CHICAGO – In anticipation of the scariest week of the year, HollywoodChicago.com launches its 2024 Movie Gifts series, which will suggest DVDs and collections for holiday giving.
Jennifer Ehle
Launching a Movement! On-Air Film Review of ‘She Said’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 18, 2022 - 9:38pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on November 17th, 2022, reviewing “She Said,” about the New York Times breaking the Harvey Weinstein case that launched #MeToo, in theaters on November 18th.
‘Vox Lux’ is a Visually Stark Metaphor for a Lost Cause
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 12, 2018 - 4:37pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – In the frozen emotional landscape of America, where mass shootings have become as regular as the sunrise, what better symbol for this madness is there than a pop star? Natalie Portman is that singer in “Vox Lux,” a victim and a perpetrator in the sin of mass death, and the soundtrack of gunfire.
Excellent ‘Little Men’ Exposes Humanity Disrupted
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 6, 2016 - 3:29pmRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Deep down, because of our profound connection to what makes us human, we attempt to interpret the doing of the right thing. But in a society of property, somebody lives on it and somebody is run off it. This theme, combined with an adolescent friendship, emerge in “Little Men.”
Beneath its Curious Surface, ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ a Dangerous Menace to Society
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on February 14, 2015 - 3:01pm- Adam Fendelman
- Callum Keith Rennie
- Dakota Johnson
- Dana Brunetti
- Dylan Neal
- E.L. James
- Eloise Mumford
- Fifty Shades of Grey
- Focus Features
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Jamie Dornan
- Jennifer Ehle
- Kelly Marcel
- Luke Grimes
- Marcia Gay Harden
- Max Martini
- Michael De Luca
- Movie Review
- Rita Ora
- Sam Taylor-Johnson
- Universal Pictures
- Victor Rasuk
Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Strike one of far too many: “Fifty Shades of Grey” author Erika Leonard (better known as E.L. James) has never lived the BDSM lifestyle. And therefore, nor should she be writing about, romanticizing and profiteering on it. On a $40 million budget, the film earned $30.2 million on its opening Friday and is on track for a record-breaking international weekend grab of $158 million.
‘RoboCop’ Reboot Lacks Fun Factor, Fearful Villain
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on February 13, 2014 - 11:22pmRating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – You get the sense that a writer for the new “RoboCop” felt very proud of himself when he coined the cheeky word “robophobic” as a play on a current cultural hot button. The Samuel L. Jackson moment of self-fulfilled glory reminded me of the rest of the plot that was missing.
‘Zero Dark Thirty’ Turns CIA Procedural Into Riveting Thriller
Submitted by BrianTT on December 10, 2012 - 10:21amRating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Kathryn Bigelow opens her stunning “Zero Dark Thirty” with a date and a series of voice mail recordings. The date is, of course, September 11, 2001 and the recordings are the ghosts of the people who died that day, perfectly setting the stakes for the story to come – the hunt for and capture of Osama Bin Laden.
Steven Soderbergh’s Riveting ‘Contagion’ With Matt Damon
Submitted by BrianTT on September 8, 2011 - 9:01amRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – A few weeks ago saw the release of the R-rated “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” a gore-free creature feature that was given the MPAA stamp of 17-plus due to “pervasive scariness.” This week sees the PG-13-rated “Contagion,” a film SO much more pervasively scary than the movie about goblins in a distant mansion because, well, it’s about the fact that the world is pervasively scary.