Cate Blanchett

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on The Eddie Volkman Show on WSSR-FM (Star 96.7 Joliet, Illinois) on December 30th, 2021, reviewing the new Adam McKay film satire “Don’t Look Up,” currently streaming on Netflix.

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on December 16th, 2021, reviewing the film noir remake of “Nightmare Alley,’ directed by Guillermo del Toro, in theaters on December 17th, 2021.


CHICAGO – When the world broke open during the historic #MeToo entertainment industry scandal, the incidents were simply the tip of the gigantic iceberg. “This Changes Everything” goes deeper behind the subject of women in film, to expose a system in show business that has consistently lacked in opportunities for female filmmakers and production workers. The historic Wilmette (Illinois) Theatre will screen the documentary as part of a Women Filmmaker Celebration on September 13th, 2019 (7pm), with a panel discussion moderated by Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com. For more details and tickets, click here.

CHICAGO – There is something so lovely about a film that unfolds slowly, until the moment occurs when a multi-layered story occurrence takes the breath away. “Where’d You Go, Bernadette” is such a film, portrayed with a magic subtlety by Cate Blanchett, one of the finest film actors working. She lives a life that is broken, but not in ways we suspect.

CHICAGO –All fiery things must come to an extinguishing point, and the “How to Train Your Dragon” animated film series concludes with its third entry, subtitled “Hidden World.” To finish things up the creators turn on the Dragon power, there are literally thousands of them flamed up and ready to go.

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.”

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 40 pairs of advance-screening IMAX movie passes up for grabs to the new film “The House with a Clock in Its Walls” starring Cate Blanchett and Jack Black!

CHICAGO – In “Ocean’s 8,” a diamond necklace at the Met Gala isn’t the only thing getting ripped off. This all female knock off provides a reasonable facsimile of a facsimile of the original’s suave swagger, but doesn’t have anything else to go on. “Oceans 11” is a movie that never should have gotten a sequel, much less become some kind of a franchise.

CHICAGO – Any blacksmith will tell you that their job is much more than the brute action of slamming a hammer onto steel. There is some finessing and an attention to detail that needs to take place in order to make something truly notable. With Taika Waititi manning the hammer, he takes the “Thor” franchise out from the Dark Ages and into the technicolor light.

CHICAGO – I’ve been quoting Martin Scorsese over the years, that he said “movies are a psychotic’s feverish dream on display.” In searching for those words, I found he never said it. He did say they are “dreams with eyes open.” So let us combine the two quotes in analyzing Terence Malick’s “Knight of Cups.”