Stanley Tucci

CHICAGO – In our latest documentary edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 admit-two passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of “Casino Jack and the United States of Money” from Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney!

CHICAGO – “The Lovely Bones,” which is directed by “The Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson with a relatively unknown executive producer credit from Steven Spielberg, has gone down in history as a poorly reviewed film that was based on a much better novel of the same name by Alice Sebold.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Like a long meal at a good restaurant where no one can agree on the best course of the evening, Nora Ephron’s “Julie & Julia” with Amy Adams and Meryl Streep will have different highlights for different viewers.

Blu-Ray Rating: 2.0/5.0

CHICAGO – They made a movie about Bruce Willis’ beard. “What Just Happened” is yet another head-scratcher from one of the more acclaimed directors of the ’80s and ’90s, Barry Levinson. Like “Envy” and “Man of the Year” before it, Levinson has spit out yet another inert comedy with a great ensemble but no passion, creativity or life to it. A mediocre Blu-Ray presentation does nothing to enhance the film.

CHICAGO – Joshua Michael Stern’s “Swing Vote” hit theaters at the peak of the Presidential campaign and it’s no coincidence that the Blu-Ray release lands in stores a week before President-Elect Obama takes office. With a great ensemble and old-fashioned sensibility, “Swing Vote” is a film that should work. Like a misguided campaign for office, it just doesn’t come together.

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Noble mouse Despereaux (voiced by Matthew Broderick) jousts with royal chef Andre (voiced by Kevin Kline) in the animated adventure that tells a story of bravery, forgiveness and redemption: The Tale of Despereaux.

CHICAGO – This 36-image slideshow contains official press images for Universal’s “The Tale of Despereaux,” which stars Matthew Broderick, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Watson, Tracey Ullman, Kevin Kline, William H. Macy, Stanley Tucci, Ciaran Hinds, Robbie Coltrane, and Tony Hale from writer Gary Ross and directed by Sam Fell & Robert Stevenhagen. The film opens on Dec. 19, 2008.

CHICAGO – In his long and distinguished career, Robert De Niro has probably seen it all when it comes to Hollywood excesses and quagmires. Given that experience, he seems the perfect choice to portray an aging film producer and power broker whose influence is on the decline.

CHICAGO – So far in the 2008 summer animation season we’ve seen cuddly martial artists (“Kung Fu Panda”) and robots in love (“WALL-E”).