Common

CHICAGO – Pick your pun — “Happy Feet Two” stumbles, trips, and has two left feet when compared to the Academy Award-winning original. Cluttered with characters, poorly paced, and tonally inconsistent, George Miller’s follow-up to his massive hit barely registered in theaters, but comes home with a pretty strong Blu-ray release from Warner Bros.

CHICAGO – AMC has had quite the up and down year for itself. While the basic cable network has had some behind the scenes struggles with some of its hit shows (including contract struggles for “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead” showrunner Frank Darabont stepping down this past summer), the network has still had good enough ratings to renew all four of its series that ran during 2011.

CHICAGO – Dancing animated penguins, a tradition dating back to Disney’s “Mary Poppins” and brought to further life in the first “Happy Feet” movie, finds more stepping pep in “Happy Feet Two.” Robin Williams and Elijah Wood return to lend their vocal talents in this enjoyable sequel.

CHICAGO – AMC has been on such a creative streak lately that it’s tempting to think (or at least hope) that every new offering will be of the caliber of “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad,” “The Killing,” or “The Walking Dead.”

CHICAGO – Fueling his passion for hip-hop, director Michael Rapaport premieres his new documentary, “Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest”. Proving that show biz never changes despite the category, this is a backstage look at the triumphs, misunderstandings, fall and rise again of the rap group “A Tribe Called Quest.”

CHICAGO – In our latest documentary edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 30 admit-two passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of the new film “Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest”!

CHICAGO – Romantic movies thrive on cliches in the same way that slasher movies need a body count and musicals need a bit of song and dance. Success or failure is all in the execution of the known commodity of cliche. With actors as charismatic as Queen Latifah and Common in the lead roles, it’s easy to overlook said commodity in the relatively-charming “Just Wright,” now on Blu-ray and DVD.

CHICAGO – “Date Night” is one of the few word-of-mouth hits of 2010; a film that started off reasonably well at the box office but hung around the top ten for months after its release, turning it into an undeniable comedy success. The comedy starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey opened in second place but dropped so slowly that it almost made $100 million (a huge amount for a movie like this one and plus another $50 million internationally). The movie’s loyal fans will love the excellent Blu-ray release from 20th Century Fox.

CHICAGO – In our latest romantic sports comedy edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 25 admit-two run-of-engagement movie passes up for grabs to the new film “Just Wright” with Queen Latifah and Common!

CHICAGO – Queen Latifah and the rapper Common put an interesting and necessary twist on the romantic comedy genre, but still cannot help but fall back on the recurring rom-com clichés that eventually undermines the new film “Just Wright.”