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CHICAGO – Her eyes are always looking forward, as if they possess the ability to peer into the parallel dimension next door. She feels most alive in the presence of nature, and feels great joy in recreating images of god’s creation. Her closest acquaintances seem to be of an otherworldly essence, and she acknowledges them every time her twinkly gaze is directed toward the sky.

CHICAGO – With elements of “Grand Theft Auto IV,” “Far Cry 2,” and “Red Faction Guerilla,” the excellent “Just Cause 2” delivers for gamers looking for an extensive, explosive open world experience. Incredibly detailed and filled with a variety of mission types, “Just Cause 2” consistently entertains despite a few notable flaws.

CHICAGO – The first words we hear are those of the beguiling elf Galadriel, whose ethereal voice haunts an empty screen while declaring, “The world is changed.” And so it had in December 2001, when Americans were reeling from 9/11, and more eager than ever to escape into a fantasy where moral certainty was never in doubt, and pure-hearted heroes clung to the belief that there was still good in the world, and it was worth fighting for.

CHICAGO – 2010 is clearly the year of New Orleans with a Saints Superbowl victory, HBO’s highly acclaimed “Treme” debuting this Sunday and the highly underrated and somewhat excellent “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans,” starring Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes, debuting on Blu-ray and DVD tomorrow, April 6th, 2010.

CHICAGO – In our latest edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: DVD, we have 20 DVDs up for grabs to the new documentary “We Believe,” which is narrated by Oscar nominee Gary Sinise!

CHICAGO – The TCM Classic Film Festival, in Hollywood from April 22nd to the 25th, made a stop in Chicago during their “Road to Hollywood” fest promotion. Legendary star Eva Marie Saint introduced the film “North by Northwest.”

CHICAGO – When moviegoers think of John Woo, the first image that comes to mind isn’t legions of ancient armies fighting each other with bows and arrows, but rather two men holding each other at gunpoint (as in his 1992 classic “Hard-Boiled”). His best action set-pieces are the most intimate, with gunplay and bloodshed taking on an almost balletic grandeur.

CHICAGO – “God was wrong!” This line, spoken by the legendary James Mason in the remarkable “Bigger Than Life,” must have sent shockwaves through the audiences that heard it in 1956 and it’s not surprising that the film was shunned, buried, and only recently unearthed as a classic of its era. Directed by Nicholas Ray (“Rebel Without a Cause”), the film is the latest addition to the Criterion Collection and it’s stunningly good.

CHICAGO – Television drama is usually a formulaic proposition but rarely has a show been more blatantly derivative of other programs currently on the air than CBS’s new hospital drama, “Miami Medical,” a bizarre, ineffective hybrid of “CSI: Miami” and “Trauma”. Buried in the ratings nether regions of Friday nights, this Jerry Bruckheimer-produced show might just barely deliver for viewers exhausted after a long week of work, but they’ll have forgotten it by Saturday morning.

CHICAGO – The unjustified remake of the ’80s camp-fest “Clash of the Titans” may have been re-purposed for the trend of 3-D but its performances are still tragically 2-D and its plot practically see-through.