Peter Dinklage

CHICAGO – Kate Hudson portrays a dying woman in “A Little Bit of Heaven,” and the film is so annoying that her extinguishment can’t come fast enough. The film insults both living and dying, and virtually everything in between, and brings along Lucy Punch, Kathy Bates, Gael Garciá Bernal, Peter Dinklage and Whoopi Goldberg for the funeral.

CHICAGO – The saga of HBO’s brilliant “Game of Thrones” will continue for at least another season as the network just announced that the hit program has been renewed for a third outing. Michael Lombardo, President of HBO Programming, made the unsurprising announcement today, after only two episodes of the second season have aired to enormous ratings.

CHICAGO – I know what you’re saying — how can a show that ended with as much death as the first season of “Game of Thrones” return even darker? Watch the season premiere of HBO’s brilliant (and, currently, best) series — “The North Remembers” — and tell me I’m wrong.

CHICAGO – Being an entertainment critics calls for top ten lists in December of every year but I’ve always been someone who believes that these things are not written in stone. I don’t think there’s a single top ten for film or television that is the same today as on the day I wrote it. Oh, they’re close, but the fact is that not only do some things age better than others but sometimes it takes time to fully appreciate something or to realize one was incorrect the first time around.

CHICAGO – After only one episode, HBO has already decided to renew their highly-acclaimed “Game of Thrones” for a second season. We were just sent the press release from the network, touting the fantastic reviews, although the premiere’s numbers were a bit disappointing comparatively.

CHICAGO – HBO has had waves of creative success including the one started by “The Sopranos” & “Sex and the City,” a later one peaked by “Deadwood” & “The Wire,” and now, a current one that began with “Boardwalk Empire,” continued through the final season of “Big Love,” crested with the masterful “Mildred Pierce,” and appears to have no sign of ebbing with the brilliant, mesmerizing “Game of Thrones.”

CHICAGO – When some of the funniest comedians in the business – Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Tracy Morgan – can’t deliver a absurdist comedy about family secrets, then there truly is “Death at a Funeral.”

CHICAGO – “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” may have fallen flat at the box office this summer but it is sure to be a gigantic hit on Blu-Ray this holiday season. Not only are the words “family Disney movie” practically a license to print money around this time of year, but this studio has been one of the frontrunners in the race for the best at making Blu-Ray.

CHICAGO – For the life of me, I couldn’t exorcise it from my head. Amid all the splendor of such a picturesque film, this one question was like a gnat I couldn’t swat: “Is this really rated ‘PG’?” Indeed, “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” is rated “PG”. But that didn’t come without great scrutiny and much editing.