July 2011

CHICAGO – “Another Earth” is a delicate movie. The emotions, atmosphere and philosophy feels like the whole thing could shatter at any moment, that’s how balanced it is on the edge of tomorrow. Through Brit Marling’s screenplay and performance, the very nature of who we are is questioned.

CHICAGO – There is nothing wrong with “The Smurfs” that a thousand volts of electricity couldn’t cure. It is well made, looks good in the optional 3-D and has a competent cast trying their hardest. What it lacks is a spark, either of nostalgia or a fresh update, as it meanders with the seen-it-all-before template.

CHICAGO – Jon Favreau’s “Cowboys & Aliens” opens today and is guaranteed to make millions more at the international box office than Joe Cornish’s “Attack the Block.” That’s the bad news. The good news is that I can also guarantee you that history will regard the smaller film as the significantly better one. The line for this future cult hit starts here. Get in it before your friends tell you to.

CHICAGO – In our latest action/drama/sci-fi edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 25 admit-two advance-screening passes up for grabs to the early Chicago screening of the new film “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” starring James Franco!

Rating: 2.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Despite the best efforts by Jenna Fischer (“The Office”) playing against type as a smoking, drinking newly-single mother, “A Little Help” is a mess. This dramedy consists of the kind of characters one only sees in a movie theater and usually only in an indie flick that thinks it’s much smarter and has much more to say about the human condition than it actually does.

CHICAGO – Episodic ensemble pieces in America often follow a contrived pattern typified by Paul Haggis’s “Crash.” Various diverse lives are juxtaposed and intersect while illustrating an overarching theme. What’s so refreshing about Bruno Podalydès’s 2009 French gem, “Park Benches,” is its utter lack of dramatic significance. It’s more interested in exploring the idiosyncrasies of humanity rather than preaching a self-important message.

Rating: 2.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Jon Favreau’s “Cowboys & Aliens” with Daniel Craig & Harrison Ford is a depressing snooze, a film with so many of the right elements but none of the personality to connect them into something memorable. With so many revisions from a number of writers, it feels like everyone added their own color to the piece until it all faded to gray.

CHICAGO – “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” is undeniably clichéd, broad in its humor, and a bit manipulative in its sentimentality, but it should be. This is a movie about grand statements, soulmates, and true passion, a film that unabashedly believes in the craziness and the stupidity of what we call love. It’s also one of the most purely entertaining films of the year.

CHICAGO – When most people hear that I’m a TV critic, they usually make a snarky comment about the disaster of reality TV. While I agree that a vast majority of it is nearly unbearable, I don’t think it’s fair to lump the entire genre into one negative bundle. It’s not surprising that I love the critical darlings like “Survivor,” “The Amazing Race,” and “Top Chef” but jaws drop when I try to defend MTV’s massive hit “Jersey Shore,” the third season of which was just released in an uncensored, 4-disc set.

CHICAGO – One of the true powers of the new film “Another Earth,” is the essential performance of Brit Marling as Rhoda, the lead character who seeks redemption in the midst of an interplanetary event that shakes up the universe. Her deep portrayal is enhanced by her role as co-writer of the screenplay.

CHICAGO – However, unexpectedly, the past few weeks have seen the release of some major trailers for movies that are targeted for typically off-season release months (September, October, January), and most of them look fairly awesome. While a few underwhelm (looking at you, “Paranormal Activity 3”), the rest feature some of the coolest, most exciting movie trailers that we’ve seen all year.

CHICAGO – In between the second and third installments of his infamous “Apu Trilogy,” Bengali master of cinema Satyajit Ray made two films that were striking departures from his signature portrait of poverty-stricken youth. The first was 1958’s failed comedy “The Philosopher’s Stone” (sorry, Potterheads, no relation) and the second was 1959’s masterpiece, “The Music Room.”

CHICAGO – HollywoodChicago.com founder and publisher Adam Fendelman joins the 80th episode of the CinemaJaw podcast to discuss the best video game movies (if there are any). Listen now below to find out which make the top five!

CHICAGO – Very few films from 1963 have the timelessness of Akira Kurosawa’s perfect thriller “High and Low,” a daring piece of tension-building work that takes place almost entirely in one room and in real-time. With people like Martin Scorsese, Mike Nichols, and David Mamet circling a potential remake for years, it’s no wonder the film was chosen for the Blu-ray upgrade this month by Criterion. It’s a classic from one of the form’s best directors.