Peter Fonda

CHICAGO – There is no Blu-ray justice. The great “Escape From New York” sits unavailable in HD, along with dozens of other great movies of its era, but the vastly inferior sequel “Escape From L.A.” lands on the format this week. “L.A.” isn’t a horrible film, but it works mostly because of the goodwill created by love for the original, which makes that film’s unavailability on the format all the more bewildering.

CHICAGO – The first “Boondock Saints” was so over-the-top that its abundance of style actually became substance. While I certainly don’t bow to the film like so many of its devoted fans, I totally get the obsession with it that led to a surprising sequel and even a comic book. The movie is fun. And that’s where the sequel fails. “Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day” is bloated and boring, missing the spark that made the first a surprising cult hit.

CHICAGO – Peter Fonda, part of Hollywood acting royalty, made his mark with the counterculture classic “Easy Rider” in 1969. Fonda made an appearance last weekend at the Hollywood Palms Cinema in Naperville to introduce that seminal film.

CHICAGO – “There’s not a bigger ‘f*ck you!’ from Hollywood than when they say: ‘Eh, we’re not going to release this film.’”

CHICAGO – In our latest edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 25 admit-two run-of-engagement Chicago passes up for grabs to “The Boondock Saints” cult-classic sequel “The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day”!