Keira Knightley

CHICAGO – David Cronenberg’s “A Dangerous Method,” recently released on Blu-ray and DVD, features four of the most interesting performances of 2011 and is certainly a conversation piece in the themes that writer Christopher Hampton has chosen to explore. I still wish it had more of the actual “danger” of Cronenberg’s early work but there’s more to like here than I first thought, especially in what was brought to the material by those cast to deliver it.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – There are glimpses of actual danger in David Cronenberg’s divisive “A Dangerous Method” with Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen, and Keira Knightley, and the film has a lingering power as it’s easy to roll around your brain and contemplate its themes, but I wanted a bit more actual risk to the filmmaking. Easily the masterful director’s most straightforward work in some time (possibly ever), this is a worthwhile piece that nonetheless disappoints in the context of the rest of his filmography.

CHICAGO – Chicago movie buffs psyched for the 47th Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) have a limited-time opportunity to purchase their passes at a discounted price. Festivalgoers can save $10 on their purchase through Sept. 21, 2011. CIFF has wisely enticed attendees by releasing the names of their 25 official selections at the 2011 festival, which is scheduled from Oct. 6 through the Oct. 20, 2011.

CHICAGO – Three of the best young living actors turn Mark Romanek’s adaptation of the highly-acclaimed novel “Never Let Me Go” into one of the more lingering films of 2010, and now released on Blu-ray and DVD from Fox. You know how some films dissipate on the ride home, so much so that you barely remember the plot? The opposite are those movies that burrow their way into your memory and grow with time. “Never Let Me Go” is definitely one of those.

CHICAGO – Six strong female contenders are up for two leading female roles in “The Dark Knight” follow-up film “The Dark Knight Rises,” according to Deadline New York on Thursday.

CHICAGO – Sometimes catalog titles are pulled from the vaults and given the HD upgrade for tie-in reasons that are obvious, but why now for Joe Wright’s “Pride & Prejudice” and “Atonement”? Is it because “Atonement” breakthrough star Saoirse Ronan is appearing in “The Lovely Bones”?

CHICAGO – Every year produces a movie or two that dazzles with beautiful costumes and lavishly recreated period settings but falls flat when it comes to character.

CHICAGO – In our latest edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 25 admit-two passes up for grabs to the Chicago screening of “The Duchess,” which stars Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Hayley Atwell, Charlotte Rampling and Dominic Cooper.