HollywoodChicago.com Arts & Entertainment News

CHICAGO – With junk like “Marmaduke” and “Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore” pitching themselves to children like bad fast food, it can be hard for an honestly-good and genuine family film to find an audience. “Ramona and Beezus” is the kind of family offering that will hopefully find a large audience on Blu-ray and DVD. It’s no classic and far from perfect but it’s definitely a success for its target audience that could surprisingly appeal to people outside of its demographic as well.

CHICAGO – The mega-popular singer Josh Groban is about to add another multi-selling note to his marketability. On November 22th on the Oprah show, Groban will be named one of her “Ultimate Favorite Things” and will perform a special duet with Johnny Mathis.

CHICAGO – Two of the more beloved and acclaimed properties in the 2010 BBC output were released on Blu-ray this month and both should be near the top of holiday wish lists for genre fans. The simple fact is that BBC is doing fantasy, science fiction, and even thriller better than anyone right now and one need look no further than “Doctor Who: The Complete Fifth Series” and “Sherlock,” two sets brimming with greatness.

CHICAGO – Just in time for the holidays, HBO’s brilliant “Deadwood” has been chosen for induction into the complete series Blu-ray catalog of the most important TV network in the last twenty years. Very few HBO series are available in complete series HD sets from HBO (“Band of Brothers,” “Rome,” “The Pacific”) and while fans of “The Sopranos,” “The Wire,” and “Six Feet Under” may finally have their day next holiday season, this one belongs to David Milch’s masterpiece.

Video Game Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – The classic board game “Monopoly” has never really gone away and yet there have been definite peaks in its popularity. I’m old enough to remember when they first introduced versions of the game that used different locations and thematic variations on the typical board, reigniting the game by appealing to a number of new fan based with versions based on “The Simpsons,” “Star Wars,” sports teams, major cities, and much more. In the fall of 2010, there’s been a definite effort to bring “Monopoly” back again with commercials touting phone apps related to the game, a new physical version, and the EA game “Monopoly Streets,” one of the more pleasant diversions of the season.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – “Monsters” is a unique take on the giant creature genre that focuses more on the people below than the aliens above. Gareth Edwards’ highly-buzzed film could easily be read as a parable for life in an increasingly-dangerous, post-9/11 world and that ambitious subtext alone makes it one of the more intellectually captivating genre films of the year but it’s also shockingly-touching. With two strong central performances, a wonderfully genuine style, and some daring filmmaking decisions, “Monsters” will have a Godzilla-sized following develop over the next few years. See it in theaters or On Demand before all of your friends tell you to rent it.