Sissy Spacek

CHICAGO – “The Help” has been one of the most divisive movies of 2011. I know some critics who absolutely loathe it, finding the easy-to-digest version of something as important as civil rights to be offensive. I get that. I know some critics who love it, finding the performances strong enough to carry the movie over any sentimental rough patches. I get that too. The movie is too much of a phenomenon for any self-respecting cinema buff to miss it entirely. So, as much as I’d love to offer a solid thumbs up or down, I’m falling pretty squarely in the middle, edging just barely to a recommendation, but you need to see it for yourself just to see on which side of the controversial fence you fall.

CHICAGO – One of the most remarkable things about Robert Altman was his refusal to give in to the pressures of pleasing an audience. He made films for himself. There may be no better example of this than “3 Women,” a film that defies too much examination in part because it’s purposefully vague as it was based on a dream of Mr. Altman’s. He had a dream, woke up, and turned it into a treatment, from which they shot the movie. It’s surreal, bizarre, and totally mesmerizing, and is one of the newest Criterion Blu-rays.

CHICAGO – Using fiction to express the importance of real historical events is seductive and sometimes disingenuous. The new film “The Help” manages to counteract that notion through high level, emotional performances.

CHICAGO – The search for the right actress to portray the pivotal role of Minny in the new film “The Help” ended with Octavia Spencer. The veteran performer was key in expressing the particulars of the character, which was enhanced by director Tate Taylor.

CHICAGO – Emma Stone has had a meteoric rise in her film career in four short years. From impressing with her 2007 film debut in “Superbad,” she has moved rapidly through “Zombieland,” “Easy A” and is coming up as Skeeter Phelan in “The Help.”

CHICAGO – What could possibly drive a man into such a deep pit of despair that he would choose to break from society and take on the life of a hermit?

CHICAGO – The legend of a 1930s country hermit – part folk tale, part exaggeration and some truth – comes to life through director Aaron Schneider and the great Robert Duvall in the new film “Get Low.” Also featuring Bill Murray and Sissy Spacek, this character driven drama is a pastiche of secrets, regrets and redemption.

CHICAGO – How has Vince Vaughn become one of the most boring actors in America? It has little to do with his performances and everything to do with his career choices. Sure, Vaughn has pretty much made a habit out of playing the exact same guy since “Wedding Crashers”: a fast-talking, self-absorbed, overgrown adolescent whose funniest quips are delivered under the breath and between punch-lines.

CHICAGO – As the 2008 awards season kicks into high gear, it’s a good time to catch up with one of the most acclaimed and nominated films of seventeen years ago, Oliver Stone’s “JFK” in a classy and well-packaged Blu-Ray edition from Warner Brothers.

CHICAGO – In our latest edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 80 admit-one passes up for grabs to the Chicago screening of “Four Christmases,” which stars Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duvall, Jon Favreau, Jon Voight, Sissy Spacek, Tim McGraw, Kristin Chenoweth and Dwight Yoakam from director Seth Gordon.