CHICAGO – What is one of the greatest survival instincts of the pandemic? Creativity. The Zoom web series “What Did Clyde Hide?” is the result of a creative effort from Executive Producer/Show Runner Ruth Kaufman, Producer Sandy Gulliver and Director Sean Patrick Leonard. Kaufman and Leonard talk about the series, naturally, via Zoom.!—break—>
Focus Features
Film Review: Past Will Arise! On-Air Review of ‘Promising Young Woman’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 31, 2020 - 4:45pmCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on December 31st, 2020, reviewing the new film “Promising Young Woman,” which opened on Christmas Day and is now in theaters. !—break—>
Film Review: On-Air Reviews of ‘Let Him Go’ & ‘Jungleland’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 6, 2020 - 5:34amCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on November 5th, 2020, reviewing the new films “Let Him Go” (in theaters) and “Jungleland” (limited theaters and VOD).!—break—>
Film Review: Celebrating the Farce of July! On-Air Review of ‘Kajillionaire’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 24, 2020 - 9:10amCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on September 24th, 2020, reviewing the new live action film “Kajillionaire,” a new film by quirky writer/director Miranda July.!—break—>
Film Review: HollywoodChicago.com Reviews of ‘The High Note,’ ’The Vast of Night,’ Bonus
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 1, 2020 - 9:04amCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on May 29th, 2020, discussing new releases “The High Note” (VOD) and “The Vast of Night” (Amazon Prime) and BONUS review.!—break—>
Film Review: 'The Dead Don't Die' Offers Full-On Horror Homage But Little Else
Submitted by JonHC on June 18, 2019 - 5:46pmCHICAGO – Before Jordan Peele, before Mike Flanagan, before James Wan, and especially before all of Blumhouse, there were other masters of horror who paved the way for the filmmakers we know today. The Carpenters, the Cravens, and the Argentos of the world helped turn horror into the thriving genre it is today. Jim Jarmusch’s “The Dead Don’t Die” openly acknowledges this with their love letter approach to the genre itself.
Film News: Patrick McDonald Hosts ‘Bathtubs Over Broadway' for AHFS on May 13, 2019
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 13, 2019 - 2:34amCHICAGO – How does one man rediscover and revive an art form? This question is answered in the magnificent “Bathtubs Over Broadway,” a 2018 documentary about the quest of comedy writer Steve Young, as he saves the legacy of the “industrial musical,” a form of American corporate entertainment from the 1950s through the ‘70s. Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com will host a screening of the film on Monday, May 13th, 2019 (7:30pm), and facilitate a discussion afterward, at the Tivoli Theatre in Downers Grove, Ill. To purchase tickets, click here.
Film Review: Familiar Scares of ‘Greta’ Has Too Many Plot Holes
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 1, 2019 - 4:53pmCHICAGO – Admittedly, horror films are not my thing. I find them redundant, pandering and more reliant on gore rather than story. “Greta” is somewhat of a thriller horror film, about an older lady stalker preying on a younger New York City woman, but it had both a seen-it-before and unreliable plot.
Film Review: ‘Bathtubs Over Broadway’ Revives a Forgotten Art Form
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 8, 2019 - 1:16pm- Bathtubs Over Broadway
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CHICAGO – There are cultural heroes, and then there is comedy writer Steve Young. Through sheer happenstance, he began a journey that ended up with a rediscovery of an art form that without Young’s intervention would have died. The U.S. corporation Broadway-style “industrial musical,” which highlighted products or sales meetings in a song and dance presentation, were at its peak popularity from the 1950s through the ‘70s. “Bathtubs Over Broadway” is Young’s documentary of appreciation for those shows and and his intervention to revive them.
Film Review: A Heroic Ruth Bader Ginsburg in ‘On the Basis of Sex’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 26, 2018 - 10:52amCHICAGO – Many heroes of America toiled long behind the scenes to break the chains of oppression. For every Susan Anthony or Martin Luther King Jr. there were the activists, legal experts and volunteers who sought the justice denied to them by the archaic patriarchal society. One such hero is Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the film “On the Basis of Sex.”
Film Review: ‘Boy Erased’ Thrives On Empathy, Lacks Overall Conviction
Submitted by JonHC on November 13, 2018 - 2:56pmCHICAGO – America is facing a confusing time of crisis, again. There are giant groups of people who are ready to hate other people for biological traits that can’t—and don’t need to—be changed, like skin color, sexual orientation, and race. “Boy Erased” adds to the national dialogue by showing the devastating effects this type of mentality can have inside our own families, and how to prevent it.
