CHICAGO – It began with a boy and his dream (nightmare?). John LaFlamboy, to be exact, as he took an idea he had in college and made it his life’s work. He owns and operates the HellsGate Haunted House in Lockport (Illinois), which was designed, built and put together by Haunted House experts expressly for the spookiest month of the year. For info on how to purchase tickets, click HellsGate.
Albert Brooks
‘The Secret Life of Pets’ Neuters Promising Cast
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 8, 2016 - 7:31am- Albert Brooks
- Bobby Moynihan
- brian lynch
- chris renaud
- Cinco Paul
- Dana Carvey
- Ellie Kemper
- eric stonestreet
- Hannibal Buress
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Jenny Slate
- Ken Daurio
- Kevin Hart
- Lake Bell
- Louis C.K.
- Movie Review
- Spike Walters
- Steve Coogan
- The Secret Life of Pets
- Universal Pictures
- yarrow cheney
 Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – A promising voice cast of comedy greats is effectively neutered in the blasé animated family film “The Secret Life Of Pets.” It doesn’t have the multi-layered story of the best Pixar movies – or even the “Despicable Me” films – to satisfy both kids and grownups. The bigger it tries to be, the more exhausted it seems.
‘Finding Dory’ Essentially Finds Its Sweet Spot
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 16, 2016 - 3:06pm Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – 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.
‘Concussion’ Can’t Quite Tackle its Difficult Subject
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 25, 2015 - 6:53amRating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Concussion” suffers from what I call the “Moneyball” problem – it’s got an interesting subject matter, but it doesn’t seem to know what to do with it. It doesn’t have enough faith in its own material or its audience, so it stocks up on a lot of off-the-shelf melodrama in effort to avoid digging into what makes the story interesting in the first place. It’s also a movie that chickens out at the end and seems afraid to pick a fight.
Jessica Chastain, Oscar Isaac Endure ‘A Most Violent Year’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 17, 2015 - 10:20am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The effect of violence, centering on the roughest statistical year for it (1981) in New York City history, becomes a flashpoint for the way business has always been done. If someone isn’t intimidating their competitor with lawyers or shady marketing practices, a few hired goons can do the trick. Oscar Isaac takes the beating, both real and metaphorical, in writer/director J.C. Chandor’s “A Most Violent Year.”
Judd Apatow’s ‘This is 40’ Clutters Truth with Cliché
Submitted by BrianTT on December 20, 2012 - 2:01pm Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Judd Apatow’s “This is 40” is a true disappointment, a comedy that purports to say something honest and insightful about approaching middle age in the ‘10s but blurs truth by smothering it in contrivance and cliché. Strong work from Leslie Mann and Albert Brooks rescue the project from complete disaster but the largely-unfunny and almost entirely disingenuous script mark this as the talented Apatow’s most notable misfire.
Ryan Gosling Stars in Instant Classic ‘Drive’
Submitted by BrianTT on September 15, 2011 - 7:49pm Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Nicholas Winding Refn’s “Drive” is an amazing thriller, a modern examination of heroism filtered through the fairy tale culture of the underbelly of the movie machine that is easily one of the most memorable and effective films of not just this year but the last several.
