HollywoodChicago.com Arts & Entertainment News

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 25 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the advance screening of “Snow White and the Huntsman” with Charlize Theron!

CHICAGO – In 2012, one of the undisputed movie champions will be Christopher Nolan’s (final) Batman trilogy film: “The Dark Knight Rises”.

WHEATON, Ill. – Studio Movie Grill opens its first Midwest in-theater dining venue in Wheaton, Ill. on June 8, 2012 at 301 Lake Square. This new breed of theater-going takes the guesswork out of planning a night of dinner and a movie by combining the two. Opening film titles include “Prometheus,” “Rock of Ages,” “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” and “Safety Not Guaranteed”.

CHICAGO – Lionsgate announced 2-disc Blu-ray and DVD editions of their massive hit “The Hunger Games” to be released on August 18, 2012 complete with three hours of extensive bonus features. The highlight of the bonus material is an eight-part documentary called “The World is Watching: Making of The Hunger Games.”

CHICAGO – Abbas Kiarostami’s “Certified Copy” should have made my top ten last year. Every year, there’s a movie or two that I realize halfway through the next year that I didn’t praise to the right degree. Just a year later, “Certified Copy,” recently released in resplendent Criterion Blu-ray and DVD editions, feels even more like a monumental work, a brilliant filmmaking exercise that features spectacular performances, beautiful writing, and some of the most interesting thematic work of the last several years. With great special features, this is a perfect addition to the Criterion Collection.

CHICAGO – Thanks to the internet, movie trailers are having a bit of a golden age recently. They’ve never had a wider reach and, as a result, they’ve never had a bigger cultural impact.

CHICAGO – Nothing jars an audience quite like the sudden appearance of a fearsome apparition in a dimly lit room. Even hokey thrillers like William Castle’s “House on Haunted Hill” still manage to make viewers jump from their seats by using this reliable horror standby. “The Woman in Black” has one such moment, but it is surrounded by a murky sea of grim tedium.

CHICAGO – When creating a film about the origins of the vibrator, it’s best not to take yourself too seriously. The brassy, bubbly director Tanya Wexler helped convert a two page premise into a sly romantic comedy. The cast of Maggie Gyllehaal, Hugh Dancy, Jonathan Pryce, and Felicity Jones take the journey with her.

CHICAGO – AMC’s watchable western series “Hell on Wheels” is just good enough to sustain audience interest despite its meandering plot. As soon as Gustavo Santaolalla’s catchy theme music kicks in over the brooding title sequence, it’s effortless to become absorbed within Joe and Tony Gayton’s handsomely photographed dramatization of the first transcontinental railroad’s epic construction in 1865.

Update at 8:25 p.m. on May 23, 2012: Due to the popularity of this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup, the Randolph Street Market Festival has agreed for us to increase our winners from 50 to 75 admit-twos!

CHICAGO – Exclusive! In this special HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Festival with our unique social giveaway technology, we bring you 75 admit-two festival passes plus free collectible appraisals for the Randolph Street Market Festival!

CHICAGO – Hulu, in addition to being a most enjoyable word to say while jumping out of a plane (Huluuuuuu!) is also one of the most popular websites on the internet for streaming video from television’s biggest channels. Featuring content from FOX, NBC, ABC, CBS and a litany of other networks, Hulu.com has essentially replaced the re-run in eyes of the American lexicon.

CHICAGO – “The Devil Inside” is the kind of film where a character says no two exorcisms are the same and that you never know what’s gonna happen and yet this movie feels EXACTLY the same as so much direct-to-DVD junk and you totally know what’s going to happen at every turn. In fact, the only way to avoid yet another predictable ending for this snooze of a film was for the producers not to provide one. Consider it a spoiler if you haven’t heard the rage already but the non-ending of “The Devil Inside” has been called one of the worst of all time and I can’t disagree. This movie is total dreck and that’s coming from somone who loves an over-the-top possession film more than your average critic.

CHICAGO – Fans have been asking me for months when Walter White and Jesse Pinkman would return for the fifth and final season of AMC’s amazing “Breaking Bad” and we can now reveal that the date to mark on your calendar is Sunday, July 15, 2012. Eight episodes of the fifth season will air in 2012 with the final eight not airing until 2013. Yes, one could say this is cheating and that we’re just getting a shortened season five and a shortened season six. However you want to slice it, eight this summer, eight next summer.