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Audio Film Review: Ken Russell’s ‘The Devils’ Still Mind Blowing

adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman) — Sun, 25 Oct 2026 19:32:13 +0000

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review for the THE DEVILS, the notable Halloween season re-release of the Ken Russell directed film from 1971, featuring Oliver Reed, Vanessa Redgrave, and many controversial themes. Currently in theaters.

Oliver Reed is Father Urbain Grandier, a French Catholic priest who secures small town leadership, despite impregnating a woman, the daughter of his colleague Mignon (Murray Melvin). Meanwhile a local convent has a nun leader, Sister Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave) who becomes obsessed with Grandier, and when he cannot reciprocate her feelings, she turns on him and his new liaison Madeleine (Gemma Jones), who the priest later secretly marries. This inflames Mignon, who turns in evidence to the nuns and French government that Grandier is in league with the Devil, and has possessed the nunnery. The subsequent exorcism is also a freeing ceremony, with the nuns expressing themselves in ways that cleanse their souls.

THE DEVILS is in theaters since October 16th including Chicago’s (click) Music Box Theatre. Featuring Oliver Reed, Vanessa Redgrave, Dudley Sutton, Gemma Jones and Murray Melvin. Screenplay adapted and directed by Ken Russell. Rated “NC-17”

CLICK HERE for Patrick McDonald’s Audio Film Review of THE DEVILS

Ken Russell’s THE DEVILS
Photo credit: Warner Bros. Clockwork

CLICK HERE for Patrick McDonald’s Audio Film Review of THE DEVILS

CIFF26: Carrie Coon on the Red Carpet for ‘The Liberation’

adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman) — Sun, 25 Oct 2026 18:53:37 +0000

CHICAGO – As the 62nd Chicago International Film Festival concludes on October 25th, star power was on the Red Carpet on Friday the 23rd when Carrie Coon (GONE GIRL) shared the spotlight with director Guy Nattiv for their new film, THE LIBERATION. HollywoodChicago.com was there for photos and interviews.

Carrie Coon of THE LIBERATION at the 62nd CIFF
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

THE LIBERATION, based on writer/director Guy Nattiv’s family history, is set in the early 1980s and centers on Rita Cooper (Carrie Coon) a closed-off mother of two who works as a bank executive, and is unable to come to grips with her traumatic history. At the bank one day, she meets the radiant Ricki (Lily James) who invites Rita to join her women’s self-empowerment group. Discovering a new-found freedom, Rita soon comes to depend on Ricki and leaves her family behind to join a cult-like commune in the forest. But when her daughters arrive to rescue her, Rita must choose between the new “spiritual” life she’s found and the family she left behind.

The Bright Light of Carrie Coon
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Carrie Coon is a familiar face on film and series TV. After getting her MFA in acting from the University of Wisconsin, she began her career in regional theater, moving to Chicago in 2008. She was in Steppenwolf Theatre’s revival of WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF, eventually playing on Broadway and getting a Tony nomination. From there, she was part of the HBO series THE LEFTOVERS, and also did a turn on the third season of FARGO. She made her film debut in GONE GIRL (2014), and has had notable roles in THE POST, AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE, and HIS THREE DAUGHTERS.

Guy Nattiv, Writer/Director of THE LIBERATION at the 62nd CIFF
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Red Carpet Interviews with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com at the 62nd CIFF, Carrie Coon and writer/director Guy Nattiv of THE LIBERATION …

The Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) screens the best in U.S. and international films, and spotlights special film presentations, industry gatherings, and of course filmmaker appearances, film Q&As and red carpet happenings. Cinema/Chicago is the facilitating organization of CIFF, and presents film events throughout the year.

The 62nd Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) took place October 14th-25th, 2026. Click ChicagoFilmFestival.com for more information..

By PATRICK McDONALD
Editor and Film Critic/Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

CIFF26: Director Celebration with Tim Blake Nelson & Ira Sachs

adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman) — Sun, 25 Oct 2026 14:18:38 +0000

CHICAGO – Two directors were in the Red Carpet glare this week at the 62nd Chicago International Film Festival … the usually-an-actor Tim Blake Nelson (THE LIFE AND DEATHS OF WILSON SHEDD) and the always-director Ira Sachs (THE MAN I LOVE). Photographer Joe Arce was there to make portraits of both filmmakers.

Tim Blake Nelson at 62nd CIFF
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Timothy Blake Nelson was born in Oklahoma, and attended their Summer Arts Institute. He attended Brown University as a Classics Major, and studied drama at the Julliard School. He is known as a shape-shifting character actor, from his film debut in THIS IS MY LIFE (1992). From there he has taken on memorable supporting and character roles, including THE THIN RED LINE, O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU, HOLES, THE ASTRONAUT FARMER, LINCOLN, FANTASTIC FOUR, THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS (Title Character), CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD, and THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE. THE LIFE AND DEATHS OF WILSON SHEDD is his sixth feature film as director.

Tim Blake Nelson of THE LIFE AND DEATHS OF WILSON SHEDD
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Ira Sachs was born in Memphis, and used his father’s roots in Park City, Utah, to attend the Sundance Film Festival before it was Sundance. After graduating from Yale with a literature degree, his first film job was as an assistant director on the seminal AIDS-themed film LONGTIME COMPANION (1989). His debut film was THE DELTA (1997), followed by his breakthrough Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winner FORTY SHADES OF BLUE (2005). From there, films including MARRIED LIFE (2007), LOVE IS STRANGE (2014), LITTLE MEN (2016), PASSAGES (2023) and PETER HUJAR’S DAY (2025) are a partial list of his prolific career, with a focus on the delicate dramas of the human condition.

Ira Sachs at 62nd CIFF
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Click the names for past interviews by Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com with Tim Blake Nelson and Ira Sachs.

The 62nd Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) took place October 14th-25th, 2026. Click ChicagoFilmFestival.com for more information..

By PATRICK McDONALD
Editor and Film Critic/Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

On-Air Film Review: Go Deep Into the Heart of ‘Wildwood’

adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman) — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 22:03:25 +0000

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Jason Makos for WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on October 22nd, 2026, reviewing the new animated release WILDWOOD, the latest in stop-motion from Laika Studios. In theaters on October 23rd.

WILDWOOD is set in Portland, Oregon, as on-the-edge of adolescence Prue (voice of Peyton Elizabeth Lee) is a cynical pre-teen, riffing usually on her hippie parents (Jake Johnson and Maya Erskine). Her baby brother is unusually protected … her parents won’t let him outside. When Prue ends up babysitting him, she frees him and takes him around town and to a playground. There he is kldnapped by a murder of crows, Hitchcock-from-THE-BIRDS style.

He is being taken into the Impassible Wild Woods, and his sister and her geeky friend Curtis (Jacob Tremblay) are the only hope to penetrate the wide wood, and fight the bird groups, and the dowager governess Alexandra (Carey Mulligan), as well as ally with the Bandit King (Mahershala Ali) and plead with Iphiigenia (Tantoo Cardinal) a mystic that can find her brother.

WILDWOOD is theaters October 23rd. Featuring the voices of Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jason Tremblay, Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Awkwafina, Jake Johnson and Angela Bassett. Screenplay adapted by Chris Butler. Directed by Travis Knight. Rated “PG-13”

CLICK HERE for Patrick McDonald’s on-air review of WILDWOOD

WILDWOOD
Photo credit: Fathom Entertainment

CLICK HERE for Patrick McDonald’s on-air review of WILDWOOD

CIFF26: Gold Hugo Best Film, Set-in-Bulgaria ‘The Dreamed Adventure’

adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman) — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 14:49:24 +0000

CHICAGO – The 62nd Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) announced its competitive award winners on October 23rd, 2026, and the recipient of The Gold Hugo in the International Feature Film Competition – the festival’s top honor – is THE DREAMED ADVENTURE (directed by Valeska Griesbach), a Germany/France/Bulgaria/Austria produced film.

Picking up the Jury Prize Silver Hugo in the International Feature Film competition is a Germany/Austria produced EVERYTIME (directed by Sandra Wollner. In the New Directors Competition, Gessica Généus’ MARIE MADELEINE takes the Gold Hugo, with WHAT BELONGS TO OTHERS from Poland, directed by Grzegorz Dębowski, receiving the Silver Hugo. The complete list of honorees is below.

“This year’s winning films remind us how much cinema can reveal about lives, experiences, and ways of seeing the world beyond our own,” said Mimi Plauché, Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation Artistic Director of the Chicago International Film Festival. “These awards honor filmmakers whose bold, distinctive work gives audiences something to discover, feel, and discuss together, and also affirm and celebrate how integral women filmmakers are to the vitality of a world cinema rich in perspective and ambition. This truth is evident throughout the 62nd Chicago International Film Festival, notably in the fact that all four Gold Hugos and the Chicago Award are going to women.”

Find capsule descriptions of all the films by CLICKING HERE.

International Feature Film Competition

THE DREAMED ADVENTURE
Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival

The Gold Hugo for Best Film: THE DREAMED ADVENTURE (Germany, France, Bulgaria, Austria), directed by Valeska Griesbach

This film carries the western to the far eastern edge of Europe and gives us one of the most unforgettable heroines in years, a woman whose quiet strength and independence become an act of resistance in a world ruled by men.

The Silver Hugo – Jury Prize: EVERYTIME (Germany, Austria), directed by Sandra Wollner

The Silver Hugo – Best Director: Marine Atlani for LA GRADIVA (France, Italy)

The Silver Hugo – Best Performance: Yana Radeva for THE DREAMED ADVENTURE

The Silver Hugo – Best Supporting Performance: Lotte Shirin Keiling for EVERYTIME

The Silver Hugo – Best Ensemble: LA GRAVIDA

The Silver Hugo – Best Screenplay: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi and Léa Le Dimna of ALL OF A SUDDEN (France, Japan, Germany, Belgium)

The Silver Hugo – Best Cinematography: Senzo Ueno for LOOK BACK (Japan)

The Silver Hugo – Best Visual Effects: THE SPIRAL (Italy, France, Belgium)

New Directors Competition

MARIE MADELEINE, Directed by Gessica Généus Nastia Korkis
Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival

The Gold Hugo: Director Gessica Généus of MARIE MADELEINE (France, Haiti, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada)

The Silver Hugo Director Grzegorz Dębowski of WHAT BELONGS TO OTHERS (Poland)

International Documentary Competition

THE ILLUSION OF AN EVERLASTING SUMMER
Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival

The Gold Hugo: THE ILLUSION OF AN EVERLASTING SUMMER (Argentina, U.S.), directed by Alessandra Sanguinetti

The Silver Hugo: TRICONTINENTAL, LETTER TO OPEN IN CASE OF (Switzerland, Cuba), directed by Laura Cazador

Outlook Competition (LBGTQ+ Films)

SUMMER DRIFT
Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival

The Gold Q-Hugo: SUMMER DRIFT (Switzerland, France), directed by Céline Carridroit and Aline Suter

The Silver Q-Hugo: THE MAN I LOVE (USA), directed by Ira Sachs

Special Mention: SIX MONTHS IN A PINK AND BLUE BUILDING (Mexico, Brazil, Denmark), directed by Bruno Santamaría Razo

Chicago Award … FINDING YOUR LAUGHTER

FINDING YOUR LAUGHTER (USA) Directed by Arlieta Hall and Brittany Alsot
Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival

Short Film Competition

GILL
Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival

The Gold Hugo – Live Action: GILL (Cuba, Brazil), directed by Manu Zilveti

The Silver Hugo – Live Action: ASHEGETHAM (France, Switzerland, Iran), directed by Filmsaaz

The Gold Hugo – Documentary: SAWYER AVENUE, SUNDAY AFTERNOON (USA), directed by Bill Morrison

The Silver Hugo – Documentary: BUCKSKIN (USA), directed by Mars Verrone

The Gold Hugo – Animated: FINGERBANG (South Korea), directed by Kim Yeonwoo

The Silver Hugo – Animated: A LITTLE DEATH (UK, USA), directed by Leto Meade and Jonathan Rockefeller

BEST OF THE FEST takes place October 24th/25th. CLICK HERE for details. The 62nd Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) runs through October 25th, 2026. Click ChicagoFilmFestival.com for tickets, schedules and details.

By PATRICK McDONALD
Editor and Film Critic/Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

On-Air Film Review: DC Universe Presents Villain ‘Clayface’

adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman) — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 13:44:05 +0000

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Jason Makos for WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on October 22nd, 2026, reviewing the new release CLAYFACE, the latest villain-focused film in the DC Universe, set in Gotham City. In theaters on October 23rd.

Tom Rhys Harries is Matt Hagen, a tough street kid from Gotham City who has made his mark as a movie star, culminating in an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. After celebrating over too many cocktails he takes up with a woman at a night club (Ruby Sear) and ends up one night standing. When he wakes up he finds her boyfriend in the room, mob boss Jabo (David Dencik), who doesn’t take too kindly to an actor canoodling with his girlfriend. He carves up Matt’s face with a knife, and ruins his looks.

After his business manager also steals all his money, a desperate Matt seeks medical attention from an experimental nanobot researcher Caitlyn (Naomi Ackie). She is able to restore his face, but at a price that will create the gelatinous Clayface. And this time, he wants revenge.

CLAYFACE is theaters October 23rd. Featuring Tom Rhys Harries, Naomi Ackie, Max Minghella, David Dencik and Ruby Sear. Screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini. Directed by James Watkins. Rated “R”

CLICK HERE for Patrick McDonald’s on-air review of CLAYFACE

CLAYFACE
Photo credit: Warner Bros

CLICK HERE for Patrick McDonald’s on-air review of CLAYFACE

CIFF26: The Film Festival Presents ‘An Evening with Marlon Wayans’

adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman) — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 20:31:19 +0000

CHICAGO – It was honoree time at the 62nd Chicago International Film Festival on October 19th, 2026, with AN EVENING WITH MARLON WAYANS. The actor, known for his comedy chops (SCARY MOVIE series) was interviewed on stage by Omar Epps, in a career retrospective.

Marlon Wayans at AN EVENING WITH MARLON WAYANS at 62nd CIFF
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Marlon Wayans is a talented actor, comedian, writer, producer, and director. Wayans reunited with brothers Keenen and Shawn Wayans to write and produce the 2026 hit SCARY MOVIE. Currently on the road with his “Wild Child Tour,” Wayans is a prolific stand-up whose shows have, to date, yielded four specials, including MARLON WAYANSL GOOD GRIEF, streaming on Amazon PRIME VIDEO.

Wayans’ recent film credits include HIM, AIR, RESPECT, and ON THE ROCKS. His collaborations as writer, producer, and star with SCARY MOVIE director Michael Tiddes span comedy projects including FIFTY SHADES OF BLACK and the A HAUNTED HOUSE series. His creative partnerships with director Keenen Ivory Wayans have yielded such hit comedies as WHITE CHICKS, and the 2000’s SCARY MOVIE and SCARY MOVIE 2.

Moderator Omar Epps for AN EVENING WITH MARLON WAYAN
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

During the next ten days of the Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF), besides screening the best in U.S. and international films, there are various sub categories that spotlight different film presentations, special industry gatherings, the conveniently located/parking friendly AMC New City in Chicago as the hub for the festival, and of course filmmaker appearances, film Q&As and red carpet happenings.

Omar Epps, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Honoree Marlon Wayans
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

GO TO PAGE TWO for a reprinted interview with Marlon Wayans with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com.

HollywoodChicago.com: You’ve been in the movie satire business for most of your career. What is the key, in your opinion, to good satire?

Marlon Wayans: I think it has to start in truth, and you have to strike a chord within that truth, to make it relatable to everybody, not just those people who have seen the movie. It’s got to have a good story, with fun characters and it has to have a purpose as a movie. I’m a disciple of the Keenen Ivory Wayans School of Comedy, and he taught me to make sure that it’s multi-layered.

In terms of good satire, A HAUNTED HOUSE is not desperate parody. What we tried to do with this movie is a hard comedy with parody moments. The theme is basically PARANORMAL ACTIVITY if it happened to a black couple. Everybody talks about that point of view, but to actually see it is a lot of fun.

O.G. SCARY MOVIE 1 & 2, featuring Marlon Wayans
Photo credit: Paramount Home Entertainment

HollywoodChicago.com: Why do you think people love horror films so much, and how do you look to exploit that love for humor in movies like A HAUNTED HOUSE and the SCARY MOVIE franchise?

Wayans: People like to be scared, people are crazy. [laughs] We as a society just love to be scared, I don’t get it. It’s not stuff you’d normally be involved in, but maybe we just think it might happen to us. Freddy Kruger and the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET movies are scary as hell, because we all sleep.

Why movies in general are so fun to go to is that you get to experience an emotion of some kind, simultaneously with other people you don’t know, sharing that experience with you. Horror and comedy share the same set-ups. Horror is tension, tension, tension – then scary release. Comedy is tension, then a release in the joke. They are similar, so it’s easy to marry the two.

HollywoodChicago.com: Obviously, being in a family with nine siblings, and having some folks ahead of you getting in the comedy business, will help determine a person’s career. But what is your personal connection in wanting to be a comedian?

Wayans: I’ve wanted to do comedy since I was about five years old. My brother Shawn and I grew up watching Abbott & Costello, Jackie Gleason, I LOVE LUCY, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy and most importantly Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Those Looney Tunes was the origin of our comedy – they were funny, edgy, smart – they did satire, they were political. The Looney Tunes of old were great comedy, and that’s really why I wanted to do it.

I love the feeling I get when I see people laugh. I don’t want my movies to change your life, I want my movies to change your mood. I just want you to go have fun.

HollywoodChicago.com: You grew up in an urban environment, and have done tons of satire on the people you knew in that neighborhood. What kind of hustle did you observe that make those characters funny?

Wayans: It is both in the truth of them, and the contradiction of them. The gangsters who are scared are always hilarious. They have that false bravado – they want to shoot this or that, but when they hear a ghost, they run off. That’s funny. That’s what my brothers and I did, when we looked at the people in our neighborhood and ourselves, we looked for the ‘this,’ but also the ‘that.’ It is the contradiction that make people funny.

HollywoodChicago.com: You got a lot of your boot camp in comedy doing television. What did the shows IN LIVING COLOR and THE WAYANS BROS teach you about creating situations that make people laugh?

Wayans: Television teaches you how to learn a script in a week, and it constantly changes. Then you basically put on a play every week in front of people, and cameras are there, so you have no choice but to make them laugh with that ever-changing material.

I’ve been doing stand-up comedy for two years now and it’s similar. You know your set, but in dealing with live audiences you become a better writer, because you hear the laughs and you know where the laughs are. They both taught me about that ‘audience inside my head.’ That’s why the type of TV I did and stand-up is special to me.

HollywoodChicago.com: You made an auspicious dramatic debut in the 2000 film REQUIEM FOR A DREAM How did you and Darren Aronofsky develop the character of Tyrone, and what scene scared you the most as far as your challenge as an actor?

Wayans: I auditioned for REQUIEM FOR A DREAM five times, it was not given to me. Darren didn’t see someone on ‘the frog network’ [The WB] in his movie at the time. But I kept coming in and I kept impressing him. I have a background in theater from my performing arts high school, I just don’t get a chance to showcase that side of me, because that’s not what I’m known for.

Dreamer: Marlon Wayans as Tyrone C. Love in REQUIEM FOR A DREAM
Photo credit: Lionsgate Home Entertainment

To prepare for Tyrone once I landed the role, I slept on the floor of my house, prepared a drug kit as a prop, didn’t wash for several days, wore the same clothes and started smoking, even though I’d never smoked before. I went for it. With Darren he had me understand how he was going to shoot it, and what kind of world he was preparing for the character.

HollywoodChicago.com: Did you and Darren ever clash on the interpretation of the character?

Wayans: I had a problem with the way Tyrone spoke, it was too 1970s for me. I told Darren it sounded like an old white guy wrote it back in the WHATS HAPPENING!! days. Darren told me to make it cool, so I studied the language from the original book that Hubert Selby wrote, combined it with his screenplay adaptation, and took it to the generation we shot it in, which was the year 2000.

HollywoodChicago.com: Finally, what media do you go to when you need inspiration – either your old stuff or comedy films or anything you need to juice up your creative process?

Wayans: I will watch anything – for example, since this film was a parody of haunted houses, I watched 200 haunted house films. It goes into my brain as something dramatic or scary and comes out comedic. I’ll watch anything from GHOSTHUNTERS on cable TV to a comedy like AIRPLANE or DON’T BE A MENACE TO SOUTH CENTRAL … just to stay up on my favorite comedy conventions.

I need to remember what makes me laugh. It’s easier to face the blank page that way, to remember the construction for putting these jokes together.

The 62nd Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) runs through October 25th, 2026. Click ChicagoFilmFestival.com for tickets, info & calendar.

By PATRICK McDONALD
Editor and Film Critic/Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

Film Review: Stanley Tucci in ‘Masterplan’ is Fun Yet Forgettable

adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman) — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 13:34:19 +0000

CHICAGO – MASTERPLAN is a heist romp full of action and unexpected heart. While the film suffers from over ambition, attempting to combine family drama, comedy, and action thriller, it nevertheless offers a fun, fast-moving ride … while offering a bit of an unexpected bonding within the larcenous gang.

Led by the always-charming Stanley Tucci as a mastermind criminal, the cast includes Simona Tabasco and Victor Belmondo as genius thieves, who add a sweet and breezy sex appeal to the mix. The trio do a credible job juggling action sequences with the more intimate moments. However, the deeper emotional connections to which the story aspires are often sacrificed for the swift pace and style.

WELCOMING Contributor Desiree Burcum for her first film review on HollywoodChicago.com.

MASTERPLAN is currently streaming on PRIME VIDEO. Featuring Stanley Tucci, Victor Belmondo, Simona Tabasco, Mark Ivanir and Philippe Ucan. Screenplay by David Wolstencroft and Thomas Vincent. Directed by Thomas Vincent. Rated “TV-MA”

CLICK HERE for Desiree Burcum’s film review of MASTERPLAN

MASTERPLAN
Photo credit: Amazon MGM Studios/Prime Video

CLICK HERE for Desiree Burcum’s film review of MASTERPLAN

CIFF26: Chicago International Film Fest Opens with ‘Club Kid’

adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman) — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 03:07:47 +0000

CHICAGO – It was a perfect Fall Night for an annual Chicago tradition to begin again. The 62nd Chicago International Film Festival kicked off October 14th, 2026, with the traditional Red Carpet, highlighting the Opening Night Film CLUB KID, directed by Jordan Firstman. He was there with jury member John C Reilly.

After ten years of living the hard-partying life of a New York City club promoter, Peter (Jordan Firstman) wakes up one morning to find a very unexpected visitor at his door …the 10-year-old British son he never knew he had. At first, he is shocked and comically unprepared to take care of anyone, much less himself, but Peter slowly warms up to his unexpected new life. Soon, he begins attempting to tamp down his hedonistic existence and become a not-so-regular dad.

Director Jordan Firstman of CLUB KID at 62nd CIFF
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

During the next ten days of the Festival, besides screening the best in U.S. and international films, there are various sub categories that spotlight different film presentations, special industry gatherings, the conveniently located/parking friendly AMC New City in Chicago as the hub for the festival, and of course filmmaker appearances, film Q&As and red carpet happenings.

John C. Reilly at 62nd CIFF
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

In Red Carpet Interviews with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, the 62nd CIFF Opening Night features jury member John C. Reilly and writer/director Jordan Firstman of CLUB KID (Opening Night Film) …

The 62nd Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) runs through October 25th, 2026. Click ChicagoFilmFestival.com for tickets, info & calendar.

By PATRICK McDONALD
Editor and Film Critic/Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

On-Air Film Review: Chris Rock Writes and Directs ‘Misty Green’

adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman) — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 02:43:07 +0000

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson for WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on October 15th, 2026, reviewing the new release MISTY GREEN, written and directed by Chris Rock, his fifth directorial feature. In theaters since October 16th.

Misty Green (Rosalind Eleazar) is an actress in Hollywood, known for an award-winning streaming series and not much else. She has a reputation for being difficult, exacerbated by frequent cocaine use. Along comes Jordan (Chris Rock), a director desperate for a hit film, who has one more shot at a reboot of DREAMGIRLS, and Misty desires one of the lead roles. But at the same time she’s being evicted from her apartment, her mentally unstable brother Jay (Daniel Kaluuya) re-enters her life, plus her best friend Naomi (Anna Kendrick) is getting married. Will she survive to get to the audition?

MISTY GREEN is theaters October 16th. Featuring Rosalind Eleazar, Anna Kendrick, Adam Driver, Amy Landecker, Daniel Kaluuya, Topher Grace, Anthony Anderson and Chris Rock, Written and directed by Chris Rock. Rated “R”.

CLICK HERE for Patrick McDonald’s on-air review of MISTY GREEN

MISTY GREEN
Photo credit: A24

CLICK HERE for Patrick McDonald’s on-air review of MISTY GREEN