Dylan Baker

CHICAGO – Nicolas Cage makes a welcome return to Charlie Kaufman-like mind bending drama in “Dream Scenario.” He stars as Paul Matthews, a bald and schlubby college professor always clad in an ever present winter coat. His unremarkable life takes a turn when he mysteriously begins appearing in millions of people’s dreams.

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 pairs of advance-screening movie passes up for grabs to the Golden Globe-nominated film “Selma” on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. starring David Oyelowo!

CHICAGO – USA’s mini-series “Political Animals” should have been one of the TV events of 2012. Instead it was just one of its biggest disappointments. That cast! That subject! In a political, election season! Zzzzzzz. Sadly, the creators of “Political Animals” delivered a program more like “Dallas” than “The West Wing” and viewers tuned out to the degree that the potential second season was canned. Now we can see what went wrong in one lackluster DVD set.

CHICAGO – In the annals of bad parenting portrayed on film, the heroine of Bryan Wizemann’s 2011 indie drama is a special case indeed. Though we watch helplessly as she makes countless bad decisions guaranteed to send her young daughter to intensive therapy, we don’t regard her a sinister figure on the order of Monique’s monstrous matriarch in “Precious.” Our gaze is one of empathy.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Julie Delpy’s “2 Days in New York” is an amenable screwball comedy with some jokes that definitely fall flat and some awkward emotional beats in the final act but a likable tone that allows for easy passage over the screenwriting rough spots. Ms. Delpy is still charming and co-star Chris Rock is more effective here than he typically is in film. It’s just a likable little movie without pretension to be anything more.

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 30 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the advance screening of “2 Days in New York” with Chris Rock and Julie Deply!

CHICAGO – I’m a political junkie who naturally loves to follow the world of journalism as well and so I was psyched about the premiere of USA’s mini-series, “Political Animals,” a star-studded affair about how a powerful Washington family deals with a headstrong reporter and the secrets they still hope to keep.

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 – From producer Bryan Singer (“X-Men,” “Superman Returns”), “Trick ‘r Treat” is a fantastic horror anthology film that has inexplicably been rolling around the Warner Bros. offices for years, having initially been scheduled for release back in 2007. Finally getting a Halloween-tied Blu-Ray release, this is one of the best straight-to-DVD horror flicks in years, a consistently clever and enjoyable genre entry that will have horror fans screaming in glee this holiday season.

Television Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – You won’t see many shows much more ambitious than NBC’s “Kings”. The multi-character drama borrows from the story of King David to create a tapestry piece about power, corruption, and war. It’s dense, layered, complex storytelling that you rarely see on network television.