Laurence Fishburne

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 – 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 – Warner Bros. on Thursday released an official production picture for audiences to take a first look at the new Superman and his new suit, set to be appearing in the series’ next installment “Superman: Man of Steel.”

Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – “Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone” aspires to be more than an episode of “Behind the Music” and succeeds largely due to the amazing talent of the band it chronicles, the stunning, one-and-only Fishbone. It’s common for a critic to call a great, underrated band influential but Fishbone doesn’t really qualify because what they did was so unique that it’s impossible to copy.

CHICAGO – As “Contagion” continues to film in Chicago from director Steven Soderbergh with stars Matt Damon, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow and Laurence Fishburne, we have learned that a second open casting call is needed two months after the first from Rich King Casting.

CHICAGO – With “Contagion” from director Steven Soderbergh and star Matt Damon continuing to film all around Chicago, HollywoodChicago.com founder and publisher Adam Fendelman discussed the new film on Thursday with CBS Chicago.

CHICAGO – Perhaps it’s because it is so clearly inspired by a retro style of action but Nimrod Antal’s “Predators,” now available on Blu-ray and DVD, plays better at home than it did at the disappointing theatrical screening in the middle of summer 2010. It’s still a bit of a disappointment, but it’s one of those films that’s nowhere near as bad as it could have been and features a few strong set pieces, especially in HD.

CHICAGO – With most TV on DVD releases now scheduled for August and September, how does one buyer work through all of the options? We’ve covered a number of the choices in recent weeks (and have a few more planned next week) along reviews of every new series, but it’s easy for some titles to fall through the cracks, especially for shows that might not have the cultural cachet they once did.

CHICAGO – Chicago is keeping Hollywood busy. Along with recent filming in the Windy City for Ron Howard’s “The Dilemma,” “Transformers 3” and FOX’s “Ride-Along” from the creator of “The Shield,” HollywoodChicago.com has just learned that Steven Soderbergh’s new film “Contagion” will be filming in Chicago and holding a local casting call here later this month.