Once

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 20 pairs of advance-screening movie passes up for grabs to the new music comedy/drama “Begin Again” from the writer and director of the Oscar-winning film and Broadway musical “Once”!

CHICAGO – Amiable charm compensates for scattershot laughs in Ryan O’Nan’s directorial debut, “Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best.” There’s an undercurrent of tangible warmth that reverberates beneath O’Nan’s awkward assemblage of quirky gags and self-consciously clever dialogue. Though I spent much of the film on the fence, it eventually won me over.

NEW YORK – The set-in-Chicago staging of “Clybourne Park” won Best Play, and the stageplay-based-on-the-movie “Once,” won Best Musical at the 66th Annual Tony Awards on Sunday night. “Once” took home eight Tony Awards, while its rival “Newsies the Musical’ won Best Score and Best Choreography.

CHICAGO – Amy Adams is one of the most charming, appealing, and brilliant actresses working in Hollywood today. Sure, she’s often been typecast in sweetly naive roles, and could definitely benefit from a change of pace. But seriously, who thought it was a good idea to cast her as a bitchy micromanager, first in the disappointing “Julie & Julia,” and now in this cataclysmic disaster? It’s yet another instance of Hollywood’s consistent gift for wasting talent.

HOLLYWOOD – Someone once said there are two kinds of people: “Those who are Irish and those who wish they were Irish.” While mom claimed I was the first, being an American for a few generations tossed me into the “mutt” category. If there truly is Irish in me, it’s in my big toe or my ring finger, which hardly makes me the Irish lass I had hoped.

CHICAGO – “No Country For Old Men,” “Juno,” “Once,” “Atonement,” “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “There Will Be Blood,” “Ratatouille,” “The Golden Compass,” “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” “La Vie en Rose,” “Michael Clayton” and more headlined the 80th Academy Awards on Feb. 24, 2008.

In total, “No Country For Old Men” led the pack with four Oscars followed by a surprising three for “The Bourne Ultimatum” and two for “There Will Be Blood”.

The soundtrack album for “Once” has been released by Canvasback, Columbia Records and Sony Music Soundtrax.

New Line Records will release the soundtrack to the upcoming New Line Cinema film “Hairspray” on July 10.

CHICAGO – While full coverage with interviews will follow a Chicago press day on May 8, 2007, I stand by the Irish indie film “Once” now as a critic’s pick.