Seth Rogen

CHICAGO – All of you DVD and Blu-Ray buyers who lament the neverending flow of slapstick comedies that basically all feel and look the same owe it to director Jody Hill and star Seth Rogen to rent or buy “Observe and Report,” one of the best comedies of the year to date and one of the most daring movies of the last several years.

CHICAGO – Production has begun recently on “The Green Hornet” but not for Nicolas Cage. For months Cage has been set to star as the film’s villain, but according to Screen Crave things have gone bad. Cage has dropped out of the film when the negotiations for the star have fallen through.

CHICAGO – In our latest edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 25 admit-two run-of-engagement passes up for grabs to the new film “Paper Heart” in Chicago.

CHICAGO – When confronted with the observation that her body language closed up whenever her love history was examined in the just released “Paper Heart,” the film’s star Charlyne Yi posed exactly like that in a publicity picture.

CHICAGO – Adam Sandler can lay claim to another #1 film with this weekend’s opening of “Funny People,” co-starring Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Jonah Hill, and Jason Schwartzman, but the box office win was bittersweet as the film failed to deliver either by the standards of its star or even its acclaimed writer/director Judd Apatow.

CHICAGO – Judd Apatow’s “Funny People,” starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, and Leslie Mann, is like watching a friend try out a new stand-up routine. As with a lot of attempts at trying something untested, it doesn’t quite work out, but you have to admire the effort, if not the execution.

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(L to R) Seth Rogen as Ira, writer/director/producer Judd Apatow and Adam Sandler as George.

CHICAGO – This 30-image slideshow contains the official press images for “Funny People,” starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, RZA, Aubrey Plaza, and Aziz Ansari. It was written and directed by Judd Apatow. The film opens on July 31st, 2009.

CHICAGO – I really want to recommend “Fanboys”. The story behind the film is a David-and-Goliath tale of a young filmmaker bringing his comedic vision to life against all odds and the film is finally being released on DVD after years of delays. Sadly, the drama behind-the-scenes doesn’t change the mediocre quality of the final product.

Video Game Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Even part-time game players have a movie tie-in horror story to share. Show me one blockbuster that produced a quality video game companion and I’ll show you ten that failed to do so. So no one’s more surprised than this writer at how enjoyable Activision’s “Monsters vs. Aliens” is from start and nearly to finish.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – The hysterically misleading TV spots for Jody Hill’s “Observe and Report” make it out to look like another broad comedy that might even have a cute romance between stars Seth Rogen and Anna Faris. There’s nothing cute or predictable about “Observe and Report”. And that’s precisely why it works.