Jordana Brewster

CHICAGO – “Fast Five,” recently released on Blu-ray and DVD, is one of the most interesting pop culture phenomena of 2011. All of us who complain that sequels are never good and that films usually get worse as a franchise gets older had to admit that this was the exception to the rule. Not only the most critically-acclaimed film in the “Fast and the Furious” franchise, it also became the highest-grossing in the series, making an AMAZING $620 million worldwide and currently ranking fifth on the year in domestic gross.

CHICAGO – The familiar character actor Tyrese Gibson is on a roll. The singer, author and actor has recurring roles in two big film franchises, including the portrayal of Roman Pearce in “Fast Five,” set to release on Blu-Ray and DVD on Oct. 4, 2011.

CHICAGO – In our latest action/crime edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: DVD, we have 10 DVDs up for grabs for the home entertainment release of “Fast Five” starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson!

CHICAGO – Maybe director Justin Lin learned how to have fun directing the now-classic paintball episode of “Community.” Wherever he figured out that his movies need not be so damn self-serious or wordy, he took that knowledge to the set of “Fast Five,” a movie that this critic who hated “Fast & Furious” absolutely dreaded when it was first announced. Now I can’t wait for the inevitable sixth movie in the most unexpected mega-franchise of the new millennium.

CHICAGO – In our latest action/drama edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 100 admit-two passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of the new film “Fast Five” with Vin Diesel, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Paul Walker!

CHICAGO – TNT’s hit-and-miss cop drama “Dark Blue” returns tomorrow night, August 4th, 2010 with a great pair of episodes featuring the addition of the always-excellent Tricia Helfer of “Battlestar Galactica,” but the improvements aren’t merely in the supporting cast, as the first two hours of season two hint at the opposite of a sophomore slump.

CHICAGO – The Blu-Ray release of Universal’s “Fast & Furious,” also now available on DVD, is a tough one for a critic who hated the film when he had to review it in theaters. “Fast & Furious” is not a good movie, even when judged against the relatively low standards of this lackluster franchise. But the Blu-Ray? It’s pretty great.

CHICAGO – Maxim released their annual Hot 100 this week and made a surprising choice for their #1 slot, choosing “House” star Olivia Wilde over the popular favorite, Megan Fox of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”.

Rating: 1.0/5.0

CHICAGO – It took eight years to reunite the cast of the original “The Fast and the Furious” - Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, and Michelle Rodriguez. What’s changed in that time? The franchise lost two articles and gained an ampersand. Maybe the next film will simply be called “F F”. I can think of one word that starts with ‘F’ that certainly applies to the latest film - failure.

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(L to R) Paul Walker and Vin Diesel reteam as agent Brian OConner and fugitive ex-con Dom Toretto for the ultimate chapter of the franchise built on speed

CHICAGO – This 38-image slideshow contains the press images for Universal’s “Fast & Furious,” starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, John Ortiz, and Laz Alonso. Written by Chris Morgan and directed by Justin Lin, the film opens on Friday, April 3rd, 2009.