Jared Harris

CHICAGO – The long-awaited return of AMC’s four-time Emmy Best Drama winner “Mad Men” is finally here and there seems to be more doubt than ever before. Will the 17 months since a new episode hurt the show creatively? Can “Mad Men” stay as culturally important and creatively consistent this far into its run or will it start to struggle?

CHICAGO – The production team of “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” – designers, crew, writers, director and actors – should be proud of the level of respect they have given and embodied in delivering an updated Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Professor Moriarty and the like. They take liberties, of course, but they also make sure that the truth of the characters are always intact.

CHICAGO – In our latest blockbuster edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 40 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the highly anticipated sequel “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law!

CHICAGO – John Carpenter’s “The Ward” would make for a satisfying episode of the now-canceled “Masters of Horror” and might therefore be an interesting rental someday but it doesn’t live up to the pedigree of its once-brilliant director and ultimately disappoints regardless of the name above the title. After a decade away from the big screen, Carpenter proves he still has his legendary skill with tension and the film features a few strong performances but the script is a generic, derivative mess.

CHICAGO – Paramount/Criterion made a huge announcement today, revealing that David Fincher’s Oscar-winning “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” will be inducted into The Criterion Collection in its debut on DVD and Blu-Ray on May 5th, 2009. The Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett drama will arrive in a two-disc special edition DVD and two-disc Blu-Ray with over three hours of special features.