Tom Cruise

CHICAGO – John Woo, whose mastery of the action movie was once compared by director Sam Raimi to the suspense mastery of Alfred Hitchcock, premiered his new film, “Red Cliff” at the Chicago International Film Festival on October 9th.

CHICAGO – The big hitters were out on the red carpet, kicking off the 45th Chicago International Film Festival. Opening with Uma Thurman’s “Motherhood,” prominent artists, politicians and Uma herself graced the proceedings.

CHICAGO – The Blu-Ray release of “Valkyrie” is another case of a disappointing movie being elevated by an excellent home release. With its miscast lead and mediocre screenplay, “Valkyrie” was a near-miss in theaters, but the film looks and sounds great on Blu-Ray and comes accompanied by informative commentaries and featurettes. If you’re a fan, you won’t be disappointed.

CHICAGO – The second wave of catalog titles from Paramount Home Video hits this week, just in time for buyers to put their gift cards to use. HollywoodChicago.com covered the first wave, including “Into the Wild” and “Old School,” a few weeks ago.

CHICAGO – Tom Cruise can be a powerfully vibrant actor in the right material but he’s horrendously miscast in Bryan Singer’s “Valkyrie,” a casting decision amplified by poor direction that drains this true story of an assassination attempt on the life of Adolf Hitler of its inherent power.

CHICAGO – Heath Ledger’s searing performance as The Joker in “The Dark Knight” has been earning acclaim all year and the late actor landed a posthumous Golden Globe nomination this morning when the Hollywood Foreign Press Association revealed their choices for the best of 2008.

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Tom Cruise and director Bryan Singer on the set of Valkyrie.

CHICAGO – This 13-image slideshow contains official press images for “Valkyrie,” which stars Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Carice van Houten, Thomas Kretschmann, Terence Stamp, and Eddie Izzard from director Bryan Singer. The film opens on Dec. 25, 2008.

CHICAGO – For “Tropic Thunder” star and Chris Tucker protégé Brandon T. Jackson, the fictional Booty Sweat literally is his Hollywood calling card.

CHICAGO – “Mad Money” rolled out a glitzy red carpet in Los Angeles on Wednesday and we have the photos to show it.

I just learned moments ago that Robert Redford will be in Chicago tonight at AMC River East 21 to walk an environmental “green carpet” to promote “Lions For Lambs”. The event is a private benefit.