Monkey Man director/star Dev Patel is giving due credit to Jordan Peele for helping the movie get a theatrical release. One of the most anticipated movies of this season is one we never really expected: Dev Patel’s directorial debut, Monkey Man. But it could have slipped completely under the radar. And as it was originally … Read more
Dev Patel’s Monkey Man is an impressive debut for Dev Patel as both a director and action star. PLOT: A young man (Dev Patel) who makes his living fighting in underground fights in Mumbai hatches a violent plot designed to avenge the rape and murder of his mother. REVIEW: Calling Dev Patel’s Monkey Man “John … Read more
Movie Rule #28: Never directly reference a movie that is superior to the one we are watching. Dev Patel’s disappointing directorial debut Monkey Man breaks this rule in a very distracting way. In an early scene, the film’s unnamed hero, known only as “Kid” (played by Patel himself), talks his way into the showroom of a black … Read more
Roger’s very first Top 10 list for The Chicago Sun-Times, his home outlet for decades, listed a lot of movies that were probably common sights on other people’s lists, including “The Graduate,” “Blowup,” “Ulysses,” “A Man for All Seasons,” and the eventual Oscar winner “In the Heat of the Night.” It also included “Bonnie and … Read more
And what about the horror thriller “The Invisible Man,” one of the most mercilessly tense films I’ve seen in the past decade? It got released right before lockdown and made $144 million globally, a staggering haul for a medium-budgeted genre picture whose biggest star was Elisabeth Moss. Who knows what it would’ve made if it had … Read more
The legendary Jean-Claude Van Damme is back in action in the upcoming thriller Darkness of Man, which is set to receive a digital release on May 21st. With that date just a couple months away, a trailer for the film has arrived online, and you can check it out in the embed above! Directed by … Read more
Inspired by the legend of Hanuman, “Monkey Man” stars Patel as an unnamed fighter named ‘Kid’ in the credits. In the ring, he wears a gorilla mask and fights for money from a sleazy promoter played by Sharlto Copley. He is beaten most nights of the week, getting extra cash if he bleeds. With his … Read more
Lisa Cortes, the Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning producer and director, will attend Ebertfest to discuss her film “Little Richard: I Am Everything,” a documentary about Little Richard, the unique, flamboyant, rock ‘n’ roll icon who shaped the world of music with hits like “Tutti Frutti” and “Long Tall Sally” (Read Sheila O’Malley’s review of the … Read more
Robert Downey Jr. is expressing gratitude to Tom Cruise for turning down the roles of Charlie Chaplin and Tony Stark. Tony Stark and Charlie Chaplin stand as two of Robert Downey Jr.’s most iconic performances. And while RDJ may have expressed relief that Chaplin didn’t nab him an Academy Award, he’s well aware of its … Read more
Repo Man 2 is in the works, with original director Alex Cox returning to helm the sequel and Kiowa Gordon replacing Emilio Estevez as Otto. Per Variety, Alex Cox is ready to return to the bizarre world of car repossession and extraterrestrials. The outlet reports that the director is set to helm Repo Man 2: … Read more