CHICAGO – If you’ve never seen the farcical ensemble theater chestnut “Noises Off,” you will see no better version than on the Steppenwolf Theatre stage, now at their northside Chicago venue through November 3rd. For tickets and details for this riotous theater experience, click NOISES OFF.
Jack Black
Ready Player! On-Air Review of ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 7, 2023 - 7:56amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on April 6th, 2023, reviewing “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” a modern animation of the video game legend in its third on-screen version. In theaters since April 5th.
‘The House With a Clock in Its Walls’ is Movie Magic
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 20, 2018 - 11:43pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “The House With The Clock In Its Walls” is a surprisingly restrained and endearing haunted house pic for kids just getting rid of their training wheels. It’s all a spooky atmosphere with cobwebs galore, creaking doors, a stained glass window which changes on its own, and a library of books which at times resemble the avifauna predators from the Hitchcock classic “The Birds.”
Tour de Force for Jack Black in Fact-Based ‘Bernie’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 18, 2012 - 5:27pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Jack Black is a smart and interesting actor. Not content to ride on the modern day John Belushi-type roles that might have pigeonholed him, Black portrays “Bernie,” a convincing conniver in Texas, based on a true story. Veterans Matthew McConaughhey and Shirley MacLaine add spice to the brew.
‘The Muppets’ is Hilarious, Joyful Entertainment
Submitted by BrianTT on November 22, 2011 - 11:17amRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The Muppets stand on such a pedestal for an entire generation that there was an understandable amount of trepidation when it was announced that Jason Segel and Disney were moving forward with a reboot. How could it possibly live up to our expectations? Would they turn Kermit, Fozzie, and Miss Piggy into commercial commodities like “The Smurfs” and “Alvin and the Chipmunks”?
Owen Wilson, Steve Martin, Jack Black Flock Up in ‘The Big Year’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 15, 2011 - 2:01amRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “The Big Year” is advertised as a comedy. The subject is bird watching, or as the new film likes to express the proper term, “birding.” It stars comic legend Steve Martin, and funnymen Jack Black and Owen Wilson. It is both not funny and is ACTUALLY, seriously about birding. Time to fly away.
More or Less Same Formula in ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 26, 2011 - 8:21amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Good and evil, chase and fight. Those are the two basic formulas that dominate “Kung Fu Panda 2,” the sequel to the very popular first film. That redundancy is helped by the spirituality of an animated panda and some spectacular 3D rendering.
Jack Black, Emily Blunt Think Big in ‘Gulliver’s Travels’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 24, 2010 - 11:00amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Call it too much holiday eggnog, but the re-imagining of the immortal classic “Gulliver’s Travels,’ starring Jack Black, Emily Blunt and Jason Segal, has a little Yuletide fun and hurts no one. If you like Jack Black, you’ll enjoy the film. If you don’t, find another way to spend 93 minutes this tinsel time weekend.
Gondry’s Cinematic Breakthrough ‘Be Kind Rewind’ Proves Again He’s an Artistic Goliath
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on February 22, 2008 - 4:05amCHICAGO – Michel Gondry’s latest cinematic breakthrough “Be Kind Rewind” grants passage into his magical imagination and proves yet again he’s one of today’s artistic giants.
Slapstick in ‘The Brothers Solomon’ Dumber Than ‘Dumb & Dumber’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on September 7, 2007 - 6:28pmCHICAGO – With 2007 films like “Knocked Up” and “Superbad,” the smart and embarrassingly truthful geek comedies are the current wave of humor in America.