CHICAGO – Excelsior! Comic book legend Stan Lee’s famous exclamation puts a fine point on the third and final play of Mark Pracht’s FOUR COLOR TRILOGY, “The House of Ideas,” presented by and staged at City Lit Theater in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. For tickets/details, click HOUSE OF IDEAS.
The Weinstein Company
HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 40 Pairs of Passes to Sundance Grand Jury Winner ‘Fruitvale Station’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on July 10, 2013 - 11:44pm- Adam Fendelman
- Ahna O'Reilly
- Ariana Neal
- Chad Michael Murray
- Forest Whitaker
- Fruitvale Station
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film
- Keenan Coogler
- Kevin Durand
- Melonie Diaz
- Michael B. Jordan
- Octavia Spencer
- Oscar Grant
- Ryan Coogler
- Sundance Film Festival
- The Weinstein Company
- Trestin George
CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 40 pairs of advance-screening movie passes up for grabs to the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner “Fruitvale Station” produced by Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker!
Film Review: Oceanic Adventure of ‘Kon-Tiki’ Still Enthralls
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 3, 2013 - 6:00pmCHICAGO – Mention the name Thor Heyerdahl or his sea-faring vessel “Kon-Tiki,” and half-remembered images of a voyage across the sea in a ship that looks like it was built on “Gilligan’s Isle” might cross memory neurons. Why, when and how he did it is brought to screen in the excellent and appropriately titled “Kon-Tiki.”
Film Review: ‘The Sapphires’ Don’t Fit Inside its 1960s Setting
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 30, 2013 - 12:53amCHICAGO – “The Sapphires” is inspired by a true story, about an Australian girl group who entertains the troops in 1968 Viet Nam. There is little feeling regarding the era the film is portraying, and it’s essentially used as a vehicle for period pop songs that have been heard before.
Interview: Director Wayne Blair, Jessica Mauboy of ‘The Sapphires’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 25, 2013 - 10:43amCHICAGO – In other countries and cultures, there are parallel moments going on that are interesting mirrors to U.S. history. In “The Sapphires,” a girl group from Australia entertains the troops in Viet Nam, with many of the same U.S. issues of war, peace and social discord. The film is directed by Wayne Blair and features Jessica Mauboy.
Film Review: Great Cast Receives Winning Showcase in Dustin Hoffman’s ‘Quartet’
Submitted by mattmovieman on January 25, 2013 - 6:46amCHICAGO – There are few things more fragile than an actor’s ego. It must be treated with the utmost care in order to prevent a split-second meltdown. The enormous pressure of audience expectations coupled with the piercing eye of an ever-present media is enough to send sensitive folk to a sanitarium. Thick skin is a necessity in show business, but what happens when that skin begins to age?
Film Review: Metaphor is Message in Violent ‘Killing Them Softly’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 30, 2012 - 1:53pmCHICAGO – 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.
Film Review: Strange, Beguiling Sean Penn in ‘This Must Be the Place’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 18, 2012 - 2:10amCHICAGO – 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.
Film Review: Easy Metaphors for WWII in ‘War of the Buttons’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 21, 2012 - 11:24pmCHICAGO – World War II, also known as “The Good War,” had more than its share of darkness and sorrow. As the conflict winds down for a French town in the new film “War of the Buttons,” young love and rival town kid gangs create metaphors for the context of the war in its time and place.
Film Review: Pulse-Pounding Action, Complexity Define ‘Easy Money’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 21, 2012 - 9:32pmCHICAGO – Desperation is the best emotion for formulating action movies. There is something basic and true about a chase, for example, or a heist gone bad, when it’s the “end of the world” for a character or circumstance. “Easy Money” has that vibe, and delivers on some great sequences.
Film Review: Meandering ‘The Master’ Serves Up Powerful After Effects
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 20, 2012 - 5:24pmCHICAGO – ‘The Master’ is the type of film that invites days of contemplation. It is a film about America, but only a certain type of American. It is a film about the need to belong, but in the end it separates all its characters away from each other. Lead actors Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix radicalize writer/director P.T. Anderson’s strange alchemy.