CHICAGO – It began with a boy and his dream (nightmare?). John LaFlamboy, to be exact, as he took an idea he had in college and made it his life’s work. He owns and operates the HellsGate Haunted House in Lockport (Illinois), which was designed, built and put together by Haunted House experts expressly for the spookiest month of the year. For info on how to purchase tickets, click HellsGate.
Aimee Garcia
Blu-ray Review: Sixth Season of Showtime Hit ‘Dexter’
Submitted by BrianTT on August 16, 2012 - 1:16pmCHICAGO – Showtime’s “Dexter” is starting to show its age a bit after six years of slicing, dicing, and near-captures of Dexter Morgan. It’s still a strong show, largely because of the incredible central performance from Michael C. Hall, but the writing doesn’t seem as potent as it once was as the show often fails to follow through with its ideas. I loved the foundation of faith through the sixth season but felt it was under-developed, especially after the departure of the one character who seemed most likely to challenge Dexter’s worldview. Still a good show, but not quite a great one any more. Let’s hope it comes back in season seven,
TV Review: Showtime’s Brilliant ‘Dexter’ Returns With Rebooted Vision
Submitted by BrianTT on October 2, 2011 - 11:59amCHICAGO – Everyone’s favorite monster returns tonight with the sixth season premiere of “Dexter,” Showtime’s greatest hit and a program that has often ranked as one of the best on television. The show is at a crucial turning point in that the creators have admitted that this is kind of a reboot for the series, picking up a year after the activity of last season.
Interview: Director Carmen Marron’s Passion to ‘Go For It!’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 12, 2011 - 9:36amCHICAGO – What if you had a deep desire and passion to make a movie? Would you know what to do, how to go about it? Carmen Marron was in that spot seven years ago, with no connections, no clue on how to do it, only that necessary passion and desire. This Friday, her hip-hop dance film, “Go for It!” opens in 250 theaters nationwide.
DVD Review: First Season of NBC Medical Dramas ‘Mercy,’ ‘Trauma’
Submitted by BrianTT on August 16, 2010 - 10:37amCHICAGO – It must have been rough to be on the NBC drama team in the fall of 2010. The network brass made it crystal clear that they cared little about scripted drama when they handed over five nights a week to Jay Leno, but the producers of the network’s two new medical dramas “Mercy” and “Trauma” had to push forward with their programs despite the diminishing reputation of their home. Both series made it through the first year but neither graduated to a second season. See what you probably missed with “Mercy: The Complete Series” and “Trauma: Season 1.”
TV Review: NBC’s ‘Trauma’ on Ratings Life Support
Submitted by BrianTT on March 15, 2010 - 10:59amCHICAGO – The head-on collision with “The Jay Leno Show” has decimated nearly everything on NBC and it’s going to be a long, uphill climb for it to return to ratings respectability. Even relatively acclaimed new shows like “Parenthood” are struggling as viewers left the peacock net and seem unwilling to return. The already ratings-challenged “Trauma” returns tonight, March 15th, 2010, in an effort to stop the bleeding.
TV Review: NBC Delivers Medical Action With Excellent ‘Trauma’
Submitted by BrianTT on September 28, 2009 - 3:07pmCHICAGO – The wave of new fall shows is coming to an end this week with so many shows having debuted to date that we’ve already had our first cancellation of the season (The CW’s horrible “The Beautiful Life). But NBC has saved one of the best for last in “Trauma,” an expertly produced and acted series that stands as the most promising of the three new medical series this season and arguably the show with the most long-term potential, period.
