Renee Zellweger

CHICAGO – Even before I figured out my own sexuality, Judy Garland’s status as a gay icon was known to me. I wouldn’t understand why until much later in my life, but sure as the sky was blue, the city was emerald, and the brick road was yellow, I knew I was a friend of Dorothy. Heartbreakingly, “Judy” paints a bleak portrait of the star, but never takes a look at the bigger picture.

NEW YORK CITY – Although many people will never think of Sarah Jessica Parker in any other role than Carrie Bradshaw of “Sex and the City,” the actor makes a major breakout with her new film, “Blue Night,” which premiered (naturally for her) at the 17th Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on April 19th, 2018.

CHICAGO – It’s the opening Sunday of the NFL, and what better time to celebrate the films that celebrate the sport that celebrate the ballers. Film history has a steroid-free stack of pro football films in all categories. Patrick McDonald, Jon Lennon Espino and Spike Walters of HollywoodChicago.com take on three prime examples.

CHICAGO – “Bridget Jones’s Baby” is the kind of geriatric sequel that makes you retroactively question whether the original film that inspired it was all that good to begin with – it’s less a film than a labored collection of contrived situations involving pregnancy and pratfalls. It’s not painfully unwatchable, but it’s unlikely to inspire anything remotely resembling amusement in its audiences.