Shia LaBeouf

HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 30 Pairs of Passes to ‘The Company You Keep’ With Robert Redford

HollywoodChicago.com — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 01:57:41 -0400

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 30 pairs of movie passes up for grabs to the advance screening of “The Company You Keep” starring Robert Redford!

“The Company You Keep,” which opens in Chicago on April 12, 2013 and is rated “R,” also stars Shia LaBeouf, Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon, Nick Nolte, Chris Cooper, Anna Kendrick, Richard Jenkins, Terrence Howard, Brendan Gleeson, Sam Elliott, Julie Christie, Jackie Evancho and Brit Marling from director Robert Redford and writer Lem Dobbs based on the novel by Neil Gordon.

To win your free “The Company You Keep” passes courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just get interactive with our unique Hookup technology below. That’s it! This screening is on Monday, April 1, 2013 at 7 p.m. in Chicago. The more social actions you complete, the more points you score and the higher yours odds of winning! You must be 17+ to win this “R”-rated Hookup.

Before entering, make sure you allow pop-ups.
If viewing this on your phone, click “Go to Full Site” at the bottom of the page to enter.
Deadline: Entries can continue being submitted through Sunday, March 31, 2013
at 5 p.m. CST. These Hookup winners will be awarded via e-mail that night.
If necessary: To see your entry count on a repeat visit, submit your name and e-mail again.
If you have trouble submitting your entry below, please e-mail Adam Fendelman.

Here is the synopsis for “The Company You Keep”:

Jim Grant (Robert Redford) is a public interest lawyer and single father raising his daughter in the tranquil suburbs of Albany, New York. Grant’s world is turned upside down when a brash young reporter named Ben Shepard (Shia LaBeouf) exposes his true identity as a former 1970s anti-war radical fugitive wanted for murder.

After living for more than 30 years underground, Grant must now go on the run. With the FBI in hot pursuit, he sets off on a cross-country journey to track down the one person who can clear his name.

Shepard knows the significance of the national news story he has exposed. For a journalist, this is an opportunity of a lifetime. Hell bent on making a name for himself, he is willing to stop at nothing to capitalize on it. He digs deep into Grant’s past. Despite warnings from his editor and threats from the FBI, Shepard relentlessly tracks Grant across the country.

As Grant reopens old wounds and reconnects with former members of his anti-war group (the Weather Underground), Shepard realizes something about this man is just not adding up. With the FBI closing in, Shepard uncovers the shocking secrets Grant has been keeping for the past three decades. As Grant and Shepard come face to face in the wilderness of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, they each must come to terms with who they really are.

The movie poster for “The Company You Keep” starring Robert Redford and Shia LaBeouf.
Image credit: Sony Pictures Classics

The movie trailer for “The Company You Keep” can be watched now below.

This HollywoodChicago.com Hookup is simple! Just get interactive in our unique Hookup technology above. We will award 30 admit-two movie tickets based on social entry numbers and/or randomly via e-mail for our “The Company You Keep” Hookup. Good luck!

Disclaimer
Winners need to arrive early as seats are consumed on a first-come, first-served basis. Since showings are overbooked to ensure a full house, winners are not guaranteed entrance and must arrive early. We recommend arriving 45 minutes before the showing’s scheduled start time. HollywoodChicago.com LLC is a promotional partner with the studio and its partners and doesn’t assume any liability for this giveaway. Note: Comments are closed in this Hookup.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Film Review: Tom Hardy Leads Great Cast in Disappointing ‘Lawless’

BrianTT — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:37:43 -0400

CHICAGO – John Hillcoat’s “Lawless,” based on Matt Bondurant’s “The Wettest County in the World,” is one of the most high profile disappointments of 2012, a film with an amazing cast that suffocates under the weight of an inconsistent script, a boring lead, and a complete lack of narrative drive. Who would have ever guessed that a movie with so many charismatic actors and actresses could ever be so shockingly dull? It’s nearly an accomplishment.

Rating: 1.5/5.0

Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska – any one of these wonderful actors typically makes a film better and one could easily assume that having all five of them in one ensemble would lead to dramatic gold. And yet even this level of acting talent can’t save “Lawless.” None of them do anything particularly wrong (although Pearce makes some odd choices) but they can’t save a haphazard script that doesn’t understand basic requirements of storytelling such as presenting the viewer with consistent characters instead of mere cliché. We’ve seen “Lawless” done before and done significantly better. Even with the A-list cast, it’s little more than forgettable.

Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Lawless” in our reviews section.

It’s 1931 in Franklin County, Virginia, known in some circles as “The Wettest County in the World” due to its abundance of illegal alcohol operations at the height of Prohibition. Crooked cops are paid to look the other way as families of bootleggers keep their families fed by getting other ones drunk. An important figurehead of this community is Forrest Bondurant (a mumbling-but-charismatic Tom Hardy), who rises to moonshine prominence with his brothers – Howard (Jason Clarke) and Jack (Shia LaBeouf). Jack may seem the least interesting of the three as he’s the youngest and so the one often in need of rescue but he’s made the narrator here in one of many storytelling mistakes we’ll get to later.

Jack works to gain the respect of his older brothers and become as important a Bondurant as his more famous siblings. He works with a friend named Cricket (Dane DeHaan) who might as well be wearing a “Star Trek” red shirt and be named “Inevitable Victim” and he woos a local church-going girl named Bertha (Mia Wasikowska). While Jack is coming-of-age, times are getting more dangerous in Franklin County thanks to the arrival of Special Deputy Charley Rakes (Guy Pearce), a unique character sent from Chicago to clean things up. Meanwhile, notorious gangster Floyd Banner (Gary Oldman) crosses paths with the Bondurants and Forrest falls in love with the lovely new barmaid Maggie (Jessica Chastain).

Continue reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “Lawless” review.

“Lawless” stars Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Jason Clarke, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska, and Dane DeHaan. It was written by Nick Cave and directed by John Hillcoat. It is rated R and opens on August 29, 2012.

Lawless
Photo credit: The Weinstein Company

Interview: Novelist Matt Bondurant on ‘Lawless’ Book-to-Film Adaptation

PatrickMcD — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 16:22:31 -0400

CHICAGO – Ernest Hemingway said the best way to handle Hollywood film adaptations is to meet at the border, throw your book in, have Hollywood throw the money back, and then run from each other in opposite directions. How does that astute observation apply today? Matt Bondurant had his novel adapted into the new film “Lawless.”

Bondurant wrote his book, “The Wettest County in the World,” in 2008 – based on the exploits of his moonshine producing relatives in 1930s Franklin County, Virginia – and immediately got attention from the film industry to adapt it. Shooting was to begin in February of 2010, but the project had delays due to story and cast issues. Eventually filming began in March of 2011, but a distribution switch delayed the final version, which had been re-titled “Lawless” in 2012. The film is being released on August 29th.

Tom Hardy (Forrest) and Shia LaBeouf (Jack) Portray Matt Bondurant’s 1930s Ancestors in ‘Lawless’
Photo credit: Richard Foreman for The Weinstein Company

HollywoodChicago.com sat down with author Matt Bondurant to have him explain his adventures in Hollywood, and how the story of his own next of kin are now being portrayed through name actors like Tom Hardy and Shia LaBeouf.

HollywoodChicago.com: There was a delay from the initial interest in the story to finally getting it to the screen. What did you learn about the movie business in the process of the adaptation?

Matt Bondurant: One the things that is unsettling about it, is that everyone that I was in touch with or who was talking about it, was just so relentlessly positive and optimistic. They all are telling you that it’s awesome, brilliant and was going to work, and I knew that they are telling me that in part to keep me happy. So it’s a facade thing. I just wanted more honesty, less pretending. But I have good agents that are doing their best to talk to me straight, as much as they professionally can. It’s not a slight against them, but the whole system is that way, that’s kind of weird.

On the other hand, once the production got rolling, when I visited the set and talked with and actors and director John Hillcoat, what I learned was there is a general enthusiasm and integrity at the core creative level. The passion for the project was really impressive, exciting and humbling.

HollywoodChicago.com: How closely did you want to be personally involved, and were you satisfied that you got a voice in the process?

Bondurant: I think I got the amount of voice I wanted, which was really none. [laughs] Going in I didn’t really want any control, nor did I assume I would get any. When I realized that Hillcoat and the other people were attached early on, I thought yes, you take that, and do it. I liked and respected their work, so please just do what you do. And I got a good feeling because I wasn’t ignored, they were generous in reaching out to me, even though they didn’t have to. That’s what I mean when I say I had the perfect amount of interaction. I felt involved, but I had no real responsibility.

HollywoodChicago.com: Now how did rocker Nick Cave become the screenwriter for the novel’s adaptation?

Bondurant: I think he and Hillcoat are part of a team, they did ‘The Proposition’ [2005] together. I don’t know if they’ll partner up every time, but on this film they were together again. Cave is a veteran writer of screenplays and novels, and his reputation back in the day as a rock star was mostly about lyrics, so he is a writer of note.

HollywoodChicago.com: Were you able to give Shia LaBeouf or any of the other actors tips to how men like your relatives would carry themselves during that era, or were they making the interpretations on their own?

Bondurant: Not specifically Shia or Tom Hardy, but Jason Clarke, who played Howard – we did have lengthy phone conversations. He actually went down to Franklin County to stay with my cousins for three days. He wanted to get the accent right, and he was driving through, so he hung out with my aunts, uncles and cousins – they even sent me pictures. He comes from a rural area in Australia, and he understands the lifestyle anyway, and he’s just a really nice guy.

HollywoodChicago.com: What did you find out in your research about the quality of a man in your grandfather’s era? Were they better men than the type of men we are now, or was it just different circumstances?

Bondurant: I don’t think particularly that they were better men than we are now. I think circumstances have a lot to do with it. There is a physical quality, to some degree, that has to do with a physical stamina and subsistence living, that we would have difficulty with now. But at the same time, we deal with complex things and complex issues, in a way opposite to their more simple world. For example, we multi-task far more today, that would be astonishing to them.

Shia LaBeouf and Mia Wasikowska Share a Moment in ‘Lawless’
Photo credit: Richard Foreman for The Weinstein Company

HollywoodChicago.com: Were the personalities we saw on screen in “Lawless” the approximate personalities of your relatives, or was the truth more subtle? What did you invent about them in writing the novel?

Bondurant: Approximate is a good way to put it, as far as the personalities on screen. The novel provides much more backstory, in the complex nature of the characters. For example, giving more of a reason than the movie as to how they came to be this way. The character of Howard doesn’t get much screen time or backstory, except for Jack mentioning that he was in ‘The Great War’ [WWI]. He is the older brother, and the most unpredictable, but the book provides more nuance. I did invent personality traits in the novel. I did know my grandfather Jack, but only as an old man. There were things I knew about his brother Forrest that helped me to create the character, like anecdotes and old court transcripts.

HollywoodChicago.com: Also given your research, were people during the Depression able to survive better despite a 25% unemployment? Or was the survival instincts and basic cruelty depicted in the film closer to reality in your estimation?

Bondurant: What is unusual about Franklin County is that the Prohibition era allowed them to make more money, but also introduced a more violent aspect. I saw it more as a continuum, they were poor before the Depression, they were poor during it and they were poor afterward. There was a spike with moonshining during Prohibition, but things were basically the same. There were subsistence farmers there, they had tobacco, so they could maintain.

What did hit them hard in December of 1930 was a huge drought. That’s how I got those three brothers to a bridge, with a truck full of moonshine, confronting sheriffs who wanted to kill them. The drought was so bad that everyone lost what little they had on the land, and with that gone they had to up the production of moonshine. You have to produce more and transport, just to make money.

HollywoodChicago.com: Basically bootlegging came out of Prohibition, and much of our “drug war” is based on the same type of prohibition. What comparisons or differences do you see in the operation of your grandfathers and uncles, and the type of folks dealing in the drug trade now?

Bondurant: Actually Hillcoat and Cave started talking about that, before that I hadn’t even thought about that correlation. It’s an apt comparison, certainly. I think though with moonshine, you’re talking about a tradition that goes back for centuries. It becomes a cultural touchstone for Franklin County and other parts of the United States, particularly the Appalachians. That carries with it a whole series of attendant rituals, traditions and attitudes. I don’t think you could say the same thing about meth, which is purely about making money.

HollywoodChicago.com: Why do you think that era of organized crime was so romanticized, despite the killings, thuggery and greed? Do we as a society always desire or romanticize something we don’t know or understand, if it’s outside the law?

Matt Bondurant in Chicago, August 14, 2012
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com

Bondurant: Yes, there is a fair amount of romanticizing. The reasons why I think the romanticizing of Prohibition works this way is that there is a mutual agreement that it’s a bad idea. People who are involved in breaking the law back then, it was breaking the law that was a bad law. It does soften things, and those who struggle against such a law could be viewed as doing the right thing.

The violence is unforgivable, but in a ‘lawless’ time, people were openly flaunting an opposition to federal laws. It was actually popular, people swarmed into speakeasies. And law enforcement itself often looked the other way, which was another factor.

HollywoodChicago.com: One of the occupational hazards of being a fiction writer is the isolation necessary to formulate a short story or novel. How do you deal with the isolation, what are the ways you relish it, rather than letting it overwhelm you?

Bondurant: I crave the isolation. I’m actually looking for opportunities to be as isolated as possible because I have a wife and two small children. So if I can get time to myself it’s a remarkable thing. From a very young age, because I read a lot, I spent a lot of time with my own thoughts. That carried over when I got older, because I spent a lot of time traveling by myself. That being said, whenever I spend time at a writer’s colony, I get a bit itchy after a couple days in the cabin. I do like to talk to people, but the perfect day for me is to write all day, go out to dinner and have some conversations over a few drinks, then go home. Sitting in a chair, staring at the screen, it can be daunting.

HollywoodChicago.com: What will you change next time if another one of your books are optioned for the movies? What kind of interaction do you feel will best represent your work?

Bondurant: I really would like to do it the same way I described earlier. [laughs] If I’m so fortunate to have this thing happen again, and if I’m fortunate to have this amazing creative people involved in the project, I will happily do the same thing again.

“Lawless” opens everywhere on August 29th. Featuring Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jason Clarke, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska and Gary Oldman. Screenplay by Nick Cave, from the novel “The Wettest County in the World” by Matt Bondurant. Directed by John Hillcoat. Rated “R”

By PATRICK McDONALD
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 40 Pairs of Passes to ‘Lawless’ With Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf

HollywoodChicago.com — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 22:57:20 -0400

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 40 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the advance screening of the new crime/drama “Lawless”! The film, which opens nationwide on Aug. 29, 2012, stars Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf and Gary Oldman!

“Lawless” also stars Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska, Jason Clarke, Dane DeHaan, Noah Taylor, Lew Temple, Bill Camp, William J. Harrison, Bruce McKinnon, Alex Van and Mark Ashworth from director John Hillcoat and writer Nick Cave based on the novel by Matt Bondurant.

To win your free advance-screening passes to “Lawless” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just get interactive with our unique Hookup technology directly below. That’s it! This screening is on Monday, Aug. 27, 2012 at 7 p.m. in downtown Chicago. The more social actions you complete, the more points you score and the higher yours odds of winning!

Before entering, make sure you allow pop-ups.
If viewing this on your phone, click “Go to Full Site” at the bottom of the page to enter.
Deadline: Entries can continue being submitted through Friday, Aug. 24, 2012
at 5 p.m. CST. These Hookup winners will be awarded via e-mail that night.
If necessary: To see your entry count on a repeat visit, submit your name and e-mail again.

Here is the synopsis for “Lawless”:

Acclaimed director John Hillcoat (“The Road”) delivers a thrillingly vivid slice of American outlaw history in his epic gangster tale “Lawless”. The film is the true story of the infamous Bondurant brothers: three bootlegging siblings who made a run for the American dream in Prohibition-era Virginia.

Based on author Matt Bondurant’s fictionalized account of his family, the film gathers an ensemble of gifted, new-generation stars – Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Mia Wasikowska and Dane DeHaan – alongside two of the finest actors of their generations: Guy Pearce and Gary Oldman.

A riveting, intense story of crime and corruption, loyalty and love and brutality and tenderness, “Lawless” is a rich addition to the American gangster canon.

The “Lawless” movie poster with Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf and Gary Oldman.
Image credit: The Weinstein Company

The “Lawless” movie trailer can be watched now below.

This HollywoodChicago.com Hookup is simple! Just get interactive in our unique Hookup technology above. We will award 40 admit-two movie tickets based on social entry numbers and/or randomly via e-mail for our “Lawless” Hookup. Good luck!

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Blu-Ray Review: Wild, Overlong ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’

PatrickMcD — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 09:34:24 -0400

CHICAGO – What is truly astounding about “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” is how overwhelming it is to take in – there is so much going on that sensory overload is a distinct possibility. Shia LaBeouf stars in the latest Transformers film, now on Blu-Ray and DVD.

Blu-ray Rating: 3.0/5.0

What is also interesting to ponder is that this whole series is based on a children’s toy, and it has gone so far beyond the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons. It reminded me of the disaster films of the 1970s, where huge casts of familiar and rising stars gathered to participate in whatever destruction was imminent. This time it’s the end of the known world and the enslavement of the population, so it’s time to get busy.

The film opens in 1961, when at that time American intelligence detects a crash landing on the dark side of the moon’s surface. President John F. Kennedy is informed that it is an alien presence, and his famous “landing a man on the moon” speech is a cover for accelerating the Apollo program towards a close encounter. Indeed, Tranquility Base is where the alien craft has landed, and Apollo 11 lands there to follow up and explore. It turns out to be the “Ark,” a key element in the Transformers war between the Autobots and the Decepticons.

Power Couple: Shia LaBeouf as Sam and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley as Carly in ‘Transformers’
Photo credit: Robert Zuckerman for Paramount Pictures

Back in the present, our hero Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) is having trouble finding a job, even after getting a Medal of Honor. He wants to impress his new girlfriend Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), so he finds work with Accureta Systems, run by eccentric Bruce Brazos (John Malkovich). Co-worker Jerry Wang (Ken Jeong) gets Sam involved with his conspiracy theories, which involve “pillars” which have the power to bring the home world of Cybertron directly to earth. Wang is killed, but his theories turn out to be true, which brings the Autobot/Decepticon war back to Russia, Sam and eventually Chicago, Illinois.

All the familiar Transformers are back, Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Wheelie and Brains for the Autobots’ side, and Shockwave, Soundwave, Barricade and Megatron for the Decepticons. They are joined by a new Autobot, Sentinel Prime (voice of Leonard Nimoy), who is the key to the moon landing. The effects of these robots are stunning and seamless, but their presence and design are part of the sensory overload. It’s all too much, especially during the battles. But in all fairness, to the 15 year old teenage boy target market, it’s just right.

The human cast mostly has fun, even when the deadly seriousness of the war on earth takes hold. New cast editions Frances McDormand, Ken Jeong and John Malkovich relish the overacting possibilities of the series, joining John Turturro in that school. Patrick Dempsey plays a bad guy, and I could tell he loved it. Shia LaBeouf is the anchor and understands his role as such, as long as he keeps getting nice arm candy, this time played by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. It’s the incentives that can keep an actor coming back for more.

’Transformers: Dark of the Moon’ on Blu-ray
Photo credit: Paramount Pictures

Although the plot is much more lucid in this installment of the series, it still occupies way too much screen time. The action keeps coming, but threading through the breathless explanations that have to take place regarding it. The human beings in the film are almost reduced to narrators, tipping off what will happen before they do it, so it doesn’t become incomprehensible. The plot and action marriage is awkward, and adds about 20 minutes to an already long epic. But it is the action that spins the cash registers, and director Michael Bay knows how to deliver it.

There are not much in the way of extras in the Blu-Ray package, just another DVD and Digital Copy for other players. Look next for a special edition, probably packaging all three films with those extras. Also the film was intended originally for 3D viewing, so some of the action is very close-up for that medium.

The Transformers series will go down in film history as one of the most bombastic, gigantic and spastic film trilogies in history. Go big or stay at home, is the Michael Bay philosophy, and now you can stay at home, watching it all unfold.

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” was released on Blu-ray and DVD by Paramount Pictures on September 30th. Featuring Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Patrick Dempsey, Frances McDormand, Ken Jeong, John Malkovich and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Screenplay by Ehren Kruger, directed by Michael Bay. Rated “PG-13”

By PATRICK McDONALD
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

Film Review: ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’ Gets Adrenalin Pumping

BrianTT — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:33:40 -0400

CHICAGO – The final 45 minutes of “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” are such an orgy of CGI insanity, falling skyscrapers, and battling robots that the film approaches some sort of summer movie nirvana, or at least it will for the right audience. There’s little debate that the Chicago-set climax of Michael Bay’s third film based on Hasbro’s line of toys delivers what it promises. Sadly, the previous 100 minutes are nearly intolerable. Buy a ticket for “Dark of the Moon,” go see another 100-minute movie and come back for what matters. You won’t miss a thing.

Rating: 2.5/5.0

Very few filmmakers have the brass balls (or obnoxious gall depending on your viewpoint) to open their film not only with three Presidential impersonators (Kennedy, Nixon, Obama) but with a complete dismantling of American history to make it fit into “Transformers” mythology. It turns out the entire space race has been an excuse to mine Autobot technology and that both the U.S. and Russia knew all along that one of their spaceships had crashed on the other side of the moon. Even Buzz Aldrin (who cameos, believe it or not) was in on the conspiracy. Screenwriter Ehren Kruger and Bay go as far as to suggest that the Chernobyl disaster was due to experimentation with part of the Autobot ship – one can easily question the taste there, even more so during a scene that invokes memories of the Challenger explosion. Considering they’ve rewritten a massive part of the last five decades of international history without much concern about sacred ground, one can only assume that this franchise will eventually re-imagine the birth of Jesus Christ as somehow related to Autobots and Decepticons.

Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” in our reviews section.

Of course, the interstellar drama isn’t nearly as important as what’s happening with Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf). Despite saving the world twice, he’s having trouble getting a job. His model-girlfriend Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, infamously replacing Megan Fox as the hottie of the franchise) still loves him but she’s clearly being wooed by her boss (a sleazy Patrick Dempsey) and Sam’s starting to worry that she’ll soon realize that she’s out of his league. He eventually does find a job although its importance to the plot is so secondary (other than to get John Malkovich and Ken Jeong involved in the movie for a few scenes) that it’s completely disposable.

What matters to the “story” of “Dark of the Moon” is that the Autobots, still led by Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen), have been helping us protect the world from terrorism when they stumble upon the NASA cover-up. It turns out that the ship that crashed on the moon was carrying pillars that could transport enemies or even planets across the universe. Naturally, Autobots and Decepticons both want a technology that can unleash countless allies at one time and poor humans want to stop them. Frances McDormand gets involved as an Intelligence Director and Josh Duhamel & Tyrese Gibson return to kick some robot ass. Of course, John Turturro returns for comic relief, aided by the great Alan Tudyk (“Firefly”) in a mostly-throwaway role.

Continue reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” review.

”Transformers: Dark of the Moon” stars Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Frances McDormand, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, John Turturro, Alan Tudyk, Ken Jeong, Patrick Dempsey, and John Malkovich. It was written by Ehren Kruger and directed by Michael Bay. It is rated PG-13 and opens on Wednesday, June 29, 2011 (with sneak previews tonight, June 28, 2011).

Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Photo credit: Paramount Pictures

HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 60 Pairs of Chicago Passes to ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 11:47:37 -0400

Update: 11:17 a.m. on June 24, 2011 (added an additional 30 admit-two passes!)
CHICAGO – In our latest blockbuster edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 60 admit-two movie passes (increased from 30 admit-twos due to high demand!) plus three prize packs up for grabs to the highly anticipated new film “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”!

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” which filmed in part in Chicago, stars Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Tyrese Gibson, John Malkovich, Ken Jeong, Leonard Nimoy, Josh Duhamel, Hugo Weaving, Patrick Dempsey, Alan Tudyk, Frances McDormand, John Turturro, Peter Cullen, Frank Welker and Tom Kenny from director Michael Bay and writer Ehren Kruger.

Each prize pack includes a “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Xbox video game! The film opens on June 29, 2011. Along with our 60 admit-two advance-screening movie passes, we also have prize packs up for grabs to three lucky HollywoodChicago.com readers! Each prize pack includes:

A “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” T-shirt
A “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” commemorative cup
A “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Xbox video game
A “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” soundtrack
A “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” poster

To win your free “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” movie pass or prize pack, all you need to do is answer our question in this Web-based submission form. That’s it! We’re offering 60 admit-twos for two screenings (30 to each). One advance screening will take place on Monday, June 27, 2011 at 7 p.m. in downtown Chicago. The second advance screening is an IMAX showing that will take place the same night on Monday, June 27, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. in downtown Chicago. Directions to enter this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup and win can be found beneath the graphic below.

The movie poster for “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” with Shia LaBeouf and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.
Image credit: Paramount Pictures

Here is the plot description for “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”:

Shia LaBeouf returns as Sam Witwicky in “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”. When a mysterious event from Earth’s past erupts into the present day, it threatens to bring a war to Earth so big that the Transformers alone will not be able to save us.

The movie trailer for “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” can be watched now below.

To secure your free “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” movie pass or prize pack, you must be logged into your HollywoodChicago.com Web site account. If you don’t yet have one, you can quickly register here. Having a free Web site account with a valid e-mail address is required to win this Hookup.

Next, simply answer our question. You must submit your answer using this confidential, Web-based submission form. Please do not comment on this page. Your entry will be invalid if you only comment on this page and don’t submit into our Web-based form.

You must include your first and last name, e-mail address and physical mailing address in your submission. You must own an Xbox in order to win a prize pack. Your personal information will not be sold or shared, will be kept strictly confidential and is only for awarding winning entries. Please answer our question below.

As compared to other cities in similar films, why is Chicago the perfect city to be blown up in a blockbuster film?

This HollywoodChicago.com Hookup is simple: 60 HollywoodChicago.com readers will be randomly selected as our “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” advance-screening movie winners! Three additional winners will score our “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” prize packs. The prize packs will be mailed at our expense. Good luck!

Disclaimer
HollywoodChicago.com LLC is a promotional partner with the studio and
its partners and doesn’t assume any liability for this giveaway.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Blu-Ray Review: Oliver Stone’s ‘Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps’

BrianTT — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:15:08 -0500

CHICAGO – Remember when every Oliver Stone movie caused waves? There was a time when he was a love-him-or-hate-him director who provoked conversation with every outing. Perhaps the most interesting thing about his recent work like “World Trade Center” and “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” recently released on Blu-ray and DVD, is how little impact it has had. He seems to be making movies most people like but no one loves or hates. The sequel to one of his best films is a good drama but doesn’t really resonate like the man used to do every time out.

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0

To be fair, “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” made over $130 million worldwide and earned star Michael Douglas a Golden Globe nomination, which he could end up winning if the sentimental vote goes strongly enough, so it was far from a bomb. And most critics recognized that there were things to like here and were just angry about them being held back by one of the worst endings of the year. Ignore the stupid final scenes and watch it for the performances and the signs of the once-visionary director helped by a fantastic Blu-ray release.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on December 21st, 2010.
Photo credit: Fox Home Video

Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) wasn’t just a movie character. He helped define the era of greed in the Oscar-winning “Wall Street” in 1987. In “Money Never Sleeps,” the character returns to a landscape that has increased in scope and collateral damage. Greed hasn’t necessarily changed but its impact has become far more damaging. Even Gekko seems stunned at some of the obscene behavior that led to the bubble bursting in 2008. This is not a standard sequel as much as an update of the terms of financial morality in the new era.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on December 21st, 2010.
Photo credit: Fox Home Video

And it mostly works. “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” features strong performances, a smarter script than most critics recognized, and some stylish direction by Stone. It’s his best work since at least “Any Given Sunday” and possibly “Nixon.” It may sound like faint praise but there’s more to like here than there is to hate and, for the majority of its running time, “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” is straight-up entertaining.

Shia LaBeouf effectively plays Jake Moore, an ambitious-but-loyal trader who happens to be dating the daughter (Carey Mulligan) of the legendary Gekko. Douglas returns for a very-funny opening scene in which he’s released from prison in 2001 only to find no one there to pick him up but Gekko then fades into the background as we learn about Jake’s experience during the bursting of the financial bubble. Jake was loyal to Louis Zabel (Frank Langella), a man targeted for takeover by the mega-wealthy Bretton James (Josh Brolin). Rumors about the old-timer’s poor business practices and possible illegal activities have sent his company into freefall.

James buys out Zabel at an insultingly-low stock price and Jake’s mentor jumps in front of a train. Left hanging, Jake finds a new father figure in Gekko, but he’s forced to keep the relationship secret since Gekko’s daughter hates him. Can Jake keep his new relationship with his pending father-in-law secret long enough to watch his future fall into place? Can he really swim in the same pool as Bretton James and Gordon Gekko and expect to keep his morals and sense of justice intact?

Most of “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” crackles with energy and solid pacing. None of the financial speak feels dumbed down and the great cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (“Brokeback Mountain,” “Babel”) delivers the visual goods, especially in HD. There are a few too many literal metaphors — shots of dominoes fallings, bubbles bursting, a laughable shot of a ghostly Langella — but there’s energy here that was missing from most adult-targeted films of 2010. It’s not perfect but it’s proof that Stone could find perfection again. Maybe he needs to make another sequel.

Special Features:
o Commentary by Director Oliver Stone
o A Conversation with Oliver Stone and the Cast of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
o Money, Money, Money: The Rise and Fall of Wall Street
o Deleted and Extended Scenes with Optional Commentary by Oliver Stone
o Fox Movie Channel Presents: In Character with Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, Carey Mulligan, Josh Brolin, and Frank Langella

“Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” stars Shia LaBeouf, Carey Mulligan, Michael Douglas, Josh Brolin, Eli Wallach, Susan Sarandon, Vanessa Ferlito, and Frank Langella. It was written by Allan Loeb and Stephen Schiff and directed by Oliver Stone. It was released on Blu-ray and DVD on December 21st, 2010. It is rated PG-13 and runs 133 minutes.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Film Review: Shia LaBeouf, Michael Douglas Drive Energetic ‘Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps’

BrianTT — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 10:32:18 -0400

CHICAGO – After a string of disappointments that include “Alexander,” “World Trade Center” and “W,” one of the best directors of the 1980s and 1990s at least draws closer to form with the entertaining “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”. The film is a great vehicle for Shia LaBeouf, Josh Brolin and Michael Douglas that occasionally disappoints but crackles more often than it fizzles.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

The character of Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) returns in “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” introduced on his way out of prison for his activities from the Oscar-winning first film, only to find no one there to pick him up. The man who helped define an era of greed by proclaiming it good has been left on his own. Where does a relic of the ’80s go from here?

Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” in our reviews section.

It will take some time to find out as Stone’s film shifts gears and turns to the story of Jake Moore (Shia LaBeouf, doing the best work of his career), a loyal, smart young trader who works at a troubled firm headed by Louis Zabel (Frank Langella). As his mentor’s company collapses, Jake stays by his side, trying to weather the storm at a firm that would end up being the canary in the coal mine for the 2008 crisis that would soon impact all of Wall Street. Sadly, Zabel made a few too many questionable decisions and the mega-wealthy Bretton James (Josh Brolin) takes advantage of his weaknesses to takeover the companies for only a few dollars a share. Zabel is heartbroken and jumps in front of a train.

As Jake tries to piece together the professional and emotional elements of his life, he attends a book-selling event by Gekko himself and informs him that he plans to marry his daughter. Jake lives with and loves Winnie Gekko (Carey Mulligan, miscast), a charismatic young lady who never wants to speak to her father ever again. Moore is inspired by Gekko, a truly different kind of mentor, who it appears could help the young man get his revenge against the despicable James. Will he? Can can Jake keep his new dynamic with his father-in-law secret from his future wife? Most importantly, can this (almost too) moral young man really swim in the same pool as Gordon Gekko and Bretton James?

Continue reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” review.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Photo credit: Barry Welcher/Fox

HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 25 Chicago Passes to ‘Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps’ With Michael Douglas

HollywoodChicago.com — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 04:25:29 -0400

CHICAGO – In our latest drama edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 25 admit-two passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of the new Oliver Stone film “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” with Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf!

The film also stars Carey Mulligan, Charlie Sheen, Josh Brolin, Susan Sarandon, Oliver Stone, Frank Langella, Donald Trump, Natalie Morales, Eli Wallach, Vanessa Ferlito and Julianne Michelle from director Oliver Stone and writers Allan Loeb and Stephen Schiff.

To win your free pass to the advance Chicago screening of “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” (also known as “Wall Street 2) courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just answer our question below. That’s it! This screening is on Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010 at 7 p.m. in downtown Chicago. Directions to enter this Hookup and immediately win can be found beneath the graphic below.

The movie poster for “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” with Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf.
Image credit: 20th Century Fox

Here is the plot description for “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”:

Michael Douglas is back in his Oscar-winning role as one of the screen’s most notorious villains: Gordon Gekko. Emerging from a lengthy prison stint, Gekko finds himself on the outside of a world he once dominated.

Looking to repair his damaged relationship with his daughter, Winnie, Gekko forms an alliance with her fiancé, Jacob (Shia LaBeouf). But can Jacob and Winnie really trust the ex-financial titan whose relentless efforts to redefine himself in a different era have unexpected consequences?

The movie trailer for “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” can be watched now below.

To secure your free tickets now, make sure you’re logged into your HollywoodChicago.com account. If you don’t yet have one, you can quickly register here. Having an account with a valid e-mail address is required. Then, simply add a new comment in the form below. In your comment, include an answer to this question:

True or false and why: Once a crook, always a crook.

Like all Hookups here, this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup is simple: Just submit your comment below and we will award 25 admit-two tickets randomly via e-mail for our “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” Hookup. Winners need to arrive early as seats are consumed on a first-come, first-served basis. Good luck!

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief/Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com