June 2022

CHICAGO – 52 years ago Monday (June 27th, 2022), a young activist got together with a group of marchers – with no permit – and showed the City of Chicago the actual faces of gay liberation. Gary G. Chichester was part of that first gay pride march in 1970 … and 52 years later he’s the Grand Marshall of the 2022 Chicago Pride Parade, live and in person!

CHICAGO – Matt Damon, the leading man whose roles play like a character actor, is the latest recipient of the Gene Siskel Film Center Renaissance Award, part of the Center’s 50th Anniversary fundraiser (click here for details) He will do a live virtual interview moderated by Robert Downey Jr., which will be s

Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Director Baz Luhrman’s “Elvis” has plenty of suspicious minds, but precious little mystery as his trademark excess fails to breathe new life into the tired legacy of the King. No amount of montages, quick cuts, and odd music choices can obscure the fact that we don’t see anything here that even the casual Elvis fan doesn’t already know.

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on Eddie Volkman Show with Hannah B on Star 96.7 WSSR-FM (Joliet, IL) reviewing the new Blu-Ray edition of “Harold and Maude,” the cult classic featuring Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort in the ultimate May/December lesson about freedom, passion and love.

NEW YORK – The 2022 in-person 21st Tribeca Film Festival ends today (June 19th). But the highly successful hybrid (click link) TRIBECAatHOME goes on through June 26th, for an extra week to catch up with the films of Tribeca.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on June 16th, reviewing “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” a two-person dance featuring Emma Thompson. Streaming on HULU beginning June 17th.

NEW YORK – The 21st Tribeca Film Festival announced their Jury Prizes for 2022 on June 16th. Best U.S. Narrative was rewarded to “Good Girl Jane,” an adolescent story of young love, written/directed by Sarah Elizabeth Mintz. Best International Narrative goes to “January” and Best Documentary is “The Cave of Adullam.”

Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on June 16, reviewing “Lightyear,” the latest Pixar Animation film spun off from the Toy Story Universe. In theaters beginning June 17th.

CHICAGO – Cooper Raiff was ready for his close-up. His improbable journey to filmmaker, aided in part by a random tweet to Jay Duplass, came to fruition with the success at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival with “Cha Cha Real Smooth.” The film streams on Apple TV+ beginning June 17th, 2022.

NEW YORK – After the big Red Carpet Opening last Wednesday on June 8th, the Tribeca Film Festival has begun to roll out its diverse and international screenings of narrative films, documentaries and shorts. Film screenings at home are available in this hybrid fest format by clicking TRIBECAatHOME.

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review on “The Phantom of the Open,” a new film about an unlikely entrant (Mark Rylance) into golf’s prestigious British Open. in the groovy 1970s. It “opens” in select theaters on June 10th, 2022, see local listings.

CHICAGO – It was 100 years ago today – June 10th, 1922 – that Frances Gumm was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, but the world would soon know her as Judy Garland. The entertainer, who went from child star to adult fame, is honored by her daughter Lorna Luft.

Rating: 2.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Intelligence goes extinct in this supremely dopey sixth installment of the Jurassic Park franchise. Not even the reunion of original stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum can counteract the law of diminishing returns and a lack of focus behind the camera as the film turns Dino after Dino into a deadening drumbeat of dull destruction.

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review on “Relative,” the latest film from Chicago-based filmmaker Michael Glover Smith. Its theatrical release begins on June 8th (click links) at Music Box Theatre and on June 10th at Gene Siskel Film Center, and will expand from there.