IFC Films

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 – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on August 13th, 2020, reviewing the new films (VOD, virtual theaters online, actual theaters) “Sputnik” and “Red Penguins.”

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on July 23rd, 2020, reviewing the new Video-On-Demand film “The Rental” and the infamous 2019 film, “Cats” (Digital & DVD).

CHICAGO – The “star is born” expression is not to be used lightly, yet it absolutely applies to the performance of Aisling Franciosi (Lyanna Stark in “Game of Thrones”) in the role of Clare for “The Nightingale.” As a late 19th Century woman with nothing to lose, she suffers an emotional death, a survival rebirth and humanist hope.

CHICAGO – Some extraordinary local and outside talent coordinated to produce the film “An Acceptable Loss” in 2018, including featured stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Tika Sumpter (“Southside with You”). Producer Colleen Griffen and writer/director Joe Chappelle, who hail from Chicagoland, helped to create this passionate thriller, with echoes of paranoid government oversight films like “All the President’s Men” and the recent “Vice.” The Midwest Independent Film Festival has made “An Acceptable Loss” the kickoff film for their 2019 season. Click here for tickets and details.

CHICAGO – With director Lars von Trier, who is a mad f**king genius of a filmmaker, it’s always make or break (or both). He breaks in his latest, “The House That Jack Built” which is all too much of evil everything, until it morphs into a last act that has an intriguing and unsettling sense of weird purpose. The story of a serial killer and the meticulous realizations of his killings is like a sound meter that is constantly going into the red zone, until the damn thing shatters.

CHICAGO – DAY SEVEN of the 54th Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) on Tuesday, October 16th, 2018, and features a tribute to the amazing young actress Carey Mulligan (“Drive,” “The Great Gatsby”), the must-see movie “Diane” and four films in the Documentary group.

CHICAGO – If you want a film to take your mind off the current American power structure, that at the same time provides some truth to the situation, you won’t do better than “The Death of Stalin.” A monster comedic cast – including Steve Buscemi and Jeffrey Tambor – is assembled for this hilarious farce.

CHICAGO – I’ve had a deep fascination with ghost stories since I was a kid. There is something both interesting and terrifying knowing that there are often unseen forces we could be encountering in our everyday life. Olivier Assayas creates an unexplainable phantasm thriller in “Personal Shopper” that remains completely captivating throughout even if you don’t understand what you just experienced.

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 pairs of advance-screening movie passes up for grabs to the new Cannes Film Festival hit film “Personal Shopper” starring Kristen Stewart!