Fred Claus (2007)
The proverbial lumps of coal (boy, isn’t this phrase becoming a trite cliché for movie critics?) called the family Christmas movie get trotted out toward the end of almost every year. For every good...
Tagged: Chicago
Uncle Buck (1989)
The last of writer-director John Hughes’ teen films, though it probably is more remembered as one for younger kids, Uncle Buck once again casts John Candy as another troublesome adult who stumbles his way through life, causing...
Running Scared (1986)
Southside Chicago detectives Ray Hughes (Hines, Wolfen) and Danny Costanzo (Crystal, The Princess Bride) are out to put away a rising-star drug lord named Julio Gonzales (Smits, Murder in Mind), who is rumored to have killed an...
The Weather Man (2005)
It’s Nicolas Cage doing what he does best, play a self-defeating loser, in The Weather Man, a bigger budget Hollywood release that feels like a small, quirky independent comedy. It’s a comedy that just barely...
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
Although David Mamet’s adapted play Glengarry Glen Ross offers an often fascinating brief look into the world of high-pressure real estate salesmen, it’s mostly just a showcase for some terrific acting and smart dialogue. If...
The Big Brawl / Battle Creek Brawl (1980)
I realize that this film, the first attempt to introduce Jackie Chan to American audiences, has been somewhat maligned over the years, but I’ll always have a special fondness for it. The Big Brawl (or Battle Creek Brawl as...
The Untouchables (1987)
If The Untouchables proves anything, it’s that if you put enough very talented people together, good results are bound to follow. This is the Hollywood equivalent of the All-Star Game, with a cast and crew...
Home Alone (1990)
Perhaps the biggest surprise about Home Alone is not that it is liked by many people, especially as a movie to watch around Christmas — it’s that it would become a mega-blockbuster, shooting straight up...
The Couch Trip (1988)
Dan Aykroyd had played a variety of characters up to this point in his career, with lots of memorable ones among them, but he had never played the kind of smart-ass that he does...
Chicago (2002)
After hearing about the cast of the lavish musical screen recreation of the acclaimed Bob Fosse production, Chicago, I was very skeptical that such a musical could be pulled off by a cast that isn’t...