December 2010

CHICAGO – John Woo changed my life. I was just the right age when I saw “The Killer” and “Hard Boiled” that they blew my mind. Wait, you mean not all foreign films look like Jean-Luc Godard? I was young enough that I thought foreign meant boring. There’s NOTHING boring about the prime of John Woo and one of his best, “Hard Boiled” has now been released on Blu-ray. And it still blows my mind.

CHICAGO – The most memorable moviegoing experiences of your life are often circumstantial. They may depend entirely on the audience that you see them with.

CHICAGO – In our latest crime/drama edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 2 signed posters up for grabs to the new film “Meskada” by “Twilight,” “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” and “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” star Kellan Lutz!

CHICAGO – “Black Swan,” “Inception” and “The Social Network” were among the big film nominees in 2010 for the 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards. The nominees were announced this morning, December 14th, in Los Angeles. “Mad Men,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “30 Rock” and “Glee” were among the TV nominees.

CHICAGO – Walt Disney Home Video isn’t all about “Hannah Montana” or “Toy Story 3.” At the end of last month, they released a trio of informative documentaries about the fascinating history of their own company. None of the three are must-see viewing, but they do combine to offer a glimpse at the incredibly legacy of one of the most important American companies in history.

CHICAGO – Last year, a documentary premiered here at the Gene Siskel Film Center, provocatively entitled “Man and His Erections.” The writer/director of the film is Rujanee Mahakanjana, an artist and designer who has been exploring filmmaking in the last five years. Her latest feature, premiering this week, is “Parallel Universe.”

CHICAGO – Back in 2006, an unprecedented film project took place in Berlin, Germany, in the infamous Bebelplatz, a plaza that once hosted Nazi book burnings. The idea was to get 112 diverse individuals together to answer 100 questions. Their answers were processed by Ralf Schmerberg, the director of the resultant film, “Problema.”

CHICAGO – Chicago is naturally a community town, based on their neighborhoods and Midwestern roots. So it was natural that Grace McPhillips, an actor in the Windy City, would found a community group for actors. The Chicago Acting in Film Meetup Group is having their annual Holiday Fundraiser and Networking Night on December 13th.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – The 24 year-old Lena Dunham is a new and notable voice for her generation of filmmakers, breaking in with her first feature, the memorable “Tiny Furniture.” Dunham wrote, directed and portrays the main character Aura, a newly minted film theory graduate who is going through the time honored process of what to do with her post collegiate life.

CHICAGO – Though you probably don’t know his name, Christopher McQuarrie’s involvement might sell you on paying to see “The Tourist” even more than “A”-list stars Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – John Requa and Glenn Ficarra’s “I Love You Phillip Morris” debuted at the Sundance Film Festival nearly two years ago and was released internationally so long ago that it’s out on DVD in most markets around the world. After financial difficulties plagued the first company intent on stateside distribution, the movie sat on a shelf and most of us assumed it would be making its U.S. debut on a round shiny disc.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – “They’re all around us. Ghosts. They’re everywhere.” People don’t talk like that. Especially kids. Especially not after a major revelation about their dad. It just doesn’t feel real. And that’s the problem with “Night Catches Us,” a well-intentioned drama with strong performances that somehow can’t find the realism at the heart of its story. Anthony Mackie and Kerry Washington nearly rescue the piece but it just doesn’t come together into anything memorable enough to recommend.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – “They’re all around us. Ghosts. They’re everywhere.” People don’t talk like that. Especially kids. Especially not after a major revelation about their dad. It just doesn’t feel real. And that’s the problem with “Night Catches Us,” a well-intentioned drama with strong performances that somehow can’t find the realism at the heart of its story. Anthony Mackie and Kerry Washington nearly rescue the piece but it just doesn’t come together into anything memorable enough to recommend.

Rating: 2.0/5.0

CHICAGO – The children’s fantasy drama is a hot commodity in the current age of computer generated images. Many favorite books once thought too complex to be filmed are now seeing new life in film series, including “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” by C.S. Lewis, first published in 1952.