Mel Gibson

CHICAGO – Originally titled “How I Spent My Summer Vacation,” Mel Gibson’s latest star vehicle is taking an unusual road to your viewing pleasure, bypassing theatrical release and even skipping Blu-ray/DVD for a debut this week on DirecTV On Demand. Is this the new delivery system of the future?

CHICAGO – If there was one film this year that I wished had found a wider audience more than any other it is definitely Jodie Foster’s “The Beaver,” a daring, challenging piece that would have had an uphill battle at the box office even if the personal life of its star, Mel Gibson, hadn’t made that climb even steeper.

CHICAGO – What does it take to crawl out of a hole so deep that you can no longer see the sky? For some people, depression isn’t just a bad mood or an off day, it is as debilitating as a disease, and it can kill.

CHICAGO – The Oscar-winning actress and director Jodie Foster is primed for a major 2011 with the release of her controversial “The Beaver” this week and a starring role in Roman Polanski’s “Carnage” later this year. She recently sat down with us to talk about her excellent new film, the one that inspired her in the first place, if she watches her old films, and much more.

CHICAGO – It’s funny to me that there’s probably going to be an entire generation that sees Mel Gibson as a message-leaving lunatic and won’t fully understand how he became one of the biggest stars in the world. In the ’80s and most of the ’90s, he was at the top of the celebrity game and it all started with Max Rockatansky, the actor’s breakthrough role in “Mad Max,” now available on Blu-ray for the first time.

CHICAGO – When WGN-TV’s Dean Richards asked Mel Gibson whether he believes the public will perceive him in a different light after “all that’s been in the news” about him, the “Edge of Darkness” star answered by calling Richards an “a—hole.” This amusing interview-turned-Internet sensation once again proved that Gibson clearly has issues.

CHICAGO – Mel Gibson’s return to the big screen in the thriller “Edge of Darkness” was relatively disappointing at the box office this weekend (opening with Gibson’s lowest first weekend box office since 1995) but not only is that film worth your time but you should definitely take a look at the award-winning 1985 BBC mini-series that inspired it, directed by the same filmmaker, Martin Campbell (“Casino Royale”).