Chris Messina

CHICAGO – Not enough critics or paying movie goers embraced Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris’ stellar “Ruby Sparks,” a smart, fascinating examination of the romantic life of a creature virtually designed to be alone — the writer. With one of the best scripts of the year courtesy of its luminous star, Zoe Kazan, this is a great rental, even if Sony has completely dropped the ball in terms of bonus material.

CHICAGO – Ben Affleck has reached the apex of his already impressive directorial career with the stunning “Argo,” a tight, tense machine of a film, a masterwork that delivers as comedy, action, drama, and more. Critics see movies all the time that we understand may produce a divided response. We get that many acclaimed films won’t make a dent with the populous.

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 50 pairs of movie passes up for grabs to the advance screening of the highly anticipated “Argo” from “The Town” director Ben Affleck!

Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Rashida Jones has been a reliable co-star for years in films like “I Love You, Man” and TV shows like “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation” but she gets her most notable role to date in a film she co-wrote, the romantic dramedy “Celeste and Jesse Forever,” opening this weekend in Chicago. Jones’ complex performance is the best thing about a film that ultimately feels a bit too unfocused, almost as if Jones and her co-writer Will McCormack took the opportunity to use every idea they had about the art of the break-up without streamlining their concepts into something more coherent and entertaining.

CHICAGO – Actors Rashida Jones (“Parks and Recreation”) and Will McCormack (“Dirt”) dated a long time ago and have turned their break-up into an acclaimed new romantic dramedy, “Celeste and Jesse Forever.” Don’t be fooled by its title. Jones and McCormack’s film opens with Celeste (Jones) and Jesse (Andy Samberg) at the end of their marriage.

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 25 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the advance screening of the irresistible romantic comedy “Celeste and Jesse Forever”!

CHICAGO – Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris return to the spotlight this week with their first film since the award-winning “Little Miss Sunshine” and they completely defy the sophomore slump, delivering a smart, fascinating, fun gem in the spectacular “Ruby Sparks.”

CHICAGO – Don’t let the awful title fool you — “The Giant Mechanical Man” is not sci-fi. This cute dramedy tackles well-trod ground in the world of indie film but Lee Kirk conveys enough honest affection for his well-crafted characters that the piece works.

CHICAGO – Can DirecTV do what so many other companies have failed to do and actually rewrite the way shows make it to air? They did something truly remarkable with their deal to co-produce and co-air “Friday Night Lights” and now they have taken it a step further by exclusively airing the new season of “Damages,” starting tomorrow night, July 13th, 2011.

CHICAGO – With so many unfaithful weiners crowding the daily news cycle, I suppose it’s as appropriate a time as any for a film like Dana Adam Shapiro’s “Monogamy.” As in the over-publicized Anthony Weiner case, the infidelity in Shapiro’s film never actually takes place. Instead of physical contact, the affair takes place entirely within the obsessive mind of a sexually frustrated voyeur.