Stanley Tucci

CHICAGO – Fans of the hit book series and much anticipated film series “The Hunger Games” were treated to a full look inside the world of Panem this morning when Lionsgate debuted a full trailer for the new film. After a short teaser trailer premiered this past summer showing the main character, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), running through a forest during battle, the new trailer gives a full look at the modern/futuristic world.

CHICAGO – Even the name makes it sound like a prequel. There are definitely elements of Joe Johnston’s “Captain America: The First Avenger” that work and the film is certainly worth a rental and certainly better than “Green Lantern” (although nowhere near the entertainment value of “X-Men: First Class”) but I can’t shake the feeling that this blockbuster won’t stand the test of time on its own. It’s an introduction to next year’s “The Avengers,” a way to get the character into the modern Marvel vernacular, that gets less interesting as it goes along. It is very likely that both Joss Whedon’s film and the inevitable sequel to this one will be superior pieces of entertainment but this “First” chapter is a bit of a disappointment.

CHICAGO – In our latest thriller edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 60 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of “Margin Call” starring Kevin Spacey and Demi Moore!

CHICAGO – With mammoth special effects budgets carelessly puked into blockbuster films these days without story or heart, it’s effortless to wow audiences with beguiling explosions and one or two trademark, “The Matrix”-like innovations.

CHICAGO – In our latest blockbuster edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 22 admit-two passes up for grabs to the advance Chicagoland screening of the highly anticipated film “Captain America: The First Avenger”!

CHICAGO – If a musical miscalculation as epic in ineptitude as Steve Antin’s “Burlesque” is considered eligible for a Best Musical or Comedy Award, then the Golden Globes are officially advised to a.) Retire the outdated category, or b.) Retire the entire hopelessly corrupt awards show. Either decision is guaranteed to prove beneficial in the long run.

Rating: 0.5/5.0

CHICAGO – I worry that some impressionable youth will see Steve Antin’s horrendous “Burlesque” and be turned off musicals forever. This is not a musical. This is a music video; an ego piece for two fading stars that is one of the most creatively bankrupt pieces of cinema in years. Actually, most music videos are better.

CHICAGO – We have learned that there will be a dance contest in Chicago on Oct. 23, 2010 in celebration of the upcoming film “Burlesque” starring Cher, Christina Aguilera, Kristen Bell, Stanley Tucci, Alan Cumming and Peter Gallagher.

CHICAGO - “Easy A” is simply a hard film to swallow. Set in a high school on another planet, it wants everything and ends up giving very little. The cast is game - Emma Stone, Patricia Clarkson, Stanley Tucci, Thomas Haden Church and Lisa Kudrow - but with few exceptions the players cannot handle the lead balloon banter that passes for jokey dialogue. It wants also to be a grand statement on gossip and those who get hurt by it, but perky Stone doesn’t seem that affected.

CHICAGO – Following our rave review this week of the new documentary “Casino Jack and the United States of Money” and following our Hookup this week with 50 free advance-screening passes to the film in Chicago, we’ve secured even more!