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Adam Fendelman is the publisher of HollywoodChicago.com, which is a daily arts and entertainment publication out of Chicago.
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Bachelor's in news/editorial journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of JournalismAffiliations
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Displaying Results 1 - 53 (of 53) for All Content
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'Iron Man' Sits Indisputably in Club of Highest-Rated Superhero Movies of All TimeCHICAGO -- Move over, Superman. This lush, high-octane playboy never tasted so good. -
Chicago's Political Machine Runs Relatively Swimmingly in Strawdog Theatre's 'Old Town'CHICAGO - As a testament to its set design, it wasn't immediately clear if certain structures were naturally part of the Strawdog Theatre space or if they were fabricated specifically for the "Old Town" production.
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Sobering Documentary At the Death House Door to Premiere in Chicago from Hoop Dreams Filmmakers"Hoop Dreams" filmmakers Steve James and Peter Gilbert are bringing "At the Death House Door" to Chicago for a one-week engagement at the Gene Siskel Film Center starting on May 10, 2008 at 8 p.m.
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Interview: Denzel Washington's Difference of Opinion with Harvey Weinstein on 'The Great Debaters'CHICAGO - I interviewed actor and director Denzel Washington on Dec. 6, 2007 on the topic of "The Great Debaters," which is the second film he has directed. We spoke about the difference between what he wants for his films and what the studio wants. -
'Michael Clayton' is Adult Antidote to Torrent of Monotonous GobbledygookCHICAGO - Don't be fooled by its formulaic, Hollywoodspeak tagline. "The truth can be adjusted" is the "Michael Clayton" way of saying this film has rammed in a whole hell of a lot more than you might first presume.
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'The Darjeeling Limited' Seesaws Between Deft, Forced EccentricityCHICAGO - With his aloof character panache and colorful imagery, Wes Anderson is one of those directors you either love dearly or loathe dreadfully. -
'The Kingdom' a Prescient Portrayal of Relentless Ghost in the Terrorist MachineCHICAGO - In 1967, author Arthur Koestler wrote the non-fiction book "The Ghost in the Machine". The title has come full circle with Friday's release of "The Kingdom" whereby the ghost must be extricated from his clandestine machine of terrorists.
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Jodie Foster is Wicked, Wicked Witch with Furious Vengeance in 'The Brave One'CHICAGO - Jodie Foster reinvents herself and plays a vigilante flung galaxies out of character in "The Brave One," which opened on Friday.
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'In the Valley of Elah' an Evocative Avowal of Human Consequences of WarCHICAGO - This statement is a shrill testimony of one soldier's stance on his time spent fighting Bush's war in Iraq: "We should just nuke it and watch it all turn back to dust." -
Despite Daring Genre, '3:10 To Yuma' Packs Powerhouse Acting with Fragmentary StoryCHICAGO - Had you asked me to tag "3:10 to Yuma" before I screened it, you'd think me a bumbling idiot because I had absolutely no clue what to expect. -
Pie Maker, Loony Boy Steal Rightful Spotlight from Sweeney Todd in Chicago MusicalCHICAGO - While Johnny Depp's portrayal of the demon barber of Fleet Street in the 2007 film iteration sells you on his fiendish ways, actor and singer David Hess in the musical bobbles more in purgatory rather than living hysterically in hell.
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Bluetooth Beyond Mobile Phones: What's Next?Short-range Bluetooth technology, which to date has most prevalently inundated the market of mobile headsets, wasn't solely designed for cell phones. What's next beyond what's already here and who's promising to deliver these new killer apps?
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'Transformers' Star Megan Fox Named 'World's Sexiest Woman' by FHM; Why?CHICAGO -- Some 9.7 million people weighed in to FHM Magazine on who they deem to be the planet's most sexy women. At 21 years old, Megan Fox was unveiled behind a virtual velvet curtain as the Earth's finest. But why? -
'Shoot 'Em Up' a Raucous, Viscerally Stimulating ExperienceCHICAGO - For a raucously good time, "Shoot 'Em Up" is a visceral experience you won't soon forget. Under the guise of a hardcore action gun flick, this film surprisingly has baby undertones.
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Motley Crew in 'Ladrón Que Roba a Ladrón' Pay Spanish Homage to 'Ocean's Eleven'CHICAGO - On the "you probably haven't heard of this film but you'd do well to learn about it" front, "Ladrón Que Roba a Ladrón" is the Spanish-speaking telenovela surprise of the weekend. -
'Balls of Fury': Thank You; Try AgainCHICAGO - Thank you. Try again. When your sell is entirely dependent on being utterly hi-lar-ious, you'd better trigger unruly body spasms. Otherwise, for instance, you're left with a film like "Balls of Fury" because you only served up a subpar gag show.
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Though Fruitlessly Sold by Leonardo DiCaprio, 'The 11th Hour' is Expertly InfluentialCHICAGO - While the environment is a bitterly divisive topic with people of all politics often worlds apart, there's one thing we can all agree on: Our world is changing. -
'Illegal Tender' is Yawningly Generic, Must-Miss Movie of SummerCHICAGO - Though not billed as a comedy, "Illegal Tender" is one of those yawningly generic films that tries too hard to be taken seriously and ends up making you laugh. If you haven't heard of the film by now, it's better to keep it that way. -
'Rush Hour 3' Underwhelms in One Word: MehCHICAGO - When the outakes are the best part of a film, you know something's seriously backward. Here's "Rush Hour 3" succinctly described in one word: Meh. -
Anne Hathaway Steals Show in Slow, Stuffy 'Becoming Jane'CHICAGO - "Becoming Jane" is slow, stuffy - as it should be in that time period - but beautifully acted and scripted. Anne Hathaway as pre-fame Jane Austen entirely steals the show.
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Bourne is Back, Badass in 'Ultimatum,' Still Unrealistically UnbreakableCHICAGO - Matt Damon as Jason Bourne never thinks. He just does. Bourne's always armed with the right devices and brainwaves to foretell his next move.
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Potter Totters to Dark Side in Explosive 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'CHICAGO - "If you didn't watch the film and looked at people watching it, you'd see they're constantly ducking and grabbing at things," said IMAX Filmed President Greg Foster. "IMAX 3D is at the bridge of your nose."
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'Evening' Challenges 'Chick Flick' Stigma, Questions Life's Pressing QuestionsCHICAGO - "Evening," which failed to materialize in two previous attempts, was finally filmed in the hands of Hungarian director Lajos Koltai.
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Haunted by Laotian Ghosts, 'Rescue Dawn' Resurrects Real-Life Vietnam POWsCHICAGO - Haunted by the non-fictional ghost he was portraying, Steve Zahn - who previously had been typecast by Hollywood as a comic reliever - lost 40 dead-serious pounds for "Rescue Dawn" to walk the same footsteps of a POW four decades earlier.
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Taika Waititi's Geeky, Deadpan 'Eagle Vs. Shark' is Antidote to SlapstickCHICAGO - "Playing out extreme or unusual characters in the straightest of ways is what makes deadpan serious so funny," said "Eagle vs. Shark" director Taika Waititi. "It is the antidote to slapstick."
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Emma Roberts in Campy 'Nancy Drew' is Nice but Nobody's FoolCHICAGO - Emma Roberts as "Nancy Drew" is nice but nobody's fool. -
Paramount Pictures Releases Flood of High-Quality Production Stills For 'Iron Man'Paramount Pictures on April 21, 2008 released a flood of new production stills for the highly anticipated film "Iron Man" with Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Samuel L. Jackson, Hilary Swank, Leslie Bibb and Stan Lee. -
Judd Apatow Again Fashions Gimmick into Gold in Uproarious 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall'CHICAGO - After being blitzed by an onslaught of attention-demanding advertising that begged the question "who is Sarah Marshall?" even before you realized it's a film, anticipation was ravenous. -
Interview: Eli Roth in 'Hostel: Part II' Flirts Fiddly Line Between Tasteful Terror, Repugnant RepulsionCHICAGO - "It's the difference between hunting a lion and a deer." Eli Roth, director of "Hostel: Part II," articulated in an interview with Adam Fendelman that view of his "Hostel" men as weighed against his "Hostel: Part II" women.
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'Desert Bayou' Delves Deep into Hurricane Katrina's Human PsycheChicago - When Hurricane Katrina rocked New Orleans in 2005, Chicago filmmaker Alex LeMay became fixated on the soul behind the ruin.
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'Shrek the Third' is Foxy Flirt Between Kid's Play, Adult WitCHICAGO - To thwart his fate of being royally screwed ("mommy, what does that mean?"), the ornery ogre who smells like the shallow end of a swamp has unwavering resolve to crown someone else as proxy for his kingdom's recently croaked king.
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'28 Weeks Later' is Heart-Palpitating, Seat-Jittering Gore FestCHICAGO - Having sold so many on a first film that's watertight in warranting a second, a sequel answers to a much higher authority. The reincarnation's lifeblood ultimately is designed not to disappoint. It must surprise by making something great unquestionably better. -
'Lucky You' Vs. 'Rounders': Bana is No Norton, Duvall is No MalkovichCHICAGO - "Lucky You" undoes what "Rounders" did right. In the 1998 masterpiece, Matt Damon and Edward Norton exquisitely depict all that is divine about the game of Texas Hold 'Em for rookies and old hands alike.
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'The Condemned' Attempts to Validate Violence with Provocative ConceptsCHICAGO - This is why wrestlers wrestle and actors act. "The Condemned" tobogganed downhill the second it splashed the WWE on an introductory screen.
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Ryan Gosling 'Fractures' Anthony Hopkins in 'Homicidal Modern' MysteryCHICAGO - Anthony Hopkins returns with his unparalleled eyes of terror in "Fracture" for a sly brain battle with Ryan Gosling.
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'TMNT' Director Kevin Munroe Envisions R-Rated CGICHICAGO - "CGI is getting hampered by being defined as a 'kiddie' medium," said "TMNT" writer/director Kevin Munroe in an interview with Adam Fendelman.
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Interview: Adam Brody, Jon Kasdan on 'In the Land of Women'CHICAGO - Sex appeal from burgeoning silver-screen stars has evolved. "It's my abs," Adam Brody declared following grave reflection about his magnetism. "People like abs cut from stone. I do the work and it pays off."
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Interview: Billy Bob Thornton, Virginia Madsen on 'The Astronaut Farmer'CHICAGO - "I have a lot of nervous energy in my head. I always have to be working on something," said actor - and now entrepreneur - Billy Bob Thornton in a Chicago interview with Adam Fendelman.
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Tobey Maguire 'Black' in Action in Venomously Conflicted 'Spider-Man 3'CHICAGO - At the heart of every great film is a good conflict. In Spidey's third advent, his heart is venomously conflicted and so is the film. -
For 'Once,' Carney Casts Musicians - Not Actors - in Masterful MusicalCHICAGO - To purely document the life of a street-singing busker, "Once" director John Carney didn't engage actors. He married musicians.
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Tan-Skinned 'Sydney White' Tragically Lacks Charisma of Fair-Skinned 'Snow White'CHICAGO - I recently tagged "Illegal Tender" as the must-miss movie of the year. I stand corrected. That unconquerable 2007 cake now goes to "Sydney White," which opened on Friday.
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'Beowulf' in IMAX 3D Affords Break for Big Actors to Improve Even ThemselvesCHICAGO - It's all the rave today to exhume an epic from long, long ago and bring it back on the monster screen bigger, better and with more grandeur than ever fathomable before.
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'The Mist' Stars Scribe Stephen King, Marcia Gay Harden in Supporting RoleCHICAGO - It's just a twist of fate, of course. I know the CGI wizards at The Weinstein Co. can't command the weather in the real word, too. But - wow - what providence.
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Sylvester Stallone Sports Aggrandized Violence, Weak Storyline in 'Rambo' RevivalCHICAGO - The best quality about the fourth "Rambo" is its "Rambo" authenticity. The worst quality about the fourth "Rambo" is its "Rambo" authenticity.
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Ray Bradbury's 'The Martian Chronicles' Inventively Come to Life in Chicago Church TheaterCHICAGO - Tasked with the tall order of bringing to life Ray Bradbury's classic anthology "The Martian Chronicles," director Kristina Schramm wasn't bested by the oddity of the undertaking.
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Haunted by Laotian Ghosts, 'Rescue Dawn' Resurrects Real-Life Vietnam POWsCHICAGO - Haunted by the non-fictional ghost he was portraying, Steve Zahn - who previously had been typecast by Hollywood as a comic reliever - lost 40 dead-serious pounds for "Rescue Dawn" to walk the same footsteps of a POW four decades earlier.
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Academy Award-Nominated 'City of God' Spawns Evocative Brazilian Slum Film 'City of Men'CHICAGO - The plight of the people in the hard-hitting Brazilian film "City of Men" is akin with its plight to make you aware it even exists.
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Neil LaBute's In a Dark Dark House Unearths Long-Buried Skeletons in Three-Person PlayCHICAGO - Lauded playwright Neil LaBute was fixated on testing these human limits and exploring our different styles of conflict resolution when he minted the three-person play "In a Dark Dark House".
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Chicago's "Brontë" Masterfully Resurrects Three of Planet's Most Examined ScribesCHICAGO - Three of the planet's most examined scribes of all time are resurrected in the meticulous Chicago production of "Brontë" from illustrious playwright Polly Teale.
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Poster Art Hits Web For ''My Blueberry Nights'' With Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Rachel WeiszPoster art for ''My Blueberry Nights'' with Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, Norah Jones and David Strathairn has been released for the new film, which will open in limited U.S. theaters on April 4, 2008.
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Final Poster Art Released For Morgan Spurlock's 'Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?'The Weinstein Company's new film 'Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?' by Morgan Spurlock from ''Super Size Me'' fame has released final poster art for the new documentary, which opens on April 18, 2008.
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Ellen Page's Smart People Not ScholarlyCHICAGO - I'm flummoxed. I know "Smart People" was supposed to be comedic drama with a splash of romance. Instead, I have been misled. It's not a comedy. It's not a tragedy. It's not even a tragicomedy.
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An Interview with Ellen Page and Diablo Cody of Juno FameCHICAGO - Diablo Cody fittingly ushered in her Chicago "Juno" junket in classic Diablo Cody style: The night prior, she blogged with brevity where she'd be kicking back and when.