Paul Weitz

CHICAGO – The intensity that Robert De Niro puts into his movie characters had slackened a bit, as he bent his reputation on more commercial roles. But Director Paul Weitz has revived the old legend with a meaty, purposeful character, and De Niro delivers it with his old fire. ‘Being Flynn’ is not a comeback, but a gratefully received reboot.

CHICAGO – Part of the fun in watching movies is experiencing the career evolution of a particular director. One such career is Paul Weitz, who began with the memorable “American Pie,” went a bit more serious with “About a Boy” and “In Good Company,” and cements his credibility in the insightful “Being Flynn.”

CHICAGO – “Little Fockers” would have been high on my “Worst of 2010” list if I had written one or suffered through it in theaters. It’s an awful disaster of a movie, completely devoid of laughs and downright embarrassing for everyone involved, including some incredibly talented actors. There should be some sort of atonement or movie prison for forcing this junk on families at the holiday season. It’s like getting coal for Christmas. Actually, it’s worse than coal.

CHICAGO – In our latest comedy edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: DVD, we have 10 DVDs up for grabs in advance of the home entertainment release of the highly anticipated new DVD “Little Fockers” with Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro!

CHICAGO – The Law of Diminishing Returns is alive and well in the “Meet the Parents” Franchise, as the third film in the series, “Little Fockers,” has a lazy, we-did-it-for-the-money veneer. They got the gang back together, Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Barbra Streisand and the rest, but with few exceptions they all seem bored with it all.

CHICAGO – In our latest comedy edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 25 admit-two passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of the new film “Little Fockers” with Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Jessica Alba, Dustin Hoffman and Owen Wilson!

CHICAGO – It’s now official: the Weitz brothers have proven that they are the wrong people to make vampire movies. While Chris got tangled in the turgid melodrama of “Twilight: New Moon,” Paul tried to inject irreverent humor into the first installment of another gloomy franchise, based on Darren O’Shaughnessy’s book series detailing the adventures of adolescent vampire Darren Shan.