Willem Dafoe

Rating: 1.0/5.0

CHICAGO – It’s always risky for a screenwriter to craft a film about a family of writers in that when the result is a script so generically awful as that for “Fireflies in the Garden” it’s going to stick out even more prominently. After sitting on the shelf for years (it played festivals in 2008 and was supposed to be released that year) and reportedly undergoing some reshoots, this stale drama is finally getting a limited release and will prove just how limited it is to the poor saps who pay to see it.

CHICAGO – The word “phenomenon” is too liberally thrown by critics but it absolutely applies to “Boondock Saints,” a movie that made no waves at all upon its initial release but now has an incredibly loyal following, enough so that Fox has released yet-another edition of the movie to mark its tenth anniversary — “The Boondock Saints: Truth & Justice Edition.” Is the double dip worth your dime?

CHICAGO – Oliver Stone’s “Platoon” is easily one of the most important films in my life. It came out in theaters when I was eleven and I saw it not long after that on VHS. My parents decided that, despite the intensity of the film, its subject matter was important enough that I could handle it even at a young age. I remember being simply blown away by the movie for numerous reasons.

CHICAGO – Back in 2006, an unprecedented film project took place in Berlin, Germany, in the infamous Bebelplatz, a plaza that once hosted Nazi book burnings. The idea was to get 112 diverse individuals together to answer 100 questions. Their answers were processed by Ralf Schmerberg, the director of the resultant film, “Problema.”

CHICAGO – One of the most reliable scenarios in the horror movie playbook is the satanic possession of a human character. “Antichrist” is about a woman who isn’t possessed, but is nevertheless absolutely convinced that she is an instrument of the devil. This is a much scarier premise, since the greatest horrors externalized in the film are spawned entirely from the woman’s unstable psyche, deranged by guilt.

CHICAGO – “Daybreakers” didn’t make much of a dent at the box office ($30 million domestically) but I expect that a number of hardcore horror nuts will love this film when they finally catch up with it on Blu-ray and DVD. Not only is it an original, clever film but the Blu-ray release for it is a stunner with spectacular special features and technical specs.

Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – When David Lynch came to Chicago for an “Inland Empire” screening back in 2007, he offered memorable advice to a moviegoer baffled by his work. He said that his audience should meditate not on the “intellectual experience” provided by his films, but the emotional ideas that they conjure. Meditating on anything else would prove useless because, as Lynch put it, “If you meditate on buttermilk, you’ll end up going to the dairy.”

CHICAGO – In our latest edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have a VIP prize pack for 10 lucky winners for the new film “Daybreakers”!

Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – In the early part of the last decade, Michael and Peter Spierig (The Spierig Brothers) debuted with the unique zombie cult hit “Undead” and horror nuts waited to see what they’d do next. It took way too long but the brothers are back with the stylish, original “Daybreakers,” a vampire film that injects new life into an often-dead genre.

CHICAGO – The legendary Willem Dafoe, star of modern classics like “Platoon” and “Shadow of the Vampire,” is still one of the hardest working men in Hollywood. He has two films opening this week, a cameo role in “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant” and a lead in the controversial “Antichrist,” which he brought to the 45th Chicago International Film Festival and took time for an interview with HollywoodChicago.com.