Russell Brand

CHICAGO – Few music documentaries transcend the fan base of their artist to become something greater. Of course, there are the classics like “Stop Making Sense” and “The Last Waltz” and I would add “Pearl Jam Twenty” to that list. But most music films are designed for one purpose — to appeal to the musican’s fans. So, if you’re going to judge a film based on what it intends to accomplish, you have to ask yourself — would Katy Perry fans like “Katy Perry: Part of Me”? Undeniably.

CHICAGO – Although the jukebox musical needs an available pasture to be put out onto, the new film “Rock of Ages” – based on the Broadway stage play – improves on that genre by having a little fun and lots of tongue-in-cheek. Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough, Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand rock the cashbox.

CHICAGO – A select few HollywoodChicago.com winners were blown away by an early screening of “Inception” plus a cocktail reception and in-theatre dinner – all for free!

CHICAGO – They don’t make too many Easter movies. There are tons of Christmas movies. Halloween has a genre. Even “Independence Day.” But Easter is under-served. Based on “Hop,” there’s a reason for that. The film isn’t as torturous as I was expecting, but it definitely misses its mark for all but the littlest ones. If you have a toddler looking for something new to watch this Easter, it might get the job done. Everyone else, wait for another holiday.

CHICAGO – In our latest animated comedy/family edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Blu-ray, we have 5 Blu-rays up for grabs for the highly anticipated home entertainment release of “Hop” starring Russell Brand and Chelsea Handler from the makers of “Despicable Me”!

CHICAGO – FX has inked one of the hottest actor/comedians out there right now when they signed Russell Brand for six half-hour episodes of a new show. The untitled, unscripted show will be Brand’s comedic take on Current Events, Politics, and Pop Culture.

CHICAGO – Risk-taking visionaries are always exciting to watch in action, even when their gambles don’t quite pay off. Yet while the recent projects tackled by Julie Taymor have sported great promise on paper, their externalized metaphors often work against the material she’s aiming to enhance. In her Beatles musical “Across the Universe,” soldiers were seen carrying the Statue of Liberty into Vietnam while singing, “She’s so heavy.”

CHICAGO – Have we reached such a politically-correct place in our culture that drinking excessively can’t be seen as humorous even in a dumb comedy? How else to explain the boneheaded decision to basically make the legendary character of Arthur Bach (played by Dudley Moore in the Oscar-winning original and Russell Brand in the potential-Razzie-winning remake) into a man-child instead of an actual drunk? That decision (along with a few others) sunk “Arthur,” recently released on Blu-ray and DVD, before it even shot a frame. Although the actual production didn’t help.

CHICAGO – Critics were pretty hard on the remake of “Arthur” starring Russell Brand, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Garner, and Greta Gerwig (including our very own Patrick McDonald, who gave the film 2 stars out of five) and the film relatively bombed at the box office, opening in 2nd place to “Hop” and making only $12.7 million in its first frame with a lower per-screen average than “Hanna” or “Soul Surfer.” Now you can compare the new version to the award-winning original and its dreadful sequel in a 2-movie collection, now on Blu-ray.

CHICAGO – There are many problems inherent in film remakes, starting with comparisons to the original source. The first “Arthur,” while not a classic, did have a warm, funny story and Dudley Moore’s title performance. The current remake has none of that.