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.
Cate Blanchett
‘Cinderella’ Finds New Magic in Old Fairy Tale
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 13, 2015 - 12:20amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In the years since “Shrek,” the fractured fairy tale has become Hollywood’s default approach. We’ve been treated to so many irreverent and increasingly labored treatments of storybook characters, that Walt Disney Pictures’ new live-action “Cinderella” comes off as relatively fresh by comparison.
Too-Long ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’ Delivers on Intimate, Hand-to-Hand Combat
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on December 17, 2014 - 3:49pm- Adam Fendelman
- Benedict Cumberbatch
- Billy Connolly
- Cate Blanchett
- Christopher Lee
- Evangeline Lilly
- Fran Walsh
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Hugo Weaving
- Ian McKellen
- J.R.R. Tolkien
- Lee Pace
- Luke Evans
- Martin Freeman
- Movie Review
- Orlando Bloom
- Peter Jackson
- Philippa Boyens
- Richard Armitage
- The Hobbit
- The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
- Warner Bros. Pictures
Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Though he’s never been called it before in scientific speak, I’m saying it now: Peter Jackson is a master of mitosis. He’s one of Hollywood’s best in splitting up the cinematic cellular DNA of one story into three because, apparently, he can’t do epics unless they’re in groups of three.
Heroic, Visually Bold ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 13, 2014 - 4:46pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “How to Train Your Dragon 2” is spectacular in 3D, the filmmakers actually geared the film to enhance that much maligned vision. It also features a warm and heroic story about the coming-of-age for the character Hiccup, and his now fully trained dragon, Toothless.
‘The Monuments Men’ Has Been Drained of Personality
Submitted by BrianTT on February 6, 2014 - 10:03amRating: 1.5/5.0 |
George Clooney’s “The Monuments Men” is processed cheese. It is a film that has been rewritten, edited, and refined until it has lost all sense of purpose or identity. There’s no flavor left. It is a film that defies genre; not quirky enough to have a comedic personality despite a cast that almost always supplies edge and not engaging enough to work as drama or thriller.
‘Blue Jasmine’ Puts Woody Allen Back on Top
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 2, 2013 - 5:59amRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The auteur Woody Allen is one of the most prolific post-studio-system directors, averaging one film a year for close to 40 years. His meditations on life have become part of the culture, and he brilliantly expresses himself once again – with help from Cate Blachett – in the emotional “Blue Jasmine.”
Saoirse Ronan Rocks in Joe Wright’s Riveting ‘Hanna’
Submitted by BrianTT on April 7, 2011 - 3:10pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – You won’t be able to take your eyes of Saoirse Ronan in Joe Wright’s action film “Hanna,” a visceral thrill ride that’s likely to be a more satisfying experience than most of the action blockbusters that will fill the multiplex as the temperatures rise. With an A-list cast and incredible production values, “Hanna” is a speeding train. Hop on and hold on tight.
Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett Forge an Epic Adventure in ‘Robin Hood’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 13, 2010 - 8:56pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “T’wang!” is the the sound of an archer’s arrow going right into the center of the summer movie kick-off season. Director Ridley Scott, Cate Blanchett, Max Von Sydow, William Hurt, Mark Strong, Oscar Isaac and Russell Crowe – in the title role of “Robin Hood” – offer a compelling story, plenty of action and an epic quality to the oft-told legend.
After 19 Years, ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ Phenomenally Exhumes Venerated Roots
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on May 22, 2008 - 12:00amCHICAGO – After such a long respite from the beloved film progression, I was initially just as skittish about seeing Harrison Ford back in the Indy saddle as I was watching Sylvester Stallone back in the ring in “Rocky Balboa” in his 2006 comeback and then again in 2008 in his “Rambo” return.