January 2011

Rating: 5.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Derek Cianfrance’s “Blue Valentine,” my pick last month for the 9th best film of 2010, is a devastatingly genuine representation of the first and final chapters of a marriage. It is a powerful drama, partially made so by a fantastic script, but mostly due to two of the best performances of the year from Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. Don’t miss it.

Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Modern country music is actually quite fascinating. Whereas in the classic days of the 1950s to ‘70s, when it was a cult stepchild of popular music, now it occupies the rarified heights of the Justins and Taylors. That is why “Country Strong,” starring Gwyneth Paltrow, is so annoying. It doesn’t even try to be modern.

CHICAGO – James Franco gave a riveting performance in Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours” that is likely to earn one of the best actors of his generation an Academy Award nomination in a few weeks, but it wasn’t his only stellar turn in 2010. He also thoroughly delivered as the legendary poet Allen Ginsberg in the hybrid “Howl,” a film that’s part poem, part courtroom drama, and part history lesson. It doesn’t always come together but it’s worth seeing just for Franco’s work and the strength of the source material alone.

CHICAGO – Television may no longer be in the golden age of the late ’90s and early ’00s, but the diversity of the current landscape has produced a few notable gems.

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The Three Musketeers 3D

CHICAGO – Summit Entertainment sent over four images highlighting their 2011 slate including images from “Drive Angry 3D,” “The Beaver,” “Source Code,” and “The Three Musketeers 3D,” along with synopsis and release date information for the rest of their slate, including “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.”

CHICAGO – As Sofia Coppola’s excellent “Somewhere” with Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning begins to roll out across the country (read our review), catch up with Coppola’s best film, one of the best of the ’00s, the great “Lost in Translation,” now available on Blu-ray for the first time. The release is mostly just a tie-in with a filmmaker’s current release but there is a new special feature — basically a commercial for “Somewhere.” It’s not a fantastic “special edition” but it’s still a fantastic movie.

CHICAGO – In our latest comedy edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 15 admit-two passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of the highly anticipated new film “The Dilemma” with Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Winona Ryder and Jennifer Connelly!

CHICAGO – Here’s the sort of self-important primetime drama that tries so hard to be a bona fide event that it quickly grows irrelevant.

CHICAGO – The high-def releases for “Battlestar Galactica” have been somewhat baffling. The problem for Universal was that A.) They had started releasing the series on standard-def when Blu-ray took off and B.) They needed a way to milk one of their most impressive cash cows for a bit longer. Consequently, the chance to individually buy all of one of the best science fiction programs of all time didn’t come until 2011. But that day has finally arrived with the release of the impressive “Battlestar Galactica: Season Four.”

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Arthur

CHICAGO – Warner Brothers has released a slate of images from a large portion of their 2011 schedule of films, including “The Rite,” “Unknown,” “Hall Pass,” “Red Riding Hood,” “Sucker Punch,” “Arthur,” “Something Borrowed,” “The Hangover Part II,” “Green Lantern,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2,” “Crazy Stupid Love,” “Horrible Bosses,” “Final Destination 5,” “The Apparition,” “Dolphin Tale,” and “Sherlock Holmes II.”

CHICAGO – TNT’s “Southland” has found that rare balance that evades most modern cop shows. In fact, it may be the best show of its type since “NYPD Blue.”

CHICAGO – There’s something about “Jersey Shore” that makes it unbelievably watchable. I’ll never understand why people have taken to the oversaturated “Real Housewives” franchise or the draw of “Hoarders,” but I totally get “Jersey Shore.” It’s difficult not to be entertained by personalities this larger-than-life and the bonus is that they feel as close to real as reality television has been in years. “Jersey Shore” never seems nearly as scripted as “The Hills,” reminding viewers of my generation of the “Real World” dramatics of the show’s first few years — back when it felt, you know, real.

CHICAGO – Paul McCartney’s second band, begun in 1971, was called “Wings,” and throughout the 1970s scored big hits with “Band on the Run,” “Live and Let Die” and “With a Little Luck.” Denny Seiwell was Wings first drummer, and guitarist Denny Laine joined the band on their first album, “Wild Life.”