Alexander Skarsgard

CHICAGO – Does anyone else remember when “True Blood” was fun? When it was about a special girl falling for a brooding vamp and not ALWAYS about the fate of the entire world? When it had a sense of humor, especially in characters like Jason & Lafayette?

Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Brit Marling is an undeniably smart, forward-thinking writer/actress in that she refuses to succumb to gender stereotypes and tries to chart her own way through the independent film movement. If this is true, and I still believe it is, why did “The East,” in which she stars and which she co-wrote, end up so frustratingly melodramatic? Why was the opportunity for true commentary or even character development within this fascinating world discarded in favor of an awkwardly-staged and poorly-written love story laden with genre tropes? I so wanted to like “The East,” but it never pointed me in the direction where I could do so.

CHICAGO – If you don’t like the roles you’re being offered, why not write them yourself? That has been the philosophy of actress Brit Marling, who taught herself the art of screenwriting in order to create the sort of complex female roles Hollywood avoids like the plague.

CHICAGO – I’ve talked to a number of people who think the fifth season of “True Blood” is when it jumped the bloodsucking shark, although there are certainly legions of fans of this HBO smash hit who will never give up on Sookie Stackhouse and her neverending parade of supernatural friends and foes. HBO Home Video knows how faithful viewers for a program like “True Blood” will become even more so with great home releases and so have turned the “True Blood” line into one of their absolute best. The latest, “True Blood: The Complete Fifth Season,” is no exception.

CHICAGO – The story of “What Maisie Knew” may be unusual, but the reflection of the subject matter fits perfectly within the patterns of contemporary family culture. Directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel create a scenerio in which a custody battle for a little girl named Maisie becomes more about the parent’s egos than her care.

CHICAGO – When mixing parenting responsibility, the separation of those parents and a legal system that cannot address the farce of human retaliation, the results become “What Maisie Knew.” Julianne Moore portrays a rock star, and the mother to the title character.

CHICAGO – “Disconnect” is a punch in the gut, the backlash of our current technology, and a film that could have happened yesterday. It is a trenchant cautionary tale, warning us about the excesses of every blinking screen and “smart” device that supposedly is making our lives easier, but can just as easily become instruments of destructive. It is about how we live now.

CHICAGO – Critics like to complain that some Hollywood blockbusters skew the balance from character to special effects. With “Battleship,” it’s almost as if director Peter Berg decided, after a brief bit of character set-up, that he would just give up entirely on the human element of his movie. It’s CGI overload, an orgy of special effects designed to rattle your brain like a hyperactive video game.

CHICAGO – In our latest blockbuster edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Blu-ray, we have 5 free Blu-rays up for grabs for the highly anticipated home entertainment release of “Battleship” starring Taylor Kitsch, Rihanna and Liam Neeson from “Hancock” director Peter Berg!

CHICAGO – “We done with all the supernatural bulls**t, you heard me?!?!” — Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis). Does a pissed off Lafayette speak for you? Are you tired of all of the chaos on HBO’s “True Blood”? Do you wish the show would stop with so many cluttered subplots and settle down?