Liam Neeson

CHICAGO – It’s been 20 years since “Schindler’s List” became a critical and commercial phenomenon, winning Best Picture and Best Director for the first time in the legendary career of its beloved filmmaker, Steven Spielberg. Since then, it’s become something more divisive in certain critical communities, with many writers choosing to hold it up as an example of Spielberg’s weaknesses in terms of sentimentality and cinematic manipulation.

CHICAGO – Olivier Megaton’s “Taken 2” is utter nonsense, a film that plays like a cross between Seth MacFarlane spoofing the first film on “Family Guy” and “MacGyver” fan fiction (although nowhere NEAR as much fun as that might make it sound).

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 25 pairs of movie passes up for grabs to the advance screening of the highly anticipated “Taken” sequel “Taken 2,” which stars Liam Neeson!

CHICAGO – Critics like to complain that some Hollywood blockbusters skew the balance from character to special effects. With “Battleship,” it’s almost as if director Peter Berg decided, after a brief bit of character set-up, that he would just give up entirely on the human element of his movie. It’s CGI overload, an orgy of special effects designed to rattle your brain like a hyperactive video game.

CHICAGO – In our latest blockbuster edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Blu-ray, we have 5 free Blu-rays up for grabs for the highly anticipated home entertainment release of “Battleship” starring Taylor Kitsch, Rihanna and Liam Neeson from “Hancock” director Peter Berg!

CHICAGO – In our latest epic trilogy conclusion edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 10 admit-two guaranteed movie vouchers up for grabs to 2012’s most-anticipated film: “The Dark Knight Rises,” which is filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s epic conclusion to his Batman trilogy!

CHICAGO – Just because a tale is enormously influential and older than the hills doesn’t mean that it’s foolproof. Just ask “John Carter.” Or “Mirror Mirror.” What makes the “Titans” franchise particularly unseemly is its air of smugness. It trashed Ray Harryhausen’s admittedly outdated 1981 version of “Clash of the Titans” in its 2010 remake, but failed to establish a personality of its own.

CHICAGO – “Battleship” certainly could simplistically be reduced to a 131-minute propaganda piece of why you might want to enlist in the U.S. Navy – that is, if Earth had to ward off lizard-like creatures from a deep-space solar system we can only reach by slingshotting a highly amplified “What’s up, aliens?” broadcast to them.

CHICAGO – Joe Carnahan’s “The Grey” is one of the first great surprises of 2012, a thriller more interested in the inner turmoil of its characters than gratuitous bloodletting. The cynical bait-and-switch of its marketing campaign is easier to forgive considering the superior nature of the actual film. It’s vastly more thoughtful and moving than one would expect.

CHICAGO – In our latest action/adventure edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Blu-ray, we have 5 Blu-rays up for grabs for the highly anticipated home entertainment release of “The Grey” starring Liam Neeson!