Renée Zellweger

CHICAGO – What’s an inevitability when a company like Lionsgate gets access to a film archive like that of Miramax (besides the wonderful wave of Blu-ray reissues that has seen recent HD releases of “Amelie,” “Shakespeare in Love,” “Swingers,” and more)? DVD collections! Three of today’s biggest stars, all three Oscar winners, are getting the 4-film collection treatment from the company this week with some definite fan favorites in each set. Pick your favorite.

CHICAGO – There have been a series of catalog releases so far this year (releases that aren’t exactly new but weren’t available in HD before) and there are many exciting ones still to come (Universal has an amazing slate of releases scheduled throughout the year). 2012 is going to be the year in which you complete your collection. You may want to include one of the three recently-released Lionsgate/Miramax movies to celebrate Oscar season. These were some of the Academy’s most beloved.

CHICAGO – Some films invite instant parodies before they’re even released. Jodie Foster’s ill-advised Mel Gibson vehicle, “The Beaver,” is one of them. Christian Alvart’s long-buried Renée Zellweger vehicle “Case 39” is another. The film’s tagline reads, “Some cases should never be reopened,” which inspires the obvious (and defensible) retort, “Some films should never be released.”

Rating: 1.0/5.0

CHICAGO – A film where a little girl screams as her foster parents attempt to brutally murder her can be a tough sell to theater owners. Perhaps that’s why Paramount’s “Case 39” with Renee Zellweger and Bradley Cooper has been sitting on studio shelves for years since it closed production in 2006. How do you market a film that chooses to turn the world of foster parenting into a horror thriller?

CHICAGO – Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr.’s “New in Town,” now on DVD and Blu-Ray, was a massive bomb in theaters, opening in 8th place and grossing only $17 million, less than any widely-released Zellweger film in her entire career.

CHICAGO – Universal Home Video is releasing a wave of titles timed for Father’s Day gifts. Some of their choices - “Field of Dreams,” “Fletch” - seem like logical picks for a better HD daddy day than another striped tie while others seem chosen purely because they have the word “Men” or “Man” in the title - “Children of Men,” “Cinderella Man,” “Inside Man”.

CHICAGO – Actor Harry Connick Jr. flashed the HollywoodChicago.com lens a welcoming smile while signing autographs for fans in the name of his new film “New in Town” on Jan. 28, 2009 at the Shops of North Bridge mall on downtown Chicago’s Michigan Avenue.

CHICAGO – I expect “Appaloosa” to be one of the more hard-to-get movies at your local video stores for the next few months. It’s the kind of movie - action-driven and widely missed in theaters - that does very well on the home market. Renters will find an old-fashioned Western that may not transcend its genre but will certainly provide more than enough entertainment on a snowy winter’s eve.

CHICAGO – George Clooney’s latest film, “Leatherheads,” brings light-hearted, screwball antics and slapstick blunders to the screen with a romantic tale that tells how professional football came to be.