Mekhi Phifer

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 25 pairs of advance-screening IMAX movie passes up for grabs to the highly anticipated new film “The Divergent Series: Insurgent” starring Shailene Woodley!

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 15 pairs of guaranteed fast-pass virtual reality tickets (skip the lines!) up for grabs to the immersive 4D virtual reality experience “Insurgent: Shatter Reality” at Navy Pier in Chicago!

CHICAGO – Despite the best efforts of a game Shailene Woodley and likely future star Theo James, Neil Burger’s “Divergent,” based on the hit book by Veronica Roth, is a joyless, soulless, humorless dud. It is repetitious to the point of parody, never feels like it exists in anything approximating reality, and, like so many “Hunger Games” wannabes, forgets that it’s the characters of that franchise that matter and not the goofy machinations of the plot.

CHICAGO – Highly anticipated! In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 15 pairs of advance-screening IMAX passes up for grabs to the new Chicago-filmed movie “Divergent” starring Shailene Woodley and Theo James from Chicago author Veronica Roth!

CHICAGO – When “Torchwood: Miracle Day” premiered on Starz, I was completely up for the ride. My 4/5 review displayed a little bit of concern given that the show was often 5/5 in its original BBC America airings (and in the brilliant “Children of Earth”) but I held out hope that the show would iron out its wrinkles and deliver on the potential of its clever set-up. In fact, the opposite happened. Stretched to meet a running time that the writers couldn’t deliver on and ultimately cheesy where the original “Torchwood” had been edgy, “Miracle Day” is a disappointment. The Blu-ray release is still strong and there are some things to like here, but only diehard fans should apply (see every episode and “Children” before this…twice) and they’ll likely be the most disappointed.

CHICAGO – We didn’t get the screener in time to give you a heads up about the series premiere of Starz’s “Torchwood: Miracle Day” but we have seen episodes two and three and have some good news to end this long week — if you liked the first episode, don’t worry. It definitely doesn’t drop in quality. And if you worried a bit after that premiere that this wasn’t the same “Torchwood” you knew and loved, fret not, the program starts to really get into gear by the end of the third chapter and there’s little reason to be concerned.

CHICAGO – The great television creator Shawn Ryan (“The Shield”) has taken over “Lie to Me” and turned what was a pretty generic mystery-of-the-week show into something that’s deserving of your attention. Taking the great Tim Roth and making him much more than just a cog in the serial machine, the two new episodes of “Lie to Me” that air tonight and next week make for intense, excellent television.

CHICAGO – When “Lie to Me” premiered earlier this year, the show simply didn’t work. But a lot has happened since then.