CHICAGO – Excelsior! Comic book legend Stan Lee’s famous exclamation puts a fine point on the third and final play of Mark Pracht’s FOUR COLOR TRILOGY, “The House of Ideas,” presented by and staged at City Lit Theater in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. For tickets/details, click HOUSE OF IDEAS.
Matthew McConaughey
Film Feature: The Best Supporting Performances of 2012
Submitted by BrianTT on December 14, 2012 - 11:10amCHICAGO – A mother trying to protect her son from an assassin, a man who coordinates lap dances for a living, a woman whose dreams have died, a gambler betting on his son, and two people at the heart of Abraham Lincoln’s fight to end slavery and the Civil War — 2012 certainly offered a wide array of memorable supporting characters in motion pictures.
Blu-ray Review: ‘Magic Mike’ May Not Be What You’re Expecting
Submitted by BrianTT on November 6, 2012 - 9:55pmCHICAGO – Warner Bros. advertised Steven Soderbergh’s “Magic Mike” as a non-stop beefcake show, the equivalent of “Showgirls” for the ladies. It’s not quite that. In fact, the film is more drama than most people expected when it was advertised as little more than a skin parade. Even with that in mind, Warner Bros. knows their target audience and have cleverly put together a Blu-ray release designed to appeal to bachelorette parties too embarrassed to see the movie in theaters.
Film Review: Nicole Kidman is Unique in Fluttery ‘The Paperboy’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 5, 2012 - 2:42pmCHICAGO – With all the steamy heat, and the thick, gluey southern accents from mostly non-southern actors, the audience for “The Paperboy” might need to wear lawyer-like suspenders and flap a funeral home fan to take it all in. The sweaty new film features Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey and John Cusack, all chewing the scenery.
Blu-ray Review: Jack Black in Richard Linklater’s Clever ‘Bernie’
Submitted by BrianTT on August 29, 2012 - 4:02pmCHICAGO – Richard Linklater’s “Bernie” is one of those unusual stories that is so bizarre that it has to be true. It is the saga of Bernie Tiede (Jack Black), a closeted, affable mortician who befriended an irascible, cranky woman named Majorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine). After years of psychological abuse, he shot her in the back and stored her in the freezer in their garage. As he does with all of his projects, Linklater approaches this true story from a unique, entertaining angle. He’s simply one of our best living filmmakers and “Bernie” is merely further proof.
Film Review: Matthew McConaughey Delivers in Searing ‘Killer Joe’
Submitted by BrianTT on August 2, 2012 - 10:05amCHICAGO – William Friedkin’s film of Tracy Letts’ “Killer Joe” takes no prisoners. One of the central characters is introduced from the waist down and to say that the film climaxes in violent, sexual oddity would be like saying “The Avengers” features a few superheroes. However, it would be a mistake to allow the controversy or the shock value to become the story of this excellent noir comedy that takes black humor to a new level of darkness.
Interview: Pulitzer Prize Winner Tracy Letts Unleashes ‘Killer Joe’
Submitted by BrianTT on July 30, 2012 - 12:54pmCHICAGO – Now that I’ve seen William Friedkin’s stunning adaptation of Tracy Letts’ “Killer Joe” with Matthew McConaughey and Juno Temple, I can only imagine what it must have been like to experience its intensity in a small theater in Evanston nearly twenty years ago.
HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 30 Pairs of Passes to ‘Killer Joe’ (NC-17) With Matthew McConaughey
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on July 25, 2012 - 4:40pmCHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 30 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the advance screening of “Killer Joe” (rated “NC-17”) starring Matthew McConaughey and Emile Hirsch from playwright Tracy Letts!
Film Review: Channing Tatum Reveals the Male Stripper in ‘Magic Mike’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 29, 2012 - 9:22amCHICAGO – It turns out that Channing Tatum did a bit of male stripping on the way up the show business ladder, which adds some spice and verisimilitude to “Magic Mike,” a backstage tale about the masculine side of theatrical disrobing, supported by Matthew McConaughey and Alex Pettyfer.
Film Review: Tour de Force for Jack Black in Fact-Based ‘Bernie’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 18, 2012 - 5:34pmCHICAGO – Jack Black is a smart and interesting actor. Not content to ride on the modern day John Belushi-type roles that might have pigeonholed him, Black portrays “Bernie,” a convincing conniver in Texas, based on a true story. Veterans Matthew McConaughhey and Shirley MacLaine add spice to the brew.
TV Review: HBO’s ‘Eastbound & Down,’ ‘Life’s Too Short’ Offer Unique Takes on Comedy
Submitted by BrianTT on February 19, 2012 - 9:54amCHICAGO – HBO brings back a few of their most larger-than-life personalities with the third (and final) season premiere of “Eastbound & Down” and the stateside premiere of “Life’s Too Short.”