Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
At the end of “I’m the One That I Want,” Margaret Cho declares, “I’m gonna stay here and rock the mike until the next Korean-American, fag hag, shit starter, girl comic, trash talker comes up and takes my place!” Any takers? This film version of Cho’s savagely funny one-woman show is true to the tour she took on the road last year.
If you think that cute guy you saw heading into Tempo last week looked a lot like Keanu Reeves, there’s a good chance that it was. Reeves has returned to Chicago to film “Hardball.” He first made his presence in the Windy City known four years ago when he shot “Chain Reaction.” You can bet that he’ll be out and about in the city this time around, too.
The animated Imax 3-D film “Alien Adventure” is about a lot of things, but plot isn’t one of them. Sure, it has a premise: A small tribe of space gypsies called the Glagoliths roam the universe in search of a new home. The leader of the Glags – a sadistic Jabba the Hutt type – sends out a team to evaluate a potential new home. But instead of landing in a real city, the soldiers encounter “Adventure Planet” – a high-tech amusement park not yet open to the public.
Following on the multi-legged heels of Dreamworks’ often dark and somber computer animation debut “Antz,” “A Bug’s Life” is Disney’s colorful follow-up to its mega-blockbuster “Toy Story.” While it doesn’t have the wit or great performances of “Toy Story,” it’s amusing in its own right and the animation by Pixar is even more astounding.
“Fatty Drives the Bus” sure sounds odd enough to be the followup to the Annoyance Theatre’s best known production, “Co-Ed Prison Sluts.” But the feature – which hits video stores today – actually marks the Chicago-based improv troupe’s first foray into film.
There are so many things wrong with “The Hungry Bachelors Club” that it’s easy to overlook some of the actors’ fine work. It’s unfortunate that they’re stuck portraying one-dimensional characters who make the “Melrose Place” crew appear deep.
The premise for “The Bachelor” probably looked great on paper. Get Chris O’Donnell and Renee Zellweger to star in a romantic comedy. Throw in a plot line about a $100 million inheritance if he marries before his 30th birthday, and add in a thousand extras dressed as brides.
According to the Olympic creed, “the most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part.” Try telling that to the managers and sports agents who are counting on the athletes to upgrade their medals into deals with the likes of Nike, Gatorade and McDonald’s. That’s a cynical view of the Olympics. The latest Omnimax film, “Olympic Glory,” presents a purer version of the Games.
For those unfamiliar with the 19th century children’s book of the same name, “A Dog of Flanders” is a cryptic sounding title for a movie. The film is less about a dog than it is a tale of goodness and honesty that – as many of these tales do – revolves around a sweet, orphaned boy determined to better himself.
Barefoot and clad in a pair of sweats that have seen better days, Viggo Mortensen walks over to introduce himself. His hands and arms are covered with names and phone numbers he has scribbled on himself after checking his answering machine. And his hair is tousled and flecked with tiny bits of paint. None of this can hide Mortensen’s deadly good looks.