tree of Life.” His attachment to “This Must Be the Place” continues the vague journey through movieland, as he plays a bizarre and aging rock star whose life is about to get interesting.
Brilliant Staging Bolsters Emotionally Hollow ‘Anna Karenina’
Submitted by mattmovieman on November 16, 2012 - 9:22amRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Though cinema is first and foremost a visual medium, too many modern directors have become prone to using it as a stage for long-winded exposition. No matter how polished the lensing is in a film like David Fincher’s “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” remake, the picture basically amounts to a series of dense dialogue passages interrupted by violence.
