James Franco

CHICAGO – After becoming the surprise hit of the summer, a “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” star is getting a well-deserved pay check. You may assume I am talking about James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Tom Felton, or any of the other actors who portrayed people on screen. However, this pay raise goes to the apes.

CHICAGO – David Gordon Green’s “Your Highness” still makes me sad. Not only am I giant fan of nearly everyone involved but the concept of a pot-fueled riff on the fantasy-adventure films more popular in the ’80s is a great one. And yet, even watching it again on Blu-ray and DVD, “Your Highness” just sinks, deflating my like a leaky balloon. I’m gonna go cry now.

CHICAGO – “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is spectacular entertainment, a perfect capper to the blockbuster season that is arguably the most purely enjoyable film of the warmer months of 2011. Rupert Wyatt’s highly-anticipated prequel is an old-fashioned piece of sci-fi escapism made with some of the revolutionary new toys available to special effects artists.

CHICAGO – In our latest action/drama/sci-fi edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 25 admit-two advance-screening passes up for grabs to the early Chicago screening of the new film “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” starring James Franco!

CHICAGO – “Your Highness” just makes me sad. Rarely have so many talented people been sucked into such an unfunny disaster as what will surely be one of the biggest disappointments of the year.

CHICAGO – Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours” came to theaters, originally in the Windy City as a part of the Chicago International Film Festival, with such fanfare and controversy over its notorious arm-cutting scene that it had almost the force of nature when it first screened. It was a visceral punch to the gut. I wondered how it would play, months later, on the couch instead of in a theater seat. It still works. Boyle’s film is still a dramatically powerful piece of work with a career-best performance from the great James Franco.

CHICAGO – “The King’s Speech” reigned supreme at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards February 27, 2011. After its recent award victories, the British drama was widely expected to win in the categories of Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay (the film snagged all three accolades).

CHICAGO – Wondering what the 2011 Oscar nominees thought yesterday when they got the big news? Wonder no more with this compilation of official responses to the one of the biggest days of their lives. Respondees include James Franco, Annette Bening, Javier Bardem, Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter.

CHICAGO – James Franco gave a riveting performance in Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours” that is likely to earn one of the best actors of his generation an Academy Award nomination in a few weeks, but it wasn’t his only stellar turn in 2010. He also thoroughly delivered as the legendary poet Allen Ginsberg in the hybrid “Howl,” a film that’s part poem, part courtroom drama, and part history lesson. It doesn’t always come together but it’s worth seeing just for Franco’s work and the strength of the source material alone.

CHICAGO – It’s the time of year when critics and Oscar pundits like to take a look back at the performances of the last twelve months and pick out the ones most deserving of special citation. As every critics group in the country prepares to unveil their choices for the cream of the acting crop, we thought we’d offer a guide to who they should reflect upon, first in the lead actor and actress categories and then, later this week, in the supporting ones.