Chris Evans

Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Another great Michael Shannon performance should come as no surprise as everything he touches lately seems to be interesting, from “Take Shelter” to “Boardwalk Empire” to letters written by batshit crazy sorority girls. However, his increasingly impressive ability can’t save “The Iceman,” a misguided, clichéd hitman flick that careens tonally and doesn’t really justify its existence. It doesn’t work as thriller or as drama, serving as little more than a performance piece for its talented star.

5/10/13 12:46 p.m. update: Due to popular demand, we’ve increased this Hookup from 30 pairs to 50 pairs!
CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 50 pairs of movie passes up for grabs to the advance screening of “The Iceman” (a true story!) starring Michael Shannon and Winona Ryder!

CHICAGO – Warner Brothers has been unleashing catalog titles on Blu-ray at a rate that would strain the bank account of pro athletes. Every week lately sees a wave of movies that have never been on Blu-ray before joining the HD revolution. This quartet is particularly varied with one timeless classic, an underrated performance from an underrated actor, and two moderate action movies. Pick your favorite. My order of preference is as follows:

CHICAGO – If there’s one thing that Marvel superhero movies do well, it’s set up extremely-high expectations for the next Marvel superhero movie. “Iron Man 2” got us excited for “Thor.”

CHICAGO – When I was a kid, summer movies were an event. They weren’t just marketing tricks, young adult adaptations, or unnecessary sequels. They were blockbusters that you put on the calendar and counted the days until their arrival.

CHICAGO – As promised in our article yesterday about the new “The Avengers” poster, a new trailer has been released today for the upcoming Marvel film that is to be released on May 4. The new trailer gives a further look into the recruiting of the Avengers Initiative, as well as an all new look at the action and crazy alien warships attacking earth.

CHICAGO – A new poster for “The Avengers” has been released by Marvel, and you can take a look at it right here. The poster comes a day before a new trailer for the film is promised and just over two months before the film is released.

CHICAGO – Aside from the whole football thing, Superbowl Sunday has always been known as the launch-pad for some of the best commercials in the world and Hollywood has traditionally used the event as the launch-pad for the annual marketing blitzes for their best, brightest, and most expensive films of the year.

CHICAGO – A sneak peek has hit the web for “The Avengers” advertisement that will premiere during the Super Bowl this Sunday and gives more looks of action, explosions, Iron Man in flight, and a screaming Hulk. “The Avengers” is just one of many films that will be putting out a new advertisement during the biggest football game of the year on Sunday.

CHICAGO – Even the name makes it sound like a prequel. There are definitely elements of Joe Johnston’s “Captain America: The First Avenger” that work and the film is certainly worth a rental and certainly better than “Green Lantern” (although nowhere near the entertainment value of “X-Men: First Class”) but I can’t shake the feeling that this blockbuster won’t stand the test of time on its own. It’s an introduction to next year’s “The Avengers,” a way to get the character into the modern Marvel vernacular, that gets less interesting as it goes along. It is very likely that both Joss Whedon’s film and the inevitable sequel to this one will be superior pieces of entertainment but this “First” chapter is a bit of a disappointment.