Barry Pepper

CHICAGO – A first look at the new movie “The Lone Ranger” has been released, showing Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer in the leading roles of Tonto and John Reid (The Lone Ranger). Producer Jerry Bruckheimer leaked the image on Twitter this morning showing the masked Hammer and Depp in full Tonto costume.

CHICAGO – With the highest domestic gross of the entire career of the beloved Coen brothers (over $170 million domestically, ranking #13 for 2010 releases) and an amazing ten Oscar nominations, “True Grit” was easily one of the most popular films of the last year. I had some issues with the piece overall but I’m ecstatic that a piece like this one outgrossed so many of the more obviously commercial entries from the holiday season. It serves as proof that quality can still be profitable and the excellent Blu-ray release from Paramount treats the film’s many fans with appropriate respect.

CHICAGO – Baseball is a game made for the romantic hyperbole of otherwise stoic men. The appreciation of the game is often passed from Dad to son, so just in time for Father’s Day along comes two great baseball films, the Billy Crystal directed “61*” and the “When it Was a Game” collection.

CHICAGO – While Alex Gibney’s enraging 2010 documentary “Casino Jack and the United States of Money” brought cinematic immortality to the life of recently imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff, George Hickenlooper’s narrative re-telling transforms the cinema-obsessed criminal into the larger-than-life movie hero of his dreams. I have a sneaking suspicion that Abramoff may love this picture.

CHICAGO – The History Channel made headlines when it announced it was developing a mini-series called “The Kennedys” about the legendary family and even more of them when it dropped the finished product amidst rumors that some actual Kennedys had pressured them to do so. After other networks reportedly passed on the 8-part historical dramatization, it fell to the Reelz Channel.

CHICAGO – The halls of the Capitol Building are paved with money. It takes a long time beyond civics class and history to realize that. Kevin Spacey illustrates that concept precisely playing “super lobbyist” and convicted larcenist Jack Abramoff in “Casino Jack”.

CHICAGO – In our latest Kevin Spacey edition of the HollywoodChicago.com Hookup, we have a Kevin Spacey-signed poster for the new film “Casino Jack” up for grabs plus these Kevin Spacey DVDs: “The Usual Suspects,” “American Beauty” and “Swimming With Sharks”!

CHICAGO – “True Grit” seems like the perfect project for Joel and Ethan Coen; something they had been working toward their entire career. Not only had they made what could be considered a modern Western already in “No Country Old Men” but they were to bring together The Dude (Jeff Bridges) and Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) under the magnificent lens of the great Roger Deakins. It nearly had to be a masterpiece.

CHICAGO – One of the reasons that Blu-ray hasn’t taken over like so many of the technology’s early adopters hoped that it would is that a lot of the films that drove the success of standard DVD weren’t available on the format. It has taken time for early DVD hits like “The Matrix” and even “The Lord of the Rings” to come out in HD. When people buy a Blu-ray machine, they want to be able to get their favorite films right away. Now they can add another long-wanted option to the first-day-purchase list with “Saving Private Ryan”.

Blu-Ray Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – There’s arguably no bigger star on Earth than Will Smith but even the greats need a misfire to bring them crashing to the ground. “Seven Pounds” is a mess, a film of conflicting tones and arguably offensive themes, a movie that moves beyond traditional melodrama in just the first few minutes and keeps flying into the over-the-top stratosphere. The Sony Blu-Ray release is impressive, but the movie itself is not.