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.
NASA
Podtalk: Michael P. Nash on Updated Issues from HIs 2010 Film ‘Climate Refugees’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 20, 2024 - 7:27amCHICAGO – Michael P. Nash is a filmmaker on a mission. As searing heat bakes the country this summer, with extreme weather like severe tornadoes and the recent Galveston floods in its wake, the realities in Nash’s prescient 2010 documentary “Climate Refugees” is coming to our own shores.
Audio Film Review: Blast-Off From the Past in ‘Fly Me to the Moon’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 11, 2024 - 4:51amCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review for “Fly Me the Moon,” an alternative history satire about the Apollo 11 first-msn-on-the-moon mission, featuring Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum and Woody Harrelson. In theaters on July 12th.
On-Air Film Review: Ground Control to Major Release in 'I.S.S.'
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 19, 2024 - 9:21pmCHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on January 18th, 2024, reviewing “I.S.S.,” a story of intrigue and skullduggery … in spaaaaaaaace! In theaters on January 19th.!—break—>
Film Review: 'First Man' is Reverential to Moon Landing Mission
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 12, 2018 - 3:34pmCHICAGO – There were several “firsts” for humankind in our civilization and technology breakthroughs, but until 1969 no person had even stepped on a planetary surface other than on earth. Neil Armstrong was that man, and he is portrayed by Ryan Gosling in a respectful overview of that Apollo 11 mission in “First Man.”
Film Review: Brainiac Fulfillment is the Key to ‘Hidden Figures’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 25, 2016 - 10:03amCHICAGO – In America, there is the history we have, and the history that we want to have happened. “Hidden Figures” falls into the second category, but it’s presented in such a way that it fulfills the goal – tell an amazing story about a group of African American women who helped launch men into space.
Exclusive Red-Carpet Portraits: Taraji P. Henson at 52nd Chicago International Film Festival
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 26, 2016 - 8:47pmCHICAGO – Popular actress Taraji P. Henson (“Hustle & Flow,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) was showcased at the 52nd Chicago International Film Festival on October 23rd, 2016, as she walked the Red Carpet and presented highlights from her upcoming film, “Hidden Figures.”
Film Review: Entertaining ‘The Martian’ is a Hollywood Space Opera
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 5, 2015 - 1:52pmCHICAGO – It’s all based on science, they told us! “The Martian” is an old fashion feel-good movie about the hard working astronauts and scientists of the good old American space program, trying to rescue a stranded spaceman from Mars, aided by a brave cast of astro-colleagues.
Film Review: Chilling, Creepy ‘Apollo 18’ Makes Us Wonder What If
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 2, 2011 - 6:15pmCHICAGO – Space, the final frontier. The USA made one giant leap for mankind during the Apollo moon landing program forty years ago. Why were the missions abruptly terminated? Why haven’t they gone back? “Apollo 18” theorizes on the answers.