Gerard Butler

CHICAGO – The plays of William Shakespeare, influencing culture and morality for over 400 years, continue to open themselves up to new interpretations and settings. Ralph Fiennes directs and stars in a film version adaptation of “Coriolanus,” set against the modern day machinations of politics and war.

CHICAGO – When one movie has an ex-con, drug retribution violence, his religious conversion, his building of a church, his preaching, his trip to Southern Sudan in Africa, his opening of an orphanage and his family, then it’s too big a story to tell. Therein lies the challenge for “Machine Gun Preacher.”

CHICAGO – Gerard Butler is movie star good looking, that is very apparent when meeting him. What wasn’t expected was his keen insight, passion and perspective on taking on a challenge and playing a true-life Pennsylvania preacher, who ends up helping children in the most corrupted areas of the Southern Sudan in Africa, in “Machine Gun Preacher.”

CHICAGO – “How to Train Your Dragon” is one of the best mainstream animated films of the last several years. After years of watching Pixar deservedly take home most of the critical acclaim in the medium, DreamWorks has produced a film that deserves mention in the same breath as the Pixar greats. With gorgeous visuals, strong voice work, and confident storytelling, “How to Train Your Dragon,” recently released on Blu-ray and DVD, works for all ages and will surely become one of the most highly-desired and purchased titles of the upcoming season.

CHICAGO – 2009 was a very bad year for Gerard Butler. He has the potential to be one of the most appealing actors in Hollywood, but like Hugh Jackman, he’s usually cast in roles that sap him of all his inherent charisma, such as the obnoxious misogynist in “The Ugly Truth” or the tormented prisoner in “Gamer.” Yet while both of those films were tortuously awful, “Law Abiding Citizen” at least has the germ of a good idea.

CHICAGO – Welcome to cinematic hell. Some films are torturous purely because of their predictability or poor quality. “Gamer,” the latest ambitious effort from “Crank” creators Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, is blatantly visceral torture aimed directly at a moviegoer’s eyes and ears. It’s nearly impossible to watch the film’s opening minutes without feeling the instinctual need to switch it off.

CHICAGO – Here’s an alleged romantic comedy as clueless about romance as it is about comedy. It has a premise designed to illustrate how women think with their minds, while men think with their nether regions. Yet the male and female leads of “The Ugly Truth” are practically indistinguishable from each other.

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Katherine Heigl stars in Columbia Pictures comedy The Ugly Truth.

CHICAGO – This 29-image slideshow contains the official press images for “The Ugly Truth,” starring Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, Eric Winter, John Michael Higgins, Nick Searcy, Kevin Connolly, and Cheryl Hines. It was written by Nicole Eastman and Karen McCullah Lutz & Kirsten Smith. The film opens on July 24th, 2009.

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s influential graphic novel “Watchmen” may have not made the impact that we all expected it to in theaters, but it is a film and book that still has legions of fans. Fan of the book or the movie or both should take a look at the interesting “Tales of the Black Freighter,” a companion piece that fills in the world of “Watchmen” and is now available on Blu-Ray.

CHICAGO – Another week, another edition of HollywoodChicago.com’s legendary Round-Up. Any TV fans out there? Lovers of sci-fi action movies? Afficionados of Rachel McAdams? If you still like Guy Ritchie, raise your hand. Now, all of you, step up to the Round-Up.