Jimmi Simpson

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review for the first feature film debut from writer/director Laurel Parmet … set in a fundamentalist Christian community in Kentucky … entitled “The Starling Girl.” In select theaters beginning May 19th, see local listings.

CHICAGO – America is at a boiling point. The pandemic, the election, the divisiveness and general atmosphere has reformulated us in many profound ways. Director Derrick Borte explores those themes in the new release “Unhinged,” which also has the distinction of being the first film to be distributed to all open nationwide theaters on Friday, August 21st.

CHICAGO – How could a movie in which the President shoots a rocket from the back of a limousine during a car chase on the White House lawn possibly be boring? Roland Emmerich somehow finds a way in the numbing “White House Down,” a movie that make absolutely no sense but fails to entertain as B-movie escapism (as his movies sometimes have in the past).

CHICAGO – In this new film, don’t describe the 16th U.S. President as “The Great Emancipator,” call him “The Great Kick-Ass-ipator.” In this high concept romp, the President who presided over the Civil War is now winning it single-handedly by fighting his demons in “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter.”

CHICAGO – “Date Night” is one of the few word-of-mouth hits of 2010; a film that started off reasonably well at the box office but hung around the top ten for months after its release, turning it into an undeniable comedy success. The comedy starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey opened in second place but dropped so slowly that it almost made $100 million (a huge amount for a movie like this one and plus another $50 million internationally). The movie’s loyal fans will love the excellent Blu-ray release from 20th Century Fox.