July 2010

CHICAGO – Lucy Walker’s “Countdown to Zero” is the most terrifying film of the year and one of the most frightening documentaries in a long time. The director pushes the envelope of taste a bit too far in the fear-mongering final act and underlines her point a few too many times in the process but the education that comes with the terror is a necessary one.

CHICAGO – “Paying homage” and “ripping off” are not the same thing. A picture like Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” gathers fragments of our collective cinematic memories, and places them in an entirely fresh dreamscape of the mind. Miguel Sapochnik’s “Repo Men” assembles pieces of other movies and claims them as its own creation. The film opens like “Blade Runner,” ends like “Brazil,” and looks suspiciously like plagiarism.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – The rise of Zac Efron has been one of the more interesting movie stories of the past year. Fresh from his notable role in “Me and Orson Welles,’ Efron takes the lead in “Charlie St. Cloud,” with veteran actors Ray Liotta and Kim Basinger. This journey into afterlife issues highlights some nice acting chops from Efron.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – The third of the Steve Carrell Seasonal Movie Trilogy debuts with the uneven but absurd comedy “Dinner for Schmucks.” Paul Rudd, now the go-to actor for straight-man-yuppie-turned-wild-dude joins a strong cast, including the ubiquitous Zach Galifianakis, Jemaine Clement (”Flight of the Concords”), and Bruce Greenwood.

CHICAGO – As someone who has often gone home with a straight-to-DVD action movie that I hadn’t heard of before entering the video store, I know how easy it is to get drawn into something that looks a little bit left-of-center. “Operation: Endgame” is undeniably unusual but that doesn’t mean it’s any good.

CHICAGO – When did all slasher pics from the early ’80s become “cult classics”? You will find very few people as well-versed in the sub-genre as this writer who will gladly contrast and compare “Friday the 13th” sequels or discuss the merits of “April Fool’s Day,” “Basket Case,” and “My Bloody Valentine.” And yet not every film from the era deserves a cult following merely because it has grisly deaths, some T&A, and a twist ending. For example, take “The Prowler,” now out on Blu-ray from the great Blue Underground.

CHICAGO – The 1960s movie stars, captured forever on celluloid in their era, still thrive and survive. At the recent Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show, Oscar winner George Kennedy (”Cool Hand Luke”) and cult star Carol Lynley (”Bunny Lake is Missing”) spoke about the long time passing 1960s.

CHICAGO – “Fairytales should really be updated,” muses the puckish Shrek during a final plea for the affections of a reluctant princess. It is one of those startlingly honest and quietly irreverent insights that “Shrek the Musical” is all too wary to boast, but is a welcome dagger into the cavalcade of childhood morality tales that, year after year, infiltrate the bulk of shooting star wishes and Barbie dream-houses.

CHICAGO – Almost laughably trying to blend FOX hits “American Idol” and “Hell’s Kitchen,” the new cooking competition show “Masterchef,” which debuts on Tuesday, July 27th, 2010, is nowhere near as interesting as either and falls ridiculously flat when compared to the excellent “Top Chef.”

CHICAGO – With “Transformers 3” filming now in Chicago (and destroying our Magnificent Mile in the name of blockbuster moviemaking), we’ve seen pictures pop up all across the Web of Michael Bay’s magic in action.

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(L to R) Sam (Charlie Tahan) and his brother, Charlie (Zac Efron).

CHICAGO – This 23-image slideshow contains all of the official press images for the highly anticipated “Charlie St. Cloud,” starring Zac Efron, Amanda Crew, Donal Logue, Charlie Tahan, Ray Liotta, and Kim Basinger. The film was written by Craig Pearce and Lewis Colick from the book by Ben Sherwood and directed by Burr Steers. It will be released on July 30th, 2010.

CHICAGO – Some art house films are political polemics disguised as personal stories. “Entre Nos” is not one of them. Though its DVD includes a PSA on immigration reform, and comes packaged with a label exclaiming, “One of Michael Moore’s 20 ‘Best Pictures of 2009,’” the film itself does not have a message to preach. It’s a tale of people rather than ideas, and is all the more effective because of it.

CHICAGO – The 1970s were the golden age for the youthful, angst-ridden style of filmmaking, but it also had its share of fun with James Bond, super bad action films and Burt Reynolds comedies. Richard “Jaws” Kiel, Fred “The Hammer” Williamson and character actor James Hampton experienced that side of the 1970s, and told all at the Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show.

CHICAGO – The excellent “Being Human” returns tonight, July 24th, 2010 with a spectacular season premiere that kicks off the continuously complex lives of Mitchell the vampire (Aidan Turner), George the werewolf (Russell Tovey), and Annie the ghost (Leonora Crichlow).