John Hawkes

CHICAGO – January 2012 is Steven Soderbergh month. The man’s newest film, “Haywire,” opens in theaters on January 20th (and we’ll have a review up shortly before it opens) while Criterion is upgrading his Oscar-winning “Traffic” to Blu-ray and re-releasing their DVD edition on the 17th of the month (you can, of course, also expect a review of that to run soon). The first wave of the Soderbergh trifecta is the Blu-ray and DVD release of “Contagion,” another expertly-made piece of filmmaking from a man who seems to know how to do nothing less.

CHICAGO – Kicking off our annual series of year-end film features, we begin with the ensemble players, the supporting cast members who provided the necessary dramatic support to allow their leading men and women to shine.

CHICAGO – One man’s delightful whimsy is another man’s annoying hipster facade. For every person who gets on the wavelength of a band like The Decemberists or Belle & Sebastian, there are others who find their music too self-aware and, well, hipster. The same is true with film. Even though I’m often a fan of music and fiction that could be deemed hipster — you know the kind, the Sundance whimsy that comes through the art house a few times a year — I found “The Future” grating in its lack of emotional truth. It all feels like artifice to me, which is especially problematic given the clear attempt at something deeper.

CHICAGO – With a striking lead performance and assured direction from a debut filmmaker, “Martha Marcy May Marlene” has been one of the most acclaimed films of 2011 since its debut at Sundance many months ago.

CHICAGO – One of the more memorable dramas of the year hits Chicago theaters this Friday in Sean Durkin’s directorial debut “Martha Marcy May Marlene.” The story of a young girl who escapes her life in a cult only to have difficulty readjusting to being home with her distant sister has earned nothing but raves since its Sundance debut.

CHICAGO – A few weeks ago saw the release of the R-rated “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” a gore-free creature feature that was given the MPAA stamp of 17-plus due to “pervasive scariness.” This week sees the PG-13-rated “Contagion,” a film SO much more pervasively scary than the movie about goblins in a distant mansion because, well, it’s about the fact that the world is pervasively scary.

CHICAGO – In our latest special edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 admit-two advance-screening movie passes plus three grand prize packs up for grabs to the highly anticipated new film “Contagion” with Matt Damon, Kate Winslet and Jude Law!

CHICAGO – It started with the best lead performances of 2010 yesterday and now we naturally move on to many of the stars who made those lead turns possible. For what is a great lead performance without the supporting ones that got it there? These were the MVPs of 2010 who may have allowed others to take the spotlight but also made it shine so much brighter.

CHICAGO – Just in time for the holidays, HBO’s brilliant “Deadwood” has been chosen for induction into the complete series Blu-ray catalog of the most important TV network in the last twenty years. Very few HBO series are available in complete series HD sets from HBO (“Band of Brothers,” “Rome,” “The Pacific”) and while fans of “The Sopranos,” “The Wire,” and “Six Feet Under” may finally have their day next holiday season, this one belongs to David Milch’s masterpiece.

CHICAGO – Every year there’s a performance or two that truly heralds the arrival of an amazing new talent. Arguably the most impressive debut of 2010 belongs to Jennifer Lawrence, a nearly-guaranteed Oscar nominee for her searing performance in the devastating “Winter’s Bone,” recently released on Blu-ray and DVD on the eve of what is sure to be numerous year-end mentions and potential award nominations.