CHICAGO – The funny meter of Netflix went off the scale last week, as the animated series “Chicago Party Aunt” made its debut on September 17th. What began as a Twitter account by comic actor Chris Witaske (who also provides his voice talent) has morphed into the cartoon adventures of Aunt Diane Dumbowski, her nephew Daniel, and an array of familiar Chicago-isms and characters.
Paramount Pictures
Back in the U-S-SA! On-Air Review of ‘Coming 2 America’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 4, 2021 - 7:44pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 4th, 2021, reviewing the new film “Coming 2 America,” streaming on Amazon Prime Video beginning March 5th, 2021.
In Character! On-Air Reviews of ‘Let Him Go’ & ‘Jungleland’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 6, 2020 - 6:28am 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 November 5th, 2020, reviewing the new films “Let Him Go” (in theaters) and “Jungleland” (Limited Theaters and VOD).
Must See! On-Air Review of ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 25, 2020 - 6:23pm- 1968
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 Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Won’t you please come to Chicago. “The Trial of the Chicago 7” opens in theaters September 25, 2020. Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, reviewed the film during the Eddie Volkman Show (Star 96.7 FM Joliet, Illinois).
‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ is Fast & Furry But Not Funny
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 14, 2020 - 11:41am Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – It may be damning with faint praise, but I can assure you that “Sonic the Hedgehog” is no longer the stuff of nightmares. The-Island-of-Dr-Moreau-like creation which seemed half human half hedgehog in the film’s first trailer, has been replaced by something more akin to the Sonic we know from video games and cartoons. He’s cute. He’s fast. But he’s not particularly funny.
Elton John Bio ‘Rocketman’ Doesn’t Deliver
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 31, 2019 - 10:31am Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – As a wee lad, one of the first records I bought was Elton John’s Greatest Hits. The album was magnificent, each song expressing the very emotion it sought to deliver. With that basis in mind, I approached John’s biopic “Rocketman” with a hope of deliverance. It felt flatter than a pancake under a steam roller.
Imagination is the Key to Charming ‘Wonder Park’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 16, 2019 - 5:53pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Most animated films depicting the “family” often includes a parallel lesson about togetherness or some such domestic symbolism. In “Wonder Park,” the lesson is how the spark of imagination can keep a childhood alive. When that spark is temporarily dosed, the destination of the title also suffers.
Tom Cruise Outruns Time in ‘Mission Impossible: Fallout'
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 27, 2018 - 7:16amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – By any reasonable account, Tom Cruise should be entering into a phase in the “Mission Impossible” series not unlike the latter James Bond films of Roger Moore… appearing in closeups and letting the stuntmen do the rest. However, Cruise continues to outrun the ravages of time, and his stunts only seem to get crazier in the sixth film, “Mission Impossible: Fallout.”
‘A Quiet Place’ Will Make You Wish You Had a Quiet Place to Hide
Submitted by JonHC on April 5, 2018 - 9:07pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO - Terror and fear take several forms. Sometimes it’s something as simple as spiders or snakes or even an incompetent president. Other times it can take the form of natural states, like darkness. Horror films channel our fears, but the great ones give us something new to fear. “A Quiet Place” lures us in with the safety of silence, only to reveal the monsters hiding within.
Consider the Meaning of Life Force in ‘Annihilation’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 23, 2018 - 8:19amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Alex Garland, the standout creator/director of “Ex Machina,” is back with “Annihilation,” another science fiction story. And like the previous film, it explores implications of a sci-fi event, in this case an outer space incident that restructures a cellular code, that ends up destructive.
Matt Damon in ‘Downsizing’ Offers Few Small Pleasures
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 22, 2017 - 10:51amRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Downsizing” is an interesting premise that doesn’t ultimately go anywhere interesting. Part of the problem is that writer/director Alexander Payne doesn’t seem to know what kind of a movie he wants it to be… it’s part cerebral Woody Allen futuristic comedy, part sci-fi social satire about Midwestern malaise, and winds up failing at both.
