CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.
Universal Pictures
Pointless Trip Back to ‘Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 19, 2016 - 11:20pm- andrew j. cohen
- beanie feldstein
- brendan o'brien
- Chloe Grace Moretz
- Christopher Mintz-Plasse
- Dave Franco
- Evan Goldberg
- Hannibal Buress
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- ike barinholtz
- jerrod carmichael
- Kiersey Clemons
- Movie Review
- Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising
- Nicholas Stoller
- Rose Byrne
- Selena Gomez
- Seth Rogen
- Spike Walters
- Universal Pictures
- Zac Efron
Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The original “Neighbors” was a funny enough movie, that still boasted at least a couple of big laughs. “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising” only manages the occasional chuckle here and there. As far as big budget studio comedy sequels go, it’s not as bad as “The Hangover 2.” It’s more in line with “Ghostbusters 2”.
‘The Huntsman: Winter’s War’ is a Bloated Bore
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 22, 2016 - 1:18pmRating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – This new Hollywood fairy tale does have one thing in common with the bedtime stories of old…it may lull you to sleep in the first 30 minutes. “The Huntsman: Winter’s War” is a special effects extravaganza where the effects aren’t special, the story is thin, and almost all the actors seem to have been allowed or even encouraged to indulge their worst impulses.
Melissa McCarthy Really Proves She is ‘The Boss’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 9, 2016 - 9:34amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – If anything, “The Boss” is a bigger testimony to Melissa McCarthy’s status as a comic superpower than her breakthrough role in “Bridesmaids.” That one had a veritable treasure trove of comedic talent, while McCarthy has considerably less to work with here.
‘Hail, Caesar!’ is Coen Bros. Excellence for Movie Lovers
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 5, 2016 - 11:12amRating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen love the movies, and that love is magnificently played out in “Hail, Caesar!” As they riff on religion, geopolitics and 1950s morality, while wonderfully celebrating and spoofing an era in movies that will never be again, the Coens abide and deliver.
Expansive ‘Steve Jobs’ is a Marvel of a Movie
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 16, 2015 - 2:07pmRating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – You don’t need CGI, entire cities being turned to rubble, or an army of assembling Avengers to make a great movie. All you need is a good story to tell and a team of people talented enough to tell it. Writer Aaron Sorkin, and Director Danny Boyle are just the right people to make “Steve Jobs” because their finished project positively springs to life on the screen.
M. Night Shyamalan Offers Chills, Laughs in ‘The Visit’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 15, 2015 - 2:11pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Director and auteur M. Night Shyamalan has been very spotty in the last nine years. “The Sixth Sense” filmmaker has had less of an impact with “After Earth” and “The Last Airbender,” but scores again with the super weird, creepy and funny “The Visit.”
N.W.A. Influences an Era in ‘Straight Outta Compton’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 13, 2015 - 7:28pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Gangsta rap, like all the revolutionary and society bending genres before it, was formulated from dire frustration and a need to shake up the surroundings that encased their creators. The prime movers of gangsta was the group N.W.A., and their story is told in “Straight Outta Compton.”
Amy Schumer Way Too Conventional in ‘Trainwreck’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 21, 2015 - 7:48amRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In one of the most anticipated comedies of the summer, Amy Schumer breaks out of her edgy role as a stand-up and sketch artist to put her spin on the film universe in “Trainwreck.” She plays the lead role, is directed by the comic-reputable Judd Apatow, and she wrote the script. Why is it so “meh”?
Nothing of Substance in Cute, Fluffy ‘Minions’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 9, 2015 - 9:24pmRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – They’re cute, they talk like babies, and they already have “brand recognition.” In what feels like a product exercise rather than a movie, “Minions” extends its story from the dawn of time to 1968. Did we need that much back story? The voices of Sandra Bullock and Jon Hamm star.
‘Ted 2’ is a Funnier Film Than it Deserves to Be
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 25, 2015 - 7:49pm- Amanda Seyfried
- Dennis Haysbert
- Giovanni Ribisi
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Jay Leno
- Jessica Barth
- John Carroll Lynch
- John Slattery
- Liam Neeson
- Mark Wahlberg
- Michael Dorn
- Morgan Freeman
- Movie Review
- Patrick Stewart
- Patrick Warburton
- Sam J. Jones
- Seth MacFarlane
- Spike Walters
- Ted
- Ted 2
- Tom Brady
- Universal Pictures
Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – While it’s cruder and it can’t quite match the original “Ted,” “Ted 2” is still funnier than it has any right to be. It is unmistakably a Seth MacFarlane production, and there are a million reasons why this movie shouldn’t work, chief among them a plot that attempts to plop a foul mouthed talking teddy bear into a moralistic legal parable about civil rights. But I can’t deny I laughed throughout, almost despite myself.