Marion Cotillard

CHICAGO – January 2012 is Steven Soderbergh month. The man’s newest film, “Haywire,” opens in theaters on January 20th (and we’ll have a review up shortly before it opens) while Criterion is upgrading his Oscar-winning “Traffic” to Blu-ray and re-releasing their DVD edition on the 17th of the month (you can, of course, also expect a review of that to run soon). The first wave of the Soderbergh trifecta is the Blu-ray and DVD release of “Contagion,” another expertly-made piece of filmmaking from a man who seems to know how to do nothing less.

CHICAGO – At times, Woody Allen’s new film releases stink like an old glove, and thankfully there are times when they fit like an old glove. His latest is “Midnight in Paris,” just released on Blu-ray and DVD. This is classic romantic Woody, set in the City of Lights, and featuring Owen Wilson taking on the Allen persona. It’s also featured in my Top 10 Films of 2011.

CHICAGO – Holy exploding football field Batman! The new trailer for “The Dark Knight Rises” has officially been released from Warner Bros., and let’s just say there is a lot to look at. Unlike the teaser trailer that premiered before Harry Potter last summer, this new trailer gives us a full look at the cast of characters and some of the unbelievable sequences Christopher Nolan has ready for us in his third and final Batman film.

CHICAGO – A few weeks ago saw the release of the R-rated “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” a gore-free creature feature that was given the MPAA stamp of 17-plus due to “pervasive scariness.” This week sees the PG-13-rated “Contagion,” a film SO much more pervasively scary than the movie about goblins in a distant mansion because, well, it’s about the fact that the world is pervasively scary.

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Christian Bale as The Batman in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

CHICAGO – Summer is continuing to heat up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as the first images of on-set filming for the highly anticipated “The Dark Knight Rises” has emerged. The third film after “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight” again features Christian Bale as The Batman and is directed by Christopher Nolan.

CHICAGO – Liam Neeson may have opted out of landing a cameo in “The Hangover Part II,” but now sources are hinting that the Oscar-nominated actor may have set his sights on appearing in an even more anticipated sequel.

CHICAGO – Writer/director Woody Allen and the amazing cinematographer Darius Khondji (“Seven,” “The City of Lost Children”) very purposefully open their new film “Midnight in Paris” with a long series of static shots of the title city before even presenting a cast list. You see, Paris is a cast member in this film.

CHICAGO – It started with the best lead performances of 2010 yesterday and now we naturally move on to many of the stars who made those lead turns possible. For what is a great lead performance without the supporting ones that got it there? These were the MVPs of 2010 who may have allowed others to take the spotlight but also made it shine so much brighter.

CHICAGO – Summer 2010 was filled with some of the laziest mainstream product in the history of the blockbuster season. Creative bankruptcy ruled almost every weekend and audiences wisely turned away from most of it.

CHICAGO – As “Contagion” continues to film in Chicago from director Steven Soderbergh with stars Matt Damon, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow and Laurence Fishburne, we have learned that a second open casting call is needed two months after the first from Rich King Casting.