HollywoodChicago.com Content

CHICAGO – Has The Muppets comeback taken with the general populous? The wonderful movie from last year didn’t quite turn into the box office phenomenon that it deserved to be and I worry that we may have to wait for another comeback for Kermit, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, and the rest of the gang. Until then, satisfy yourself and teach your kids about these characters with the 20th anniversary edition of “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” new to Blu-ray.

CHICAGO – “ParaNorman” better be included in any conversation of the best animated films of 2012 and the excellent Blu-ray from Universal, released today, makes that case even further than the theatrical one with a stellar collection of special features and beautiful HD transfer. I love this movie.

CHICAGO – I am not (by any means) what you’d call a gear-head. I’m the guy who skips through the car reviews on “Top Gear” to get to the challenges, I’ve changed oil twice in my life, and my current sick ride is a 2001 Chevy Lumina with a bum tail light.

CHICAGO – Actor Corey Feldman, the star of iconic films such as “The Goonies,” “Stand by Me” and “The Lost Boys,” took part in an exclusive interview with Indie Outlook, the independent film blog launched by Hollywood Chicago staff writer Matt Fagerholm. Feldman discussed his new role in Joe Raffa’s supernatural thriller, “6 Degrees of Hell,” which is now available on DVD.

CHICAGO – There are people who made it who probably think that the real-world controversy around Trayvon Martin, which forced the film to abandon its original title of “Neighborhood Watch,” is what undid “The Watch” with Ben Stiller & Vince Vaughn, one of the biggest bombs of Summer 2012.

CHICAGO – Seeing Kim Novak’s first appearance in “Vertigo,” that stunning shot of a green dress in a sea of black suits at Ernie’s, is something that every movie fan should experience in HD. And now they can on one of the fifteen discs included in the glorious “Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection,” the Blu-ray release of 2012.

CHICAGO – John Carpenter was one of the most important filmmakers of the ’70s and ’80s but he fell hard after the release of his last great film, 1988’s “They Live,” recently released in a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray from Shout Factory’s horror branch, Scream Factory. Some might even quibble with that, arguing that “Live” was the start of the decline. The film was pretty widely ridiculed on release, although it’s gained a following in the quarter-century since, one that should be happy if not overjoyed by a long overdue Blu-ray release.

CHICAGO – Entering a freshly crowded field of first-person shooters, “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2” had a lot of buzz behind it. The good news is that the game virtually matches the hype. This is absolutely on the upper end of the get-it-while-it’s-new list. Those who have criticized Activision for turning “COD” into an annual cash cow simply have little to complain about here. Almost everything has been given the once over and improved upon.

CHICAGO – In this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 25 pairs of run-of-engagement, guaranteed, anytime movie passes up for grabs for “Hitchcock” starring Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock and Helen Mirren as his wife!

DALLAS – Larry Hagman, who created one of the most famous television villains of all time (J.R. Ewing of the TV nighttime soap sensation “Dallas”), passed away on Friday of complications from cancer. He was ironically in Dallas, Texas working on the new version of “Dallas,” which was recently resurrected by TNT.