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+.
Tom Hanks
Blu-Ray Review: Sapphire Series Release of ‘Saving Private Ryan’
Submitted by BrianTT on May 10, 2010 - 9:55pmCHICAGO – One of the reasons that Blu-ray hasn’t taken over like so many of the technology’s early adopters hoped that it would is that a lot of the films that drove the success of standard DVD weren’t available on the format. It has taken time for early DVD hits like “The Matrix” and even “The Lord of the Rings” to come out in HD. When people buy a Blu-ray machine, they want to be able to get their favorite films right away. Now they can add another long-wanted option to the first-day-purchase list with “Saving Private Ryan”.
Blu-Ray Review: Universal Catalog Titles ‘Apollo 13,’ ‘Dune,’ ‘Traffic’
Submitted by BrianTT on April 13, 2010 - 2:03pmCHICAGO – Universal Home Video is releasing an impressive wave of catalog titles in HD for the first time this month and we have a preview of them just for you, including a great 15th Anniversary Edition of “Apollo 13,” and HD transfers of four movies that have little in common but the studio that released them: “Dune,” “The Jackal,” “Out of Africa,” and “Traffic”.
Blu-Ray Review: ‘Toy Story’ Films Released in Advance of ‘Toy Story 3’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 25, 2010 - 4:46pmCHICAGO – If you don’t at least like the “Toy Story” movies, you’re probably kind of a jerk. Personally, I adore them both and have seen them multiple times on DVD; the standard go-to when babysitting nieces and nephews. And yet watching them again in glorious Disney HD, they still felt new. I’m blinded by love for Pixar, but these are must-owns for anyone with a Blu-ray player.
TV Review: Everyone Should Watch Masterful ‘The Pacific’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 14, 2010 - 10:16amCHICAGO – I must admit to some trepidation about HBO’s WWII mini-series “The Pacific” from producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, debuting tonight, March 14th, 2010 at 8pm CST. Why? Because “Band of Brothers” is the best mini-series of all time and it’s difficult for anyone to pitch a perfect game two starts in a row. I knew it would be good, but doubted it would be great. I was wrong. It’s spectacular.
Blu-Ray Review: Wordy ‘Angels & Demons’ Fails to Illuminate
Submitted by BrianTT on December 2, 2009 - 8:45pmCHICAGO – Give Ron Howard an intimate character study like “Frost/Nixon,” and he’ll knock it out of the park. Give him a sprawling plot-driven thriller like…well, let’s face it: anything written by Dan Brown, and he’ll be consumed by the enormity of his subject. Yet while Howard’s “The Da Vinci Code,” failed on a human level, it did succeed in highlighting the tantalizing questions raised by Brown’s text, particularly the implications of historical distortion throughout the centuries. When the characters were allowed to simply analyze the story’s inherent mysteries, the film took flight.
Tom Hanks, Ron Howard Misfire With Ridiculous ‘Angels & Demons’
Submitted by BrianTT on May 15, 2009 - 10:34amRating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Ron Howard’s “Angels & Demons,” the sequel to “The Da Vinci Code,” is an absolute mess, a film that tries hard to break free from the dull tone of its predecessor but ends up even more ridiculous, frustrating and generally worthless.
Blu-Ray Review: Catch Up With Dan Brown’s World in ‘The Da Vinci Code’
Submitted by BrianTT on May 1, 2009 - 2:52pmBlu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – One of the biggest movies of the summer is sure to be Ron Howard’s “Angels & Demons,” the sequel to 2006’s massively successful “The Da Vinci Code,” a Tom Hanks film that left most critics cold but ended up making a stunning quarter-of-a-billion dollars worldwide by the time its theatrical run ended. Before you talk to the “Angels & Demons,” catch up on your mythology with “The Da Vinci Code: 2-Disc Extended Cut” on Blu-Ray.
Slideshow: 17-Image Gallery From Ron Howard’s ‘Angels & Demons’ With Tom Hanks
Submitted by BrianTT on April 27, 2009 - 10:29amCHICAGO – This 17-image slideshow contains the official press images from Sony’s “Angels & Demons,” starring Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgard, Pierfrancesco Favino, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, and Armin Mueller-Stahl. The film, written by David Koepp and Akiva Goldsman based on the novel by Dan Brown and directed by Ron Howard, opens on May 15th, 2009.
Slideshow: 39-Image Gallery For ‘We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial’
Submitted by BrianTT on January 19, 2009 - 12:09pmCHICAGO – This 39-image slideshow contains a selection of official press images from HBO’s “We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial,” which took place on Sunday, January 18th, 2009 in Washington, DC.
Sean Penn’s Oscar-Possible Harvey Milk Puts Face to Gay Rights in ‘Milk’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on November 27, 2008 - 11:39amCHICAGO – Just as Tom Hanks put a face to AIDS in 1993’s “Philadelphia,” Sean Penn has now put a face to gay rights as Harvey Milk in the new Gus Van Sant true-story film “Milk”.