November 2010

CHICAGO – There is no doubt that Gemma Arterton is a pretty face. Her natural beauty is so intoxicating that it nearly always upstages whatever talent may reside beneath her scintillating surface. Her aggressively bland work in mediocre action fare like “Clash of the Titans” and “Prince of Persia” had convinced me that she was nothing more than a non-thinking man’s Rachel Weisz.

CHICAGO – In our latest Blu-ray and DVD combo pack edition of the HollywoodChicago.com Hookup, we have 5 Blu-ray and DVD combo packs up for grabs to Disney’s “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” with Nicolas Cage and Jay Baruchel!

CHICAGO – Most of us who are old enough to have spent many of our formative hours playing “Goldeneye 64” often point to the title as one of the most memorable shooting games in history. Personally, I spent much of the time I should have been studying in college massacring my friends on the legendary Nintendo 64 game. Like most people of my age group, I was completely psyched for the 2010 reboot of the timeless game. It just makes my disappointment all the more painful.

CHICAGO – One of the funniest lines Leslie Nielsen ever uttered wasn’t in one of his spoofs. In his role as doomed Captain Harrison in ‘The Poseidon Adventure,’ Nielsen is facing the huge wave that will eventually capsize the boat, and as an stern aside says, “by the way, Happy New Year.” A star, comically inadvertent, was born. Leslie Nielsen died yesterday at the age of 84.

CHICAGO – Every year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences reveals their short list for the Oscar for Best Documentary and every year there’s a notable snub or two that makes one question the process. Last year, “Anvil: The Story of Anvil,” one of the most-beloved films of the year, didn’t make the cut. This year, “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work” failed to make the cut, continuing a pattern in which films not deemed “serious enough” by Academy members can’t get past the first round.

CHICAGO – There’s no more accomplished gaming company in history than Nintendo when it comes to not only keeping classic characters vital but finding ways to reboot beloved properties from the past.

CHICAGO – “Love and Other Drugs” celebrates everything that is wrong with America, wrapped in a package with two “it” stars doing a disservice to their emerging careers.

Rating: 0.5/5.0

CHICAGO – I worry that some impressionable youth will see Steve Antin’s horrendous “Burlesque” and be turned off musicals forever. This is not a musical. This is a music video; an ego piece for two fading stars that is one of the most creatively bankrupt pieces of cinema in years. Actually, most music videos are better.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Nigel Cole’s “Made in Dagenham” works because of the strong, believable performances of its ensemble, even if it doesn’t quite resonate with the same strength as other tales of ordinary people who became revolutionary role models. Sally Hawkins, Miranda Richardson, Rosamund Pike, Bob Hoskins, and a talented group of mostly newcomers rarely hit a false note and characters one can believe in go a long way in a film such as this one.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Nigel Cole’s “Made in Dagenham” works because of the strong, believable performances of its ensemble, even if it doesn’t quite resonate with the same strength as other tales of ordinary people who became revolutionary role models.

CHICAGO – Movieland is awash in feature length “cartoons,” with virtually every season cranking out more new entries in this new golden age of animation. The Disney Studios, the grandaddy of the genre, aims to keep the bar high with its latest, the amazing looking and hilarious 3D version of the Rapunzel story, with a post modern title of “Tangled.”

CHICAGO – Image Entertainment released a spectacular Blu-ray release in September of “The Twilight Zone: Season 1,” an amazing set that will surely be mentioned when our year-end “Best Blu-rays of the Year” feature debuts in a few weeks. With “The Twilight Zone: Season 2” following quickly on its heels just two months later, the only concern was if they would drop the ball with the second release. Instead they have hit another home run.

CHICAGO – “The Last Airbender” was mercilessly-panned on its theatrical release and will likely pop up on a few “Worst of the Year” lists in the next few months. And yet, audiences didn’t seem to care too much, pushing the movie to nearly $320 million worldwide (although one wonders if it wouldn’t have made twice that were it actually good considering the fan base of the source material and prime summer release date).

CHICAGO – There are some stories that are so resonant that they can be told generation after generation and not lose any of their power. The basic foundation of “Mutiny on the Bounty” is so inherently strong that it has supported several acclaimed versions but perhaps the most beloved is still the 1935 Best Picture winner starring Clark Gable and Charles Laughton. Joining in a wave of classics hitting the new format during holiday season 2010, “Mutiny on the Bounty” is now available on Blu-ray.