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.
Walt Disney Studios
Interview, Audio: David Lowery, Writer & Director of ‘A Ghost Story’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 13, 2017 - 12:18pmCHICAGO – Not all supernatural tales are meant to scare, and writer/director David Lowery haunts in a different way with his new film, “A Ghost Story.” Using the classic “white sheet” costume, with actor Casey Affleck underneath it for most of the film, Lowery creates a spirit with both emotion and a contemplation of its fate.
Film Review: Johnny Depp Stays Afloat in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 26, 2017 - 4:13pmCHICAGO – The “Pirates Of The Caribbean” series has undergone a strange transformation over five films. The first film was better than any movie “based on a theme park ride” then it had any business being. But now in its fifth film voyage, “Dead Men Tell No Tales” bears a closer resemblance to the ride now more that ever.
Film Review: Flawless ‘Beauty and the Beast’ is a New Classic
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 16, 2017 - 3:41pmCHICAGO – Do not doubt the power of live action to create a new atmosphere of joy and…dare I say it…beauty. The re-imagining of the animated classic “Beauty and the Beast” is everything that the previous was and much more. It packs a true and emotional wallop that follows through to the end.
Film Review: Discover the 2017 Oscar Short Film Nominees
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 14, 2017 - 12:02pm- 2017
- Academy Awards
- Animation
- Blind Vaysha
- Borrowed Time
- Danish
- Ennemis Intérieurs
- French
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Las Femme et le TGV
- Live Action
- Magnolia Pictures
- Movie Review
- Oscar
- Patrick McDonald
- Pear Cider and Cigarettes
- Pearl
- Piper
- Short Films
- Shorts HD
- Silent Nights
- Sing
- Timecode
- Walt Disney Studios
CHICAGO – One of the more overlooked set of nominees at Academy Awards time is two categories for Best Short Film – Live Action and Animated. The 2017 nominees are packaged as two presentations that are currently screening in Chicago at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema.
Film Review: Strong Cast Turns on ‘The Light Between Oceans’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 2, 2016 - 1:30pmCHICAGO – In the early 1970s, “Love Story” was all the rage, with its catchphrase “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Just as sudsy, and with its own catchphrase, is “The Light Between the Oceans.” The film, set in the early 20th Century, salvages a by-the-numbers tale with fine performances.
Interview: Roger Ross Williams Creates a ‘Life, Animated’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 20, 2016 - 10:49amCHICAGO – The mystery of the particulars within an autistic mind is a theme in a new documentary, as a man named Owen Suskind is profiled through his personal breakthroughs using the animated films of the Walt Disney Studios. Director Roger Ross Williams introduces the unusual journey in the compelling “Life, Animated.”
Film Review: Sweetness & Light is the Character of ‘The BFG’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 1, 2016 - 11:09amCHICAGO – One observation…when ‘The BFG” was written in 1982 by iconic children’s author Roald Dahl, little did he know that acronyms would become the way we talk. When I first saw that title, I wondered what that “F” stood for. It’s “Friendly,” by the way, which is perfect for this film.
Film Review: ‘Finding Dory’ Essentially Finds Its Sweet Spot
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 16, 2016 - 3:10pmCHICAGO – Pixar’s sequel to its underwater animated tearjerker “Finding Nemo” isn’t quite in the same league, but “Finding Dory” is satisfying all the same. This time the story focuses on Marlin and Nemo’s forgetful friend Dory, as she searches for the family she can’t quite remember.
Film Review: ‘The Jungle Book’ is a Technical Marvel Missing Some Magic
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 15, 2016 - 7:59amCHICAGO – While Disney Studios’ new live action version of “The Jungle Book” is an improvement over the 1967 animated version, it’s more of a technical marvel than magical fable. And it’s unable to completely transcend the earlier version’s limitations.
Film Review: Shining Restoration of Jean Cocteau’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 9, 2016 - 9:54pmCHICAGO – One of the legendary films in cinema history is Jean Cocteau’s “La Belle et La Bete,” also known to generations as “Beauty and the Beast.” The restored re-release is touring the country, and in Chicago it’s currently at the Gene Siskel Film Center, and Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com will lead a discussion of the film there on Monday, April 11, 2016.