Bruce Greenwood

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”).

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 25 pairs of movie passes up for grabs to the advance screening of the highly anticipated new “Star Trek Into Darkness” starring Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto from J.J. Abrams!

CHICAGO – Derek Cianfrance’s masterful “The Place Beyond the Pines” is a complex, epic piece of storytelling about the ripple effect of crime through families and across generations. Drastic action does not exist in a vacuum. It influences generations below and those impacted by their parent’s decisions.

CHICAGO – Robert Zemeckis’ brilliant “Flight” has garnered some interesting responses from my friends in that they seem to not like the film because they don’t like Whip Whitaker, Denzel Washington’s alcoholic asshole of a lead character that earned him an Oscar nomination. The fact that Whitaker doesn’t beg to be liked and allows for such a morally gray performance is why I love the film. It’s complex, character-driven storytelling that is becoming increasingly rare in cinema.

CHICAGO – Few films have more deftly walked the tightrope through a moral gray area than Robert Zemeckis’ stunning “Flight,” one of the best dramas of the year that also just happens to include the best performance from two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington in the last decade.

CHICAGO – Oscar-winning director Robert Zemeckis (“Back to the Future,” “Forrest Gump”) returns to live-action for the first time since “Cast Away” this week with the spectacular “Flight,” starring Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly, and Bruce Greenwood.

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 30 pairs of movie passes up for grabs to the highly anticipated advance screening of “Flight” with Denzel Washington from Robert Zemeckis!

CHICAGO – “For Greater Glory” attempts to bring back the David Lean style epic – even recruiting Peter O’Toole from “Lawrence of Arabia” to participate – in the story of a Mexican religious war in the 1920s. While a sincere effort, it can’t match the story to the epic history. The cast includes Andy Garcia, Eva Longoria and Bruce Greenwood.

CHICAGO – I had some notable problems with ABC’s “The River,” saying in my review of the series premiere, “…while the show has effective moments of horror, they never quite build the way you want them to in a cohesive piece due to the creators feeling the need to get at least one major scare between every break.” Watching where the show went with the first season DVD, hitting stores this week, I stand by my criticisms (I have problems with every episode) but I kind of wish that the creators had been given time to iron out their kinks. The fact is that there simply isn’t enough programming on network TV that one could call daring and while I think “The River” was flawed it was undeniably unlike anything else in your DVR.

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 40 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the advance screening of the new action epic “For Greater Glory” starring Andy Garcia and Eva Longoria!