HollywoodChicago.com Content

CHICAGO – Spike Jonze’s “Where the Wild Things Are” is a beautiful, moving, daring, complex, gorgeous piece of filmmaking that was underappreciated during its theatrical release but that I can guarantee you will have a long, beloved life on Blu-ray and DVD. With well over 200 films seen in 2009, “Where the Wild Things Are” rose to the top for this critic. It may not win any Oscars on Sunday, but history will regard it as the best film of last year.

CHICAGO – The “thin blue line,’ that imaginary border that separates society between order and chaos, is experienced on a daily basis by the police “force.” The human beings knighted with this responsibility are “Brooklyn’s Finest.”

CHICAGO – It’s like living in a dream. Director Tim Burton’s adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” uses 3-D magic for a timeless classic and creates gratitude for this current era of technology and creativity.

CHICAGO – Wesley Snipes is a great dresser, among other talents. The coolness and intuitive skills that he had displayed in “Blade,” “White Men Don’t Jump’ and “Passenger 57” is in evidence again with his role of Caz in “Brooklyn’s Finest.”

CHICAGO – Foreign film fans and art house aficionados rejoice! The Annual European Union Film Festival is back at the Siskel Film Center, offering Chicagoans a rare and illuminating journey through contemporary world cinema.

CHICAGO – As a character in Syfy’s version of “Alice” says, “Does this look like a kid’s story to you?” Excepting, of course, the beloved Disney version, there have actually been a number of takes on “Alice in Wonderland” arguably made more for adults than children. Two such versions from very different eras have been released on Blu-ray and DVD to coincide with the theatrical dominance of Johnny Depp & Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland”. Can’t get enough of Alice and The Mad Hatter? Pick up one or both of these.

CHICAGO – Horror fans heard the buzz surrounding “Cabin Fever” for months before it came out and the film launched Mr. Eli Roth to the “Hostel” films and even a role in the multiple Oscar nominee “Inglourious Basterds”. That film has now been released on Blu-ray to coincide with its straight-to-DVD sequel “Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever,” itself directed by an already-acclaimed new horror director, “House of the Devil“‘s Ti West.

CHICAGO – Hayao Miyazaki has made some of the most magical, wonderful films in the history of animation. He is easily one of the medium’s most influential and talented filmmakers and one need look no further than this week’s special edition releases of “Castle in the Sky,” “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” “My Neighbor Totoro,” and “Ponyo,” the last of which comes in a Blu-ray/DVD combo. Pick them all up.

CHICAGO – Watching commercial-free episodes back-to-back on DVD illuminates a show’s strengths and weaknesses (while also making drinking games easier to spot from a show’s repetitive moments). “Lost” and “24” were helped amply by their season sets, as their breakneck pace worked even better without a need to push fast forward on a DVR remote.

CHICAGO – Content Director Brian Tallerico and Staff Writers Matt Fagerholm and Patrick McDonald have merged their movie-loving minds and come up with the ultimate Oscar preview.