CHICAGO – If you’ve never seen the farcical ensemble theater chestnut “Noises Off,” you will see no better version than on the Steppenwolf Theatre stage, now at their northside Chicago venue through November 3rd. For tickets and details for this riotous theater experience, click NOISES OFF.
Joaquin Phoenix
Madness of Two! On-Air Film Review of ‘Joker: Foie á Deux’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 3, 2024 - 3:29pm Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on October 3rd, reviewing the film “Joker: Foie á Deux,” the sequel to the 2019 mega hit and featuring Lady Gaga. In theaters on October 4th.
Ere I Saw Nappy! On-Air Review of Joaquin Phoenix in ‘Napoleon’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 23, 2023 - 6:07pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on November 22nd, 2023, reviewing “Napoleon,” a biopic of Emperor Bonaparte, directed by Ridley Scott. In theaters on November 22nd, 2023.
Fear Factors! Audio Film Review of ‘Beau is Afraid’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 22, 2023 - 9:43am Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review for the new film from writer/director Ari Aster (“Hereditary,” “Midsummer”) … featuring Joaquin Phoenix … entitled “Beau is Afraid.” Currently in theaters, since April 21st.
Your Pal Uncle Joaquin! Audio Review of ‘C’mon C’mon’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 26, 2021 - 3:59pm Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review on “C’mon C’mon,” a departure for intense actor Joaquin Phoenix as a befuddled Uncle, directed by Mike Mills of the Oscar-winning “Beginners,” and in theaters beginning November 19th, 2021.
Stylish, Well Performed ‘You Were Never Really Here’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 15, 2018 - 8:38amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Actor Joaquin Phoenix almost solely specializes in portraying broken souls, but he also does it with such intensity that he adds necessary depth to those characters, to allow for their redemption. As a hit man for hire in the new film “You Were Never Really Here,” he again reaches beyond the darkness.
Deep Thoughts, Shallow Characters in ‘Irrational Man’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 24, 2015 - 4:32pm Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – At this point in his stellar career, what is fascinating about Woody Allen is basically what he thinks about. He is a successful, family-stable, millionaire filmmaker with mortality issues. In “Irrational Man,” he ponders the existential question of “what lights the spark of life?”
Beyond Being Trippy, ‘Inherent Vice’ is a Difficult Trip
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 9, 2015 - 10:18amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Interpreting the ambling and sonic prose of author Thomas Pynchon has eluded filmmakers until now. Director Paul Thomas Anderson takes a whack at “Inherent Vice,” and although much of the film has his usual eminent vision, as a whole it makes for difficult sledding.
Dark, Stunning Tale of American Dream in ‘The Immigrant’
Submitted by NickHC on May 24, 2014 - 1:27pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Just in time for a national holiday is the release of two films about surviving as “the outsider” in a tumultuous American society. “X-Men: Days of Future Past” isn’t the only movie that opines about how the outsider will survive in America, but James Gray’s “The Immigrant” does too, a film that takes the story of a Polish woman traveling through the course of Ellis Island and deconstructs her tale as an American nightmare.
Spike Jonze’s ‘Her’ is Masterful Commentary on Connection
Submitted by BrianTT on December 19, 2013 - 2:09pmRating: 5.0/5.0 |
How do we connect with other people? Why do we often push away those we need and stay with those we don’t? Why do we hold on to relationships long after they have stopped working? Is a physical relationship with no intellectual or emotional component somehow more valuable than one that can never be person-to-person but engages on a deeper level? And how do the ways we deal with love and loss impact the way we look at the rest of the world?
Meandering ‘The Master’ Serves Up Powerful After Effects
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 20, 2012 - 5:20pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – ‘The Master’ is the type of film that invites days of contemplation. It is a film about America, but only a certain type of American. It is a film about the need to belong, but in the end it separates all its characters away from each other. Lead actors Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix radicalize writer/director P.T. Anderson’s strange alchemy.
