Piper Perabo

CHICAGO – I clearly loved “Looper” as evidenced by my initial review, interview with Rian Johnson, placement of Emily Blunt on my Best Supporting Performances of 2012 piece, and putting it #9 on my Best of 2012. Watching it again in glorious HD, I had a surprising thought given all of the above — I may have underrated it.

CHICAGO – It’s so refreshing to see a talented filmmaker that has been allowed to bring his unique vision to the screen without compromise. You know the feeling when you’re watching a product of a marketing focus group or producer interference and when you’re seeing something fresh, new, and personal.

CHICAGO – Two of cable’s sexiest shows return tonight with the season premieres of USA’s “White Collar” and “Covert Affairs,” airing back-to-back at 8pm and 9pm CST, respectively. Whatever one can say critically about these inconsistent programs, it’s impossible to deny the fact that women swoon for Matt Bomer and men drool over Piper Perabo.

CHICAGO – USA continues to lead the way in terms of cable ratings. While FX and TNT have their loyal audiences and critics adore HBO and AMC, it’s really USA that can boast the most remarkable claims in terms of breakthrough ratings. Some of their biggest hits regularly clobber network competition. Two of them just hit DVD — “Suits: Season One” and “Covert Affairs: Season Two.” Fans will be happy with both but I have a clear favorite.

CHICAGO – In the mid-season premiere of “Covert Affairs,” Annie Walker (Piper Perabo) is learning what it’s like to be alone. The fact is that CIA Operatives don’t have many friends. It’s too dangerous for both sides of the relationship. How can you keep your friends and family around when you know they could get killed? And what do you when it’s your very family who you learn you can’t trust?

CHICAGO – In an era where America’s budget concerns are front and center, a TV series celebrating the awesomeness of the CIA seems a bit ill-timed. Piper Perabo portrays an undercover operative in the second season premiere of USA Network’s “Covert Affairs.”

CHICAGO – USA has a proven formula for success and they show no sign of slowing down in that department, adding new hits like “Covert Affairs” and “Fairly Legal” to a line-up of proven successes like “Burn Notice” and “Psych.” The first season of the very hit-and-miss “Affairs” and the second season of the more-consistent “Royal Pains” recently hit DVD from Universal and they’re both sets designed for fans of the network.

CHICAGO – In our latest edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: TV, we have one prize pack up for grabs for USA Network’s “Covert Affairs” with Piper Perabo from the producer of “The Bourne Identity,” “The Bourne Supremacy” and “The Bourne Ultimatum”!

CHICAGO – “If you join the CIA, will you be able to separate your work from your personal life?” Such is the dilemma of “Covert Affairs,” a show about a tough-as-nails agent named Annie Walker (Piper Perabo) that conceptually seems to fit snugly into the USA Network model of hit, character-driven mysteries, but it’s going to take some serious work to improve on a deeply-flawed premiere.

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Disney’s “Beverly Hills Chihuahua”, now on Blu-Ray and DVD, is so generic and disposable that it’s easy for an adult to forget they’re watching it while it’s playing. It’s one of those movies that appeals to the little ones because talking animals naturally do so, but so little was done beyond the casting and the concept that adults are going to get bored quickly.