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CHICAGO – I often find that the most interesting characters in a ghost story are not the ghosts themselves, but the humans who encounter them. Ghosts are reflections of a past we are unwilling to depart from, even if it halts us from entering the future. It’s a consolation for us to believe that our departed loved ones view us as their “unfinished business.”

CHICAGO – The Criterion Collection recently inducted the great Michelangelo Antonioni’s first color film into their esteemed catalog with a Blu-ray transfer that stands next to the best HD pictures of the year to date. This striking visual composition has never looked better and the film remains as mesmerizing as it was almost a half-century ago, arguably more so.

Video Game Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Being hopelessly addicted to the great “Zen Pinball” and a fan of golf games from the realistic (“Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11”) to the cartoonish (“Hot Shots Golf”), I was more than a little excited for Zen Studios’ “Planet Mini-Golf.” If they could capture the creative fun of an old-fashioned game as they did with “Zen Pinball,” I figured my new summer obsession had arrived. Sadly, it turned into my summer frustration.

CHICAGO – Paul Greengrass suffered the first failure of his career with the disappointing “Green Zone,” a film that flopped with both critics and audiences early in 2010. As Kathyrn Bigelow was winning awards for her realistic examination of life behind enemy lines in the Middle East with “The Hurt Locker,” people dismissed Matt Damon’s long-delayed take on the failure of the war in Iraq.

CHICAGO – Proving that what Judd Apatow has brought to the comedy genre in the last decade is much harder than it looks, “She’s Out of My League” has an extremely likable cast but writers and a director who mistake gross-out humor for genuine laughs. It’s one of those disappointing comedies for people who can’t say the word ejaculation without laughing like Beavis.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Michael Winterbottom’s ’50s-era neo-noir “The Killer Inside Me” creeps up on you in the creepiest possible way. Just as I was ready to write it off, I ended up caving in to its charms, or lack thereof. This film often seems as utterly cuckoo as its central antihero, and that’s what makes it so darn mesmerizing. Sure, it’s sort of a mess, but boy is it engrossing, with a strong emphasis on the gross.

CHICAGO – Male prostitute Ray Drecker (Thomas Jane) and his pimp Tanya Skagle (Jane Adams) are back in the second season premiere of “Hung,” a show that improved drastically over its first year (check out our Blu-ray review here) and seems primed for continued growth in its sophomore outing. Shows like “Hung” often fine-tune their characters and themes between the first and second year and this unusual comedy is primed for breakout success.

CHICAGO – How does one of the trendiest shows on television stay hot in its seventh season? It’s a question that the writers of “Entourage” must answer as cable’s beloved bad boys return tonight for another season of celebrity cameos and insider drama.

CHICAGO – In Chicago, they are out and about on a daily basis. It is a simple pick-up truck, often bent and rusted with age. Most of the hauling areas in the back cabs of these trucks are outfitted with plywood extensions, increasing their ability to get more stuff in the back. They are the “Scrappers.”

CHICAGO – We dig discovering sprouting artists at the phase where they’re just talented enough to keep their humility. That’s where we found 21-year-old singer, songwriter and guitarist Sahara Smith on Friday night at Chicago’s Lincoln Hall.