Zachary Quinto

CHICAGO – The experience of director Oliver Stone, to look underneath the slimy rocks of government secrecy and bureaucracy, produces an excellent history lesson in “Snowden,” an overview of Edward Snowden, a whistleblower against the government who is still in exile.

CHICAGO – In the equation of the Star Trek universe, what works best is the emotional connection to the iconic crew. Co-screenwriter Simon Pegg – also portraying Scotty – knew this, and saved the rebooted series from its bloated second film. A magnificent adventure awaits with ‘Star Trek Beyond.’

CHICAGO – With J.J. Abrams not involved with the creation of a third “Star Trek” movie, a compendium of his work within the franchise only seems fitting. Loaded with special features but only a few new ones, this disc set is a strong choice for those who don’t already have both entertaining blockbusters in their collection.

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Michael Shannon of ‘Man of Steel,’ ‘Boardwalk Empire’ and ‘Take Shelter.’

CHICAGO – Last month’s 2013 version of the Wizard World Comic Con in Chicago was a memorable event, with appearances of Marvel Comic’s legend Stan Lee, favorites from the new Star Trek movies, ‘The Man of Steel,’ ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ and TV’s ‘Homeland,’ ‘The Walking Dead’ ‘Heroes’ and ‘Hawaii Five-0.’ HollywoodChicago.com was there to capture Exclusive Portraits.

CHICAGO – When you’ve got a movie as controversial among its core audience as J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek Into Darkness,” why would you court even more with a frustrating Blu-ray release pattern, one that essentially tries to milk the people who like the film for as much cash as conceivably possible?

CHICAGO – What’s better than two blockbusters for the price of one? HollywoodChicago.com readers will score 20 pairs of guaranteed pick-your-showing double-feature tickets plus 10 prize packs to “Star Trek Into Darkness” and “World War Z” for free!

CHICAGO – We can hardly contain our excitement in offering you the rare VIP experience to meet Stan Lee (the Marvel Comics mastermind) and Zachary Quinto (Spock in “Star Trek”) at Wizard World Chicago Comic Con on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2013!

CHICAGO – Of “Star Trek”’s 725+ hours of film and television over the years, I’ve seen at least…650 of them, probably more. I care about the franchise, care about its canon, and absolutely love taking every opportunity I can to explore its themes, scientific theories, history, and lore. It’s a show with nearly unequaled depth. Hell, seemingly years of my life have been spent at www.ditl.org reading about the soft-sciences behind the “Star Trek” mythos. I also really liked what JJ Abrams did with the property in the 2009 reboot, and its sequel, too - despite its…murky relationship with the laws of physics.

CHICAGO – The anticipation of experiencing the rebooted crew of the starship Enterprise now may overwhelm any creative team’s ability to deliver to that anticipation. “Star Trek Into Darkness” piles on the space war excess, while lessening the savory humanity and memorable characters.

CHICAGO – J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek Into Darkness” is like a really solid mid-season episode of a great TV series. Entertaining, for sure, but lacking the energy of a premiere or the stakes of a finale. It leaves fans wondering what’s next in the franchise, which will surely make Paramount happy, but doesn’t stand on its own like the truly great part twos (“The Dark Knight,” “The Empire Strikes Back”).