Eliza Dushku

CHICAGO – After a few releases that felt like perhaps the DC Universe line of straight-to-video animated films were in decline, they recently released what is arguably their best installment and a work that deserves to sit on the shelf of any Batman fan — the often-brilliant “Batman: Year One.” So remarkably loyal to one of the most influential comic books of all time that it sometimes recreates it verbatim and including some of the best voice work in the entire DC Universe line, this is a great animated film and possibly the best Blu-ray gift you could buy for a comic fan this season.

CHICAGO – The Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, more popularly known as “C2E2,” took place last month, and featured TV series cast panels with “The Walking Dead,” “True Blood,” “The Vampire Diaries” and “Dollhouse.”

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Chris Hemsworth will star as the title character in “Thor,” coming this summer.

CHICAGO – The Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, nicknamed “C2E2,” took place from March 18th through the 20th. Cast panels from the upcoming movie “Thor,” as well as TV’s “The Walking Dead,” “True Blood,” “Dollhouse” and “The Vampire Diaries” met admirers and participated in Q&As.

CHICAGO – As the weeks, months, and years make it clearer that we will never get a live-action continuation of one of the best television programs ever, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (it’s just cruel that there are two “Sex and the City” movies and we can’t even get a “Buffy” reunion special), fans of the franchise are forced to turn to alternate advancements in the universe, such as the Dark Horse Comics series. The very-popular and critically-acclaimed comics have been turned into Motion Comics and released in a 2-disc Blu-ray set with mixed results.

CHICAGO – The DVD Round-Up is back to do some catch-up around the HollywoodChicago.com office of a few titles that either arrived a bit past their fresh-by date or we couldn’t find time to cover with full reviews. We still think you might want to know the details about these releases as you begin your holiday shopping, and so the DVD Round-Up returns. We hope you didn’t miss us too badly.

CHICAGO – We’ve become spoiled by the next generation of gaming. Most high-profile games have gone through enough research and development during their production and are made by such experienced developers that they rarely come out of the industry machine with little to no redeeming value at all. Sure, there are disappointments, but you don’t see as many complete bombs in the gaming world as you do in film, music, or TV. The exception to the rule is the truly awful “Rogue Warrior”.

CHICAGO – Very few filmmakers provoke the same kind of passionate adoration as the sometimes-great Kevin Smith, a man who has such a following that he can sell out large theaters filled with people who merely want to ask him questions for hours. Smith is a charismatic, interesting, clever filmmaker and his best work reflect his gregarious personality. Three of his best are captured in “The Kevin Smith Collection,” including two films with all-new Blu-Ray material.

CHICAGO – Blogs everywhere are reporting that FOX has canceled “Dollhouse” and that ABC has canceled “Eastwick” and “Hank”. “Dollhouse” starred Eliza Dushku with “Eastwick” and “Hank” being headlined by Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and Kelsey Grammer, respectively. The series join “Trauma” and “The Beautiful Life” as early fatalities of the new season.

CHICAGO – Bethesda Softworks’ “Wet” is a sloppy wet kiss to the cinema of the grindhouse as filtered through Quentin Tarantino’s love affair with it. The game plays not so much as an ode to B-movie thrills but to the way that QT interprets them. Clearly (and admittedly) inspired by “Kill Bill,” “Wet” is an often-fun but also often-frustrating shooter with style to spare but not as much substance as one would hope.

CHICAGO – For its entire first season, “Dollhouse” fluctuated wildly in tone and style, never quite figuring itself out as a weekly series and remaining inconsistent in terms of quality.