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+.
Jewish
Film Review: Strange Story of ‘Disobedience’ is Constant Distraction
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 9, 2018 - 10:26amCHICAGO – The director Sebastían Lelio is no stranger to oddball human stories. His 2017 film, “A Fantastic Woman” – the Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film – was a one-of-a-kind but amazingly poignant story of identity. His latest, “Disobedience,” mines the same human territory with lesser results.
Film Review: Individualism in ‘Menashe’ Challenges the Tribe
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 15, 2017 - 11:13amCHICAGO – We all belong to something, be it a family, workplace, congregation or (expansively) a tribe. But within all that belonging is a sometimes nagging feeling of being an outsider. There is not a human being in existence that hasn’t felt that way, and a new film expresses that feeling in “Menashe.”
Film Review: Jessica Chastain is Steadfast as ‘The Zookeeper’s Wife’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 4, 2017 - 4:35pmCHICAGO – Jessica Chastain is a memorable and glamorous actress, who continues to challenge herself with in-depth and complex roles. “The Zookeeper’s Wife” is her latest, and her performance outweighs the formulaic based-on-truth story, set during the Holocaust.
Film News: Spertus Institute’s Sunday Cinema Series Concludes on Feb. 19, 2017
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 18, 2017 - 5:55pmCHICAGO – The Spertus Institute, Chicago’s leading center for Jewish learning and leadership, concludes a two-month film series at their downtown location, featuring a documentary entitled “Torah Treasures and Curious Trash,” preceded by the short film “Hannah Cohen’s First Communion.” The screenings begin at 2pm within the Institute’s Feinberg Theater, located at 610 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago…click here for more details.
Film Review: Searing Performances Invigorate ‘Walking with the Enemy’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 26, 2014 - 12:23pmCHICAGO – In movie land, the World War II Holocaust drama has been more personal – and in many ways more horrific – in our modern era. The latest film to tell a different story, from a different angle, is director Mark Schmidt’s “Walking with the Enemy.”
Interview: Jonas Armstrong, Simon Dutton are ‘Walking with the Enemy’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 23, 2014 - 11:00pmCHICAGO – World War II will never be over, in a sense, as long as it continues to influence the culture or teach us lessons about our contemporary lives. The new film “Walking with the Enemy” is rooted in the Holocaust, but uses the twist of a Hungarian Jew who brashly impersonated a Nazi officer to relocate his counterparts.
Film Review: An Insider’s View of Religious Tradition in ‘Fill the Void’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 17, 2013 - 2:14pmCHICAGO – The absolution of marriage is difficult enough without having the specter of the “arranged” situation within a religious tradition. A new Israeli film, “Fill the Void,” explores the issues and answers within these arrangements, as the modern world pushes against Orthodox Hasidic Judaism.
Interview: Michael Stuhlbarg’s Passion in Joel, Ethan Coen’s ‘A Serious Man’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 7, 2009 - 8:54amCHICAGO – In “A Serious Man,” the remarkable new film by Joel and Ethan Coen, Michael Stuhlbarg carries the narrative weight through his amazing performance as Larry Gopnik, the put-upon victim of a series of odd and desperate circumstances.