Britain

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on December 8th, 2022, reviewing “Empire of Light,” the latest from director Sam Mendes, about a memory of the cinema. Currently In theaters.

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 11th, 2021, reviewing the new film “The Father,” in theaters on March 12th and available through Video-On-Demand March 26th.

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on January 28th, 2021, reviewing the new film “The Dig,” streaming on Netflix beginning January 29th, 2021, PLUS a preview of the virtual and online Sundance Film Festival.

CHICAGO – His first film in 2011 was classic independent cinema. “Martha Marcy May Marlene” put writer/director Sean Durkin on the map, and now nine years later he has a new film, “The Nest,” which features Jude Law against type as a go-go 1980s financial guru who is trying to balance a career and family. The film releases in theaters on September 18th.

CHICAGO – These are strange and isolating times for everyone. As someone who thrives on covering concerts, during the pandemic I sometimes feel like a part of me is missing. Luckily, one recent quarantine phenomenon that has helped me and other live music addicts fill the void is the surge of live online performances.

CHICAGO – When we last saw Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones together, they were portraying husband and wife in the Stephen Hawking bio “The Theory of Everything.” Now they are 19th Century high-flying hot air balloonists in “The Aeronauts,” opening December 6th, 2019, and directed by Tom Harper.

CHICAGO – Finding joy for many people is rooted in music, and nothing expresses that joy like the love of a particular artist. Bruce Springsteen is the rocker that helps a British immigrant through some hard times in the new film “Blinded by the Light,” and the beneficiary of that joy is portrayed by Viveik Kaira.

CHICAGO – One of the roots of the sexual revolution in America was World War II (as it was the roots of many social movements). The stakes of life and death in an instant motivates the softest of puppy love to passion. “The Aftermath” takes that time honored emotional intensity into a right-after-the-war romance.

CHICAGO – The First World War took place (1914-18) in conjunction with the early days of film, with enough cameras available to actually capture it. For years, that dusty and silent celluloid was used in documentaries, but never has it come to life the way that director Peter Jackson presents it in “They Shall Not Grow Old.”

CHICAGO – The story of a drop-out rock and roll star… usually disappearing at the height of their fame… has fascinated the movies in both fiction (“Eddie and the Cruisers”) and documentary (“Waiting for Sugarman”). “Juliet, Naked” takes the premise and creates a charming, romantic story about fandom and redemptive decisions.