April 2008

CHICAGO – At the Chicago screening of “Postal” for critics, director Uwe Boll introduced his new film as a personal “The Kentucky Fried Movie” attacking the heart of America. Boll – a German national – has produced several “B”-grade movies in both Germany and the U.S.

CHICAGO – While Johnny Depp’s portrayal of the demon barber of Fleet Street in the 2007 film iteration sells you on his fiendish ways, actor and singer David Hess in the musical bobbles more in purgatory rather than living hysterically in hell.

CHICAGO – Despite its timid title, “Deception” has all the right ingredients for a decent tale of mystery: a strong premise, sound acting and the famous femme fatale. It even starts with a promising conviction: How does a background player in life deal with initiation into a secret society?

CHICAGO – Chicago’s John Cusack will play a mad scientist’s hunchbacked lab assistant in the animated feature film “Igor” from The Weinstein Company.

CHICAGO – Poor Burt Reynolds. As the No. 1 box-office star from 1978 to 1982, he revived his film career in 1997 with “Boogie Nights”. Since then, he has had the long, slow decline of “B” movies and bad remakes. Reynolds even tainted his own legacy by participating in the horrible 2005 redo of “The Longest Yard”.

CHICAGO – As a contemporary of the John Lennon assassination in 1980 and an ardent admirer of the late Beatle, I had a hard time figuring out the reasons for making the film “Chapter 27”.

CHICAGO – Paramount Pictures on Monday released a flood of new production stills for the highly anticipated film “Iron Man” with Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Samuel L. Jackson, Hilary Swank, Leslie Bibb and Stan Lee. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film opens on May 2, 2008.

CHICAGO – “The Visitor” is a subtle film. Created by the unique talent of writer and director Thomas McCarthy – who also generated the equally subtle world of “The Station Agent” – this new work explores the nature of who belongs where.

CHICAGO – What are you doing the first Saturday in May? Whether the answer is you’re watching the Kentucky Derby on its traditional date or if it’s anything else, the new film “The First Saturday in May” will satisfy both responses.

CHICAGO – After being blitzed by an onslaught of attention-demanding advertising that begged the question “who is Sarah Marshall?” even before you realized it’s a film, anticipation was ravenous.

CHICAGO – As the title implies, “Zombie Strippers” has everything and more. How many films about strippers who are zombies also quote the bible and Friedrich Nietzsche? This film is loads of fun because it has loads of everything.

CHICAGO – We see sensual close-up shots of blueberry pie overflow with aqueducts of vanilla ice cream in Wong Kar-Wai’s opening sequence of “My Blueberry Nights”. This dreamy scene sets the tone of the latest film from the famous Chinese director as he confronts the West with his unique cinematic style.

CHICAGO – Morgan Spurlock wants to change the world. The creator and filmmaker who took on fast-food giant McDonald’s in his first film (“Super Size Me”) is now taking on the current global war on terror and the image of the most wanted terrorist in his new film “Where in World is Osama Bin Laden?”

CHICAGO – Set in the humbling peaks of the Himalayas, the Robson Entertainment documentary “Blindsight” redefines the true meaning of inspiration. East confronts West in this film that captures the journey of six blind Tibetan teenagers led by blind mountain climber Erik Weihenmayer to a place higher than anyone could ever imagine.