J.J. Abrams

CHICAGO – J.J. Abrams’ “Super 8” comes to theaters this week shrouded in mystery, nostalgia, and expectation. What do the aliens look like? How will it pay homage to the works of Steven Spielberg that so clearly inspired it? And will the merging of two filmmakers amplify their flaws or underline their strengths?

CHICAGO – In our latest highly anticipated sci-fi edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 60 admit-two passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of the new highly anticipated film “Super 8” from J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg!

CHICAGO – The timing of “Undercovers” might be inopportune — the notion of CIA super spies adding to the deficit by overextending their expense accounts — yet the show itself is bright and exciting with beautiful actors and settings. But despite the presence of J.J. Abrams of “Lost,” it doesn’t break any new ground.

CHICAGO – When the second season of “Fringe” premiered, I wrote, “If any show is going to go from mildly popular to breakout hit in its second season, I expect it will be “Fringe”.” While that certainly didn’t happen in terms of ratings (the show actually dropped 2.5 million viewers from its weekly average), the critical and cultural buzz around the series has grown. It feels more and more like “Fringe” is the current show that’s beloved by those who watch it even if it’s looking less likely to break through to a wider demographic.

CHICAGO – Terry O’Quinn, the strange and mysterious John Locke on the recently concluded TV series, “Lost,” was found in this exclusive portrait by HollywoodChicago.com’s ace photographer Joe Arce. O’Quinn was appearing at the Park West in Chicago for his brother Thomas’s new film “Using.”

CHICAGO – NBC announced their fall schedule and fans of “Heroes,” “Law & Order,” “Trauma,” and “Mercy” will shed a tear while on-the-bubble shows like “Chuck,” “Parenthood,” and “Community” will return with “Parks and Recreation” coming back later in the season.

CHICAGO – Some franchises are best left undiscovered. “Stargate” originally began as a terrible 1994 film from B-movie maestro Roland Emmerich. It took a potentially interesting premise, and used it as an excuse for a lot of uninspired sci-fi warfare. The film, bad as it was, inexplicably spawned two long-running TV shows: “Stargate SG-1” and “Stargate: Atlantis.”

CHICAGO – The sixth and final season of the J.J. Abrams hit television series “Lost” will premiere with a special all-night event on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2009. The recap special will start at 7pm CST followed by the highly anticipated sixth season two-hour premiere at 8pm CST on ABC.

CHICAGO – If any show is going to go from mildly popular to breakout hit in its second season, I expect it will be “Fringe”.

CHICAGO – A majority of people who watch television in HD would cite ABC’s “Lost” as having the highest quality broadcast on television from a technical level but the first two seasons were only available in standard definition. Until now. J.J. Abrams’ mysterious island and its residents look absolutely amazing in HD and now fans can catch up with the first two seasons of “Lost”.