CHICAGO – The funny meter of Netflix went off the scale last week, as the animated series “Chicago Party Aunt” made its debut on September 17th. What began as a Twitter account by comic actor Chris Witaske (who also provides his voice talent) has morphed into the cartoon adventures of Aunt Diane Dumbowski, her nephew Daniel, and an array of familiar Chicago-isms and characters.
Laura Dern
‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Turns Up the Volume
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 12, 2017 - 5:46pm Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Everything that could be thrown into the Stars Wars legend – and the official story – is present in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” With three concurrent stories converging into an amped-up climax, all manner of Star Wars-mania and fan satisfaction can be realized in Episode 8.
Michael Keaton is a Man with a Brand in ‘The Founder’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 19, 2017 - 8:52pm Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Michael Keaton is the real reason to see “The Founder” – it’s a movie that probably wouldn’t work at all without him. Keaton portrays Ray Kroc, the man who turned McDonald’s into a multinational fast food behemoth. But “The Founder” is an origin story of both the man and the brand…and Kroc is not the genius of American business he’s been made out to be.
Reese Witherspoon Takes a Tedious Trip Into the ‘Wild’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 5, 2014 - 12:33am Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – At times “Wild” resembles the hallucinatory fever dream of a dehydrated and delirious hiker (played by Reese Witherspoon), alone in the world. I only wish her fever dreams were more interesting for the rest of us.
‘When the Game Stands Tall’ a Sermonizing Snooze
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 22, 2014 - 7:05pmRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “When The Game Stands Tall” has more sermons than a month of Sundays. Its heart is in the right place, but it’s more likely to put its audience to sleep than bring it to its feet. By now the tropes of the inspirational sports drama have become as familiar as the West Coast Offense, but this film can’t effectively figure out how to execute them.
Tearjerking ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ is ‘The Notebook’ of This Decade
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on June 6, 2014 - 9:52amRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Sure, I’ll admit it. With so many new films to screen and review, I’ll choose the sci-fi action/thriller from the man behind the Bourne flicks over a movie that’s being called “the greatest romance story of this decade”.
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.
Stunning Ambition Drives P.T. Anderson’s ‘The Master’
Submitted by BrianTT on August 20, 2012 - 10:50am Rating: 5.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master” screened publicly last week in Chicago for only the second time in the world. It was shown in glorious 70mm, the format in which the film was shot, but in which most people will never get the chance to see it. While much of the conversation surrounding the screening seemed to hinge around the technical specifications, the increasing dearth of actual film projectors in the city, or the aspects of the plot related to Scientology, those aren’t the elements of the film that have been rolling around my head for the last four days.
Will Ferrell Seeks Recovery in ‘Everything Must Go’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 13, 2011 - 2:58pmRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Alcohol mixed with the American Dream sometimes becomes a destructive chemistry. With every individual’s reaction to ethyl alcohol like a fingerprint, the general image of the party animal can easily morph into what John Cheever called “The Sorrows of Gin.” These sorrows are explored through Will Ferrell in “Everything Must Go.”
Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller Seem Bored in Tepid ‘Little Fockers’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 22, 2010 - 11:27amRating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The Law of Diminishing Returns is alive and well in the “Meet the Parents” Franchise, as the third film in the series, “Little Fockers,” has a lazy, we-did-it-for-the-money veneer. They got the gang back together, Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Barbra Streisand and the rest, but with few exceptions they all seem bored with it all.
