Amanda Seyfried

CHICAGO – I give in. “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again,” the sequel to the much derided “Mamma Mia,” is a bubbly, frothy here-come-the-good-times musical that fits summer like a glove. The flashback format will also answer all the burning questions that were left unanswered from the first film, and the cast includes Cher!

CHICAGO – Paul Schrader can absolutely claim the title of Cinema Icon with his 40 plus years of influence and involvement as writer or director in memorable films such as “Taxi Driver,” “American Gigolo,” “Raging Bull” and “Auto Focus.” His latest written-and-directed-by film is “First Reformed,” featuring Ethan Hawke.

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 pairs of advance-screening movie passes up for grabs to the new crime film “Gringo” starring David Oyelowo, Charlize Theron and Joel Edgerton!

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Tracy Morgan on the Red Carpet at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival.

NEW YORK CITY – The Red Carpet is always a wild ride with the free-wheeling Tracy Morgan. He was at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival representing his role in the new film “The Clapper,” starring Ed Helms and featuring Brenda Vaccaro, who also walked the carpet. Joining them were surprise guests Mark Cuban and the musician known as Sting.

CHICAGO – Family 4-packs! In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 25 family 4-packs (100 seats in total) up for grabs to the new family fantasy film “Pan” starring Levi Miller as Peter Pan with Hugh Jackman!

CHICAGO – While it’s cruder and it can’t quite match the original “Ted,” “Ted 2” is still funnier than it has any right to be. It is unmistakably a Seth MacFarlane production, and there are a million reasons why this movie shouldn’t work, chief among them a plot that attempts to plop a foul mouthed talking teddy bear into a moralistic legal parable about civil rights. But I can’t deny I laughed throughout, almost despite myself.

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 40 pairs of advance-screening movie passes up for grabs to the highly anticipated comedy sequel “Ted 2” starring Mark Wahlberg, Seth MacFarlane and Amanda Seyfried!

CHICAGO – We’re born, we’re nurtured, we seek purpose and we die. In between there are a million decisions between the words of that opening sentence, and writer/director Noah Baumbach understands that intuitively in his great new film, “While We’re Young.”

CHICAGO – Director Noah Baumbach is a master in creating cinematic atmosphere. Whether it’s the adolescent mood of “The Squid and the Whale,” the weird loneliness of “Frances Ha” or his screenplays with director Wes Anderson, Baumbach generates a worthy emotional imprint. His latest film is “While We’re Young.”

CHICAGO – The number of writers who have adapted and directed their own novels as films is a very small and elite club, and it includes writer/director Allison Burnett. His 2014 film, “Ask Me Anything,” is being released on DVD on March 3rd, 2015, and features Britt Robertson, Justin Long, Christian Slater and Martin Sheen.