Jesse McCartney

CHICAGO – Dennis Dugan, in directing Adam Sandler (“Happy Gilmore”), Chris Farley (“Beverly Hills Ninja”) and John Ritter (“Problem Child”), can rightly be considered a comedy director icon. He also for his latest film, “Love, Weddings & Other Disasters,” developed the story and wrote the screenplay for the first time.

CHICAGO – When we last talked to Melinda Hill, it was for her stand-up comedy special “Inappropriate.” It also turns out that she acts in a new film, the ensemble comedy “Love, Weddings & Other Disasters,” directed by Dennis Dugan and featuring Diane Keaton, Jeremy Irons, and Maggie Grace, among others.

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 40 pairs of advance-screening movie passes up for grabs to the new animated comedy “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip” starring Kaley Cuoco and Jason Lee!

CHICAGO – There’s something very wrong with Bradley Parker’s “Chernobyl Dairies,” and the problem is right there in its title. The very notion of setting a knee-jerk horror film at the site of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster is so offensive that it’s bound to halt many moviegoers from judging the picture on its own terms. It’s the cinematic equivalent of an obscenely tasteless haunted house.

CHICAGO – In our latest found-footage horror edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 admit-two movie vouchers plus 3 grand-prize packs up for grabs to the new horror film “Chernobyl Diaries” from “Paranormal Activity” creator Oren Peli!

CHICAGO – Bradley Parker’s “Chernobyl Diaries” has just enough personality, confident technical elements, and outright weirdness to make it a trip worth taking for horror fans. The fact that the parts of the production that undeniably work couldn’t be wrangled into something that’s more competent overall is disappointing but there’s more to like here than one would expect.

CHICAGO – Fox animation tries to keep pace with DreamWorks and Disney with their high budget, extras-packed release of “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who”, an entertaining animated adventure but a Blu-Ray release that does nothing to rise above average.