CHICAGO – Society, or at least certain elements of society, are always looking for scapegoats to hide the sins of themselves and authority. In the so-called “great America” of the 1950s, the scapegoat target was comic books … specifically through a sociological study called “The Seduction of the Innocent.” City Lit Theater Company, in part two of a trilogy on comic culture by Mark Pracht, presents “The Innocence of Seduction … now through October 8th, 2023. For details and tickets, click COMIC BOOK.
Ron Livingston
Slice of Life! On-Air Review of ‘Sitting in Bars with Cake’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 9, 2023 - 10:57am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on September 7th, 2023, reviewing “Sitting in Bars with Cake,” an adaptation of a cookbook memoir by Audrey Shulman. In theaters on September 8th.
‘The Flash’ Makes a Splash with a Literal Dash
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 16, 2023 - 12:25amRating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – It amazes me to say it but with “The Flash” the DC cinematic universe has managed to actually make a movie that’s fun, for at least a little while. Even previously heralded DC movies like “Wonder Woman” left me cold with their incessant insistence on bludgeoning the audience with digital destruction.
Charlize Theron in ‘Tully’ Turns Mom Into Martyr
Submitted by PatrickMcD on May 5, 2018 - 6:44am Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Tully” is a deeply weird motherhood fantasy snuck inside the friendly-but-distancing screenwriting constructs of another pseudo ironic story by Diablo Cody. Charlize Theron plays Margo, a mother of two kids with a third due any day, struggling with the sacrifices she’s made for motherhood.
‘The 5th Wave’ Crashes, Then Slowly Dissipates
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 22, 2016 - 7:51pm Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Is there ever an end to the Young Adult Dystopia genre (“Hunger Games,” “Maze Runner,” etc.)? Or are we cursed with the end of the world every year, if it weren’t for those meddling kids? “The 5th Wave” is the latest adaptation, and if you haven’t read the source novel, good luck following it.
Tartan Prancer – Yes, a Fictional Albanian Car – Steals the Otherwise Borrowed Show in ‘Vacation’
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on July 28, 2015 - 4:35pm- Adam Fendelman
- Beverly D'Angelo
- Charlie Day
- Chevy Chase
- Chris Hemsworth
- Christina Applegate
- Ed Helms
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- John Francis Daley
- Jonathan M. Goldstein
- Kaitlin Olson
- Keegan-Michael Key
- Leslie Mann
- Michael Pena
- Movie Review
- National Lampoon's Vacation
- Nick Kroll
- Norman Reedus
- Regina Hall
- Ron Livingston
- Skyler Gisondo
- Steele Stebbins
- Tim Heidecker
- Vacation
Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Retreads from classics are often as weary as having to write that they are almost never as good as the original. And here we go again with the Ed Helms-led “Vacation,” which fails to capitalize on the beloved Chevy Chase film “National Lampoon’s Vacation” from 1983.
‘Parkland’ Starkly Recreates November 22, 1963
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 4, 2013 - 5:39pm Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – It’s been close to 50 years since 11/22/1963, the day when a certain American innocence was lost with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In time for that anniversary, is the excellent film overview entitled “Parkland.”
Olivia Wilde Shines in Joe Swanberg’s Excellent ‘Drinking Buddies’
Submitted by BrianTT on August 22, 2013 - 10:56am Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Joe Swanberg’s “Drinking Buddies” has been billed as the Chicago writer/director’s breakthrough largely due to the star power on display in the cast list but the film works not merely because of the notable talents of its cast but a new maturity and wisdom displayed by its creator.
Effective ‘The Conjuring’ Captures the Sum of All Fears
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 19, 2013 - 7:57amRating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – True scary movies have a couple of things going for them – the source of the scare and the psychology of the scare. The source provides the “boo,” the audience provides the interactive psychology. “The Conjuring” is a true scary movie.
‘The Odd Life of Timothy Green’ Misses Emotional Connection
Submitted by BrianTT on August 15, 2012 - 11:04am Rating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Peter Hedges’ “The Odd Life of Timothy Green” has a warm, gooey center that’s admirable in a family movie way but what’s around it can’t hold together as the lack of focus in the narrative and the rather grating performance from the young man playing its title character causes it to annoy more than entertain.
Message Movie ‘Music Within’ Still Within Fledgling Director Steven Sawalich
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on October 26, 2007 - 8:01pm
CHICAGO – “Most people go to their graves with their music still inside them,” 19th century poet Oliver Wendell Holmes once said. First-time director Steven Sawalich’s “music” presumably still resides inside him because it doesn’t resound in his “Music Within” message movie.
