Walt Disney Pictures

CHICAGO – The Guardians of the Galaxy have lost some of their freshness over the years. They’re no long the scrappy obscurities who came out of nowhere to deliver one of the more idiosyncratic and enjoyable adventures in the Marvel Cinema Universe. But while familiarity has taken some of the elements of surprise, they’re still an agreeable bunch to watch.

CHICAGO – Ant-Man gets supersized in this agreeable Marvel Studios movie, which pits our tiny hero against his most formidable foe yet. While the first two Ant-Man movies were largely comic detours where the bug sized superhero carved a small but charming place in the larger universe, the third Ant-Man and the Wasp film puts him squarely at the center of the next phase of Marvel moviemaking.

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review for “The Menu,” featuring Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy in a social satire about a Chef and his unique multi-course meal plan, in theaters on November 18th.

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on July 7th, reviewing “Thor: Love and Thunder,” the continuing Marvel Universe adventures of the God of Thunder, opening everywhere on July 8th.

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on The Eddie Volkman Show with Hannah B on WSSR-FM (Star 96.7 Joliet, Illinois) on May 20th, 2022, reviewing the new release, “Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers,” a reboot of the late 1980s/‘90s cartoon series featuring gumshoe chipmunks, streaming on Disney+ beginning May 20th.

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on July 8th, 2021, reviewing the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Black Widow,” in theaters and streaming on Disney+ Premium Access on July 9th.

CHICAGO – “The Call Of The Wild” is an old fashioned story with some expensive and unnecessary technological upgrades. Foregoing man’s best friend in reality, the film replaces the featured dog with an entirely digital creation … which I can’t say was an improvement.

CHICAGO – The latest tendency of Walt Disney Pictures to make live action remakes of their classic cartoons should have stopped at “Jungle Book” and “Beauty and the Beast.” The last three, “Dumbo,” “Aladdin” and now “The Lion King” subtract from their source cartoons, and the King is downright weird.

CHICAGO – Kumail Nanjiani is reaching the next level of stardom. Recently, he was the best thing in the rebooted “MIB: International” (as a cartoon sprite), and now he is the only reason to indulge in “Stuber.” Kumail portrays a nervy UBER driver named Stu (get it?), and upholds everything about the buddy movie that is enjoyable. The rest of it, including his buddy Dave Bautista, land with a dull thud.

CHICAGO – When you’ve brought to life one of the greatest animation series ever produced, there is not much to prove. The “Toy Story” series has relied on the strong and emotional stories since 1995, and after a nine year break comes back for one more intriguing spin for their characters, finding a new path in “Toy Story 4.”