December 2010

CHICAGO – With “Shrek Forever After” also being billed as “Shrek: The Final Chapter” and being pitched as the final film in the “Shrek” franchise, it only makes sense that DreamWorks has put together a lavish box set of this billion-dollar franchise that captures the entire saga of Shrek, Donkey, Fiona, and the rest of the lovable creatures of arguably the most influential series of films of the last decade.

CHICAGO – The duality of “Playboy” reflects the duality of the man who created it. On one hand, the magazine notoriously fetishizes female sexuality with all the airbrushed idealism of a horny adolescent. On the other hand, it’s a reputable publication of great sociopolitical depth, with a history of voicing unpopular views at the times they were most needed.

CHICAGO – In our latest boxing edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 30 admit-two advance-screening movie passes up for grabs to “The Fighter” with Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg!

CHICAGO – In the 1970s, there was a period in history when the civil rights movement began to splinter and disintegrate. Government infiltration, internal divisions and lack of direction especially hurt organizations like the Black Panthers movement, a focus of Writer/Director Tanya Hamilton’s new film, “Night Catches Us.”

CHICAGO – Summer 2010 was filled with some of the laziest mainstream product in the history of the blockbuster season. Creative bankruptcy ruled almost every weekend and audiences wisely turned away from most of it.

CHICAGO – “Knight and Day” is a leaky tire of a movie. It starts off spinning as it promises a delightful action/adventure flick with two stars at their most-charismatic. By the middle of the film, it’s clear that something has sprung a leak. By the end, it’s just flat.

CHICAGO – There are very few companies as talented at taking retro properties and making them new again as Namco Bandai and they’ve worked wonders again with the excellent “Pac-Man Championship Edition DX,” a totally-addictive variation on the arcade classic that merely proves once more that sometimes downloadable titles can be even more satisfying than some of the most-publicized disc-based games of the season.

CHICAGO – Just as home gaming was gaining popularity in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Namco released an ultra-violent variation on the hit platforming games of the day called “Splatterhouse” (and followed it with two sequels). In the world of video games, nothing ever really dies, it just goes away until it gets remade.

CHICAGO – It’s nearly impossible to write about the details of the season premiere of “The Closer” as TNT has asked us not to discuss the shocking events that open the episode so we will have to talk around the specifics more than usual. You may wonder why or how we can review an episode with no details? We’ll give it a shot because this is excellent television and we wouldn’t want to leave it un-reviewed.

CHICAGO – In our latest documentary edition of the HollywoodChicago.com Hookup, we have 3 DVDs and limited-edition theatrical posters up for grabs to “Exit Through the Gift Shop”!

CHICAGO – In our latest drama/romance edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 admit-two passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of the new film “Night Catches Us” with Anthony Mackie (“The Hurt Locker”) and Kerry Washington (“Ray”)

Rating: 5.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan” pulses with the kind of energy and life that we only see from cinema a few times a year. With creative expression rarely seen in American film and one of the best performances by an actress that you will ever see, “Black Swan” is a film that resonates for hours and even days after you see it. You won’t easily shake this masterpiece. And you won’t want to.

CHICAGO – Amy Poehler’s “Parks and Recreation” had the serious problem of trying to find an audience on NBC during the destruction of the network by “The Jay Leno Show.” Debuting in April of 2009, it struggled to find a following and then barely hung around through the disastrous times at NBC during the 2009-10 season. To everyone’s surprise, it was renewed and will return on a revamped Thursday night lineup in January. To try and ignite interest in the show one more time, Universal has released the second season of this better-than-average show.

CHICAGO – After a few missteps, EA has handed the development reins for the new “Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit” to Criterion Games, the company who hit racing gold with the great “Burnout Paradise” and they’ve delivered an addictive, expertly-designed game that should captivate car fans not entrenched in “Gran Turismo 5” through the holiday season and beyond.