Film

Hookup: 50 Admit-Two Passes to Two Screenings of Sundance Hit ‘American Teen’ in Chicago

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:37:04 -0700

CHICAGO – In our latest edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 admit-two passes up for grabs to two separate Chicago screenings of the Sundance Film Festival hit film “American Teen” from writer, director and producer Nanette Burstein.

To win your free pass to one of two advance screenings of “American Teen” in Chicago, all you need to do is be one of the first 50 people to submit a comment in this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup. That’s it! There are 25 admit-two tickets available for each screening.

The first Chicago screening will be held on July 22, 2008 at 7 p.m. and the second Chicago screening will be held on July 31, 2008 at 7 p.m. When you submit your comment below, make sure to include which screening you’d like to attend. Directions to enter this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup and immediately win can be found beneath the graphic below.

“American Teen” is written, directed and produced by Nanette Burstein.
Image credits: Paramount Vantage

Here’s the “American Teen” plotline:

“American Teen” is the touching and hilarious Sundance hit that follows the lives of five teenagers – the jock, the princess, the heartthrob, the rebel and the geek – in one small town in Indiana through their senior year of high school.

We see the insecurities, the cliques, the jealousies, the first loves, the heartbreaks and the struggle to make profound decisions about the future.

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 which screening you’d like to attend along with an answer to this simple question:

Which type of high schooler were you: the jock, the princess, the heartthrob, the rebel, the geek or none of the above?

Like all Hookups here, this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film is simple: The first 50 people to comment below win! We will be in touch with the 50 winners to confirm your passes. “American Teen,” which stars Hannah Bailey, Colin Clemens, Geoff Haase, Megan Krizmanich, Mitch Reinholt, Jake Tusing and Ali Wikalinska, opens in Chicago on Aug. 1, 2008. A trailer for the film is below.

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

Superhero Film ‘Hancock’ With No Superhero Ancestry Proves Bold But Deadly Decision

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:35:37 -0700

CHICAGO – With superhero films as hot in 2008 as psychedelics were in the 1960s, the new blockbuster superhero film “Hancock” fits in with the label but without any of the ancestry.

Rating: 2.0/5.0

While 2008 superhero films such as “Iron Man,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “The Dark Knight,” “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” and “Punisher: War Zone” (along with “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” coming in 2009) are all based on previous stories with a previously ravenous fan base, “Hancock” with an alcoholic and listless Will Smith and Charlize Theron – who hides a surprise bombshell – literally comes from nowhereland.

Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “Hancock” in our reviews section.

View our full, high-resolution “Hancock” image gallery.

In fact, “Hancock” is the only 2008 superhero film not derived from a previously established comic book.

The original script for “Hancock,” which was inked by Vincent Ngo in 1996 and called “Tonight, He Comes,” was shuffled through the Hollywood director’s circuit until director Peter Berg (“The Kingdom,” “Friday Night Lights,” “The Rundown”) finally ate it up in Oct. 2006. Filming began in July 2007.

Its truly original origin could have either been its golden savior or its deadly assassin. The decision ultimately proved treacherous as everything it tried to do to be different just made it the same.

Its originality actually might not seem so novel, too, once you consider the 1983 film “The Return of Captain Invincible”. In that film, Alan Arkin plays Captain Invincible and Christopher Lee plays his nemesis (Mr. Midnight). Captain Invincible is asked to return from retirement to the superhero battlefields, but this time around, he’s a raging alcoholic. Sound familiar? Uh huh.

“Hancock,” which features Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman and director Michael Mann in a small acting role, opened everywhere on July 2, 2008.

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “Hancock” review.

Charlize Theron (left) and Will Smith in “Hancock”.
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment

Will Smith (center) “Hancock”.
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “Hancock” review.

Director Guy Maddin Contemplates His Canadian Hometown in Dreamlike ‘My Winnipeg’

HollywoodChicago.com — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:01:56 -0700

CHICAGO – The distinct, gauzy style of director Guy Maddin has created unique cinematic prisms to look through including his depression-era meditation in “The Saddest Music in the World”. In his latest film, which is a documentary of sorts, Maddin explores his own life through his hometown of Winnipeg.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

He contemplates the far-off sense of leaving the city and seeks a kind of renewal through an anti-nostalgic look back at it. Guy Maddin was born in Winnipeg in 1956. He speaks of his early life there while living in a ramshackle home that contained his mother and aunt’s beauty parlor.

Read Patrick McDonald’s full review of “My Winnipeg” in our reviews section.

View our full, high-resolution “My Winnipeg” image gallery.

His development is distilled through the sights, sounds and smells of the salon along with the memories of the icons serving Winnipeg.

The giant downtown department store, the hockey arena where his father worked and a strange amusement park called Happyland all figure into his conscious reminiscence. The loss of this signals both the end of the era and his youth.

To take the “My Winnipeg” film experiment in looking back to another level, Maddin rents the beauty parlor house where he once lived and hires actors to play his brothers, sister and mother from 1963.

He then recreates specific and sometimes uncomfortable moments from his family history and watches them again in the sense of a voyeur traveling through time. His Winnipeg always remains in the center of it all.

“My Winnipeg,” which features Darcy Fehr, Ann Savage, Amy Stewart, Brendan Cade and Wesley Cade, opened on June 27, 2008 at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full “My Winnipeg” review.

Kate Yacula as Citizen Girl in “My Winnipeg,” which is directed by Guy Maddin.
Photo credit: Jody Shapiro, copyright Everyday Pictures

Ann Savage as Mother and Darcy Fehr as Ledge Man in “My Winnipeg,” which is directed by Guy Maddin.
Photo credit: Jody Shapiro, copyright Everyday Pictures

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full “My Winnipeg” review.

Amy Ryan of ‘Gone Baby Gone,’ ‘The Wire’ Signs Onto New Episodes of NBC Hit TV Show ‘The Office’

HollywoodChicago.com — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 23:22:52 -0700

CHICAGO – Amy Ryan’s star just keeps rising. The breakout actress from HBO’s “The Wire,” who was nominated for a Golden Globe and Academy Award for her role in “Gone Baby Gone,” will be featured in at least five episodes on this coming season of NBC hit TV show “The Office”.

Amy Ryan from “Gone Baby Gone,” “The Wire” and “The Office”.
Photo credit: (source)

In season four’s finale of “The Office” (entitled “Goodbye, Toby”), Amy Ryan’s character (Holly Flax) took over the HR position from Toby Flenderson (played by Paul Lieberstein).

With the 2007 finale being her first episode, Holly was teased as a potential love interest for branch boss Michael Scott (portrayed by Steve Carell). Last week, Carell signed on to do three more seasons of “The Office”. Ryan and Carell appeared together in 2007’s “Dan in Real Life”.

“I don’t know what they’re going to do with the character,” Ryan said in a Sunday Variety report, “but as it was written, there’s certainly a lot of potential. It’s a funny thing to enter a show … you’re a great fan of and it’s nice to tell lighter stories. I love the dark, grittier side of life, but it’s nice to take a break from that, put a skirt on and brush your hair.”

Though the fan-favorite Toby is gone from the screen, Lieberstein – a writer and actor on the show since the first season – will continue on as an executive producer through the fifth season of “The Office”. Lieberstein added in the Variety report: “Amy gave the character of Holly an openness and matured innocence that exposed a new side of Michael. She placed her character right on his level.”

Ryan has more projects set for the big screen including “Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone” and Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling”.

By DUSTIN LEVELL
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
dustin@hollywoodchicago.com

Exclusive: Tara Reid Photos Behind Velvet Ropes For Bikini Beach 2008 at Chicago’s Crobar Nightclub

HollywoodChicago.com — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 19:36:06 -0700

CHICAGO – Tara Reid, who for this Chicago appearance was branded as the “wildest girl in Hollywood,” appeared in the Windy City at Crobar Nightclub on Saturday for 103.5 KISS FM’s Bikini Beach 2008 party. We have exclusive, candid photos of the “American Pie” actress behind the velvet ropes.

Reid, who was also featured in “The Big Lebowski,” “Urban Legend,” “Cruel Intentions,” “American Pie 2,” “Josie and the Pussycats,” “Van Wilder” and several episodes of TV’s “Scrubs,” was photographed for HollywoodChicago.com by photographer Joe Arce while sitting at her table.

Tara Reid in Chicago on June 27, 2008 at Crobar Nightclub for 103.5 KISS FM’s Bikini Beach 2008 party.
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Image credit: 103.5 KISS FM

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

The Poor in China on River Without a Paddle in Documentary ‘Up the Yangtze’

HollywoodChicago.com — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 21:11:04 -0700

CHICAGO – China is on the world’s mind. The once-mysterious communist “enemy” is now the economic friend of all the essential profiteers.

There’s a defining joke told in the new documentary “Up the Yangtze” about American and Chinese businessmen going traveling on a river. They come to a fork in the journey with the signs “socialist” and “capitalist” illustrating the next turn.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

The American picks the capitalist right turn and the Chinese businessman wants the same route just make sure the turn signal indicates left to socialist. “Up the Yangtze” is a documentary that expounds upon China in transition.

Read Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Up the Yangtze” in our reviews section.

View our full, high-resolution “Up the Yangtze” image gallery.

Through a new dam project in the Three Gorges area of the Yangtze River, parts of former communities will be sacrificed to new, higher river levels. This film explores the poor people on the banks being forced out with no recompense and with nowhere else to go.

In one such family, a 16-year-old daughter is sent out to work on the cruise ships on the Yangtze.

She is to cater to the foreign visitors who must see China even though the China they see is about to be destroyed. What follows is her transition from pariah peasant to a modern girl courtesy of a paycheck and a couple of willing-to-educate peers.

“Up the Yangtze,” which is directed and written by Yung Chang and features Jerry Bo Yu Chen, Campbell Ping He and Cindy Shui Yu, opened in Chicago on June 20, 2008 at the Music Box Theatre.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full “Up the Yangtze” review.

Chen Bo Yu (Jerry) in Liberty Square in Chongqing City in “Up the Yangtze”.
Photo credit: Linix Fan

Tourists on sampans in the Lesser Three Gorges on the Yangtze in “Up the Yangtze”.
Photo credit: Jonathan Chang

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full “Up the Yangtze” review.

The Weinstein Co. to Hit Broadway With Stage Versions of ‘Finding Neverland,’ Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’

HollywoodChicago.com — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 13:18:54 -0700

CHICAGO – Brothers Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein of The Weinstein Company are becoming just as big on Broadway as they have been in the movies.

Harvey Weinstein (left) and Bob Weinstein (right) of The Weinstein Company.
Photo credits: Harvey Weinstein image (source) and Bob Weinstein image (source)

The Weinstein Co., which is a minority producer in the Tony Award-winning revival “Boeing Boeing” and the Steppenwolf Theatre’s Tony Award-winning “August: Osage County,” recently announced the production of numerous stage projects. They’ll begin with a stage version of the film “Finding Neverland” followed by a work based off Pink Floyd’s seminal album “The Wall”.

Further down the line are musicals based off the Miramax pictures “Shakespeare in Love,” “Chocolat,” “Cinema Paradiso” and “Shall We Dance”.

The Weinsteins first got their taste for live theatre when they helped produce Tom Stoppard’s 2000 revival of “The Real Thing” and the following year on Mel Brooks’ “The Producers”. Up until now, the brothers have played low-key rolls in the creative process, but the newly announced productions will feature The Weinstein Co. at the helm of each.

The Weinstein Co. has also announced a major rehaul on its Miramax TV division, which aside from “Project Greenlight” and “Project Runway” hasn’t been as successful as its film and stage ventures.

New shows include “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” for HBO, “Models of the Runway” (a “Project Runway” spinoff for Lifetime) and a sitcom based on the 2007 movie “The Nanny Diaries”. Also in the works include the eco-friendly series “Lovecraft” and a new take on the 1980s franchise “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”.

By DUSTIN LEVELL
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
dustin@hollywoodchicago.com

In ‘Get Smart’ Lifeless Retread, Steve Carell Can’t Fill Don Adams’ Shoe

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:37:59 -0700

CHICAGO – Observing the new “Get Smart” film, which is based on the 1960s TV sitcom of the same name, is to note how much has changed since the Cold War ended.

Rating: 2.0/5.0

KAOS and CONTROL – the U.S. and Russian spy agencies that square off in the movie – seem like relics of another era. In this age of homeland security and unlimited government wiretapping, it’s difficult to create fictional comedy that can compete with real-life absurdity.

The film version of “Get Smart” lives up to that truth. Combining dull action-movie elements, badly cast movie stars and an uncomfortable romance, the film has forgotten all about its TV roots and most of the humor.

Read Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Get Smart” in our reviews section.

View our full, high-resolution “Get Smart” image gallery.

Played by Steve Carell, Maxwell Smart is a Russian interpreter and communications administrator in the secret government spy agency CONTROL.

The chief (Alan Arkin) wants Smart to stay in the administration even though he longs to join spies like Agent 23 (Dwayne Johnson) and work in the field.

After KAOS – a rival Russian agency – infiltrates and wrecks the CONTROL offices, Smart is promoted to field agent and partnered with super-spy Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway). Their mission is to find out who’s behind KAOS and identify their evil plans.

“Get Smart,” which stars Steve Carell, Anna Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson, Alan Arkin, Terence Stamp, Bill Murray and Ryan Seacrest, opened everywhere on June 20, 2008.

Steve Carell stars as Maxwell Smart (left) and Anne Hathaway stars as Agent 99 in “Get Smart”.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Anne Hathaway (left) stars as Agent 99 and Steve Carell stars as Maxwell Smart in “Get Smart”.
Photo credit: Tracy Bennett

Read Patrick McDonald’s full “Get Smart” review.

Uproarious, Talent-Packed ‘The Love Guru’ a Script of Destiny From Funnyman Mike Myers

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 01:00:02 -0700

CHICAGO – Commendably co-written by Mike Myers (who also wrote characters for 2002’s “Austin Powers in Goldmember” and 1999’s “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me”), you know lines like “sheket bevakasha” came directly from his bowels.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

Granted, I was one of the few at my screening to understand this Hebrew line as “quiet, please” and laugh at its precision placement, but that’s OK.

Though always known as a hippie funnyman, the novel script for “The Love Guru” actually holds personal and grave emotional value for Myers. He has said the film is a “reflection of the spiritual journey” he traveled after the 1991 death of his father.

Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “The Love Guru” in our reviews section.

View our huge, high-resolution “The Love Guru” image gallery.

Read more news on “The Love Guru”.

The Beatles lead guitarist George Harrison died on Nov. 29, 2001, which literally was the final day of filming for 2002’s “Austin Powers in Goldmember”. Upon opening a letter from Harrison, Myers told MTV on April 9, 2008 that he thought to himself: “OK, universe. I think I get it. This is the movie you want me to make.”

While Mike Myers proves he’s more than just Austin Powers through new plotlines taking him to new lands, he’s still the relatively same hilarious, hippie-loving beatnik no matter his purpose for being on screen.

Myers co-wrote this highly original script with rookie screenwriter Graham Gordy whose only other writing credit goes to a little-known film entitled “War Eagle, Arkansas”. Gordy also plays a small role in “The Love Guru,” which shot principal photography in Toronto, Ontario.

In addition to Mike Myers in the starring role, “The Love Guru” also features Jessica Alba, Ben Kingsley, Jessica Simpson, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Stephen Colbert, Verne Troyer and Deepak Chopra. The film opened everywhere on June 20, 2008. Read Adam Fendelman’s full “The Love Guru” review here.

Jessica Alba as Jane Bullard in the comedy “The Love Guru”.
Photo credit: George Kraychyk

Mike Myers stars as Guru Pitka in the comedy “The Love Guru”.
Photo credit: George Kraychyk

Read Adam Fendelman’s full “The Love Guru” review.

‘When Did You Last See Your Father?’ a Family Affair Between Colin Firth, Jim Broadbent

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:54:40 -0700

CHICAGO – With Father’s Day upon us, what better time for a film about dysfunctional relations between a father and a son?

The tongue-tying title “When Did You Last See Your Father?” is a true story exploring the secrets and lies over a lifetime of dealing with dad and a son’s bitterness when confronting everything during the time of a patriarch’s death.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

When we meet Arthur – portrayed by Jim Broadbent (he’s memorable in 2001’s “Moulin Rouge!”) – he’s driving his small British family to a horseracing event in the 1950s. As an illustration of his character, he’s shown cutting in front of a long line of cars by using his status as a physician.

Read Patrick McDonald’s full review of “When Did You Last See Your Father?” in our reviews section.

View our full, high-resolution “When Did You Last See Your Father?” image gallery.

In a voice-over, his now-older son, Blake (Colin Firth), speaks of his father’s need to always seek an advantage by any means necessary. Fast forward to 1991.

Arthur is now mortally sick with cancer and Blake attends to the sickbed while thinking about his life with his father. That focuses on flashbacks during his adolescent years and the main story coincides with the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

Through Blake’s memories, there’s a series of incidents that define his father’s need for coming out on top in every instance even to the sacrifice of his mousy wife and weaker children. In his attempt to find closure, Blake uses these memories to seek answers to his father’s behaviors and find peace in his own soul regarding the relationship.

Jim Broadbent as Arthur Morrison in “When Did You Last See Your Father?”.
Photo credit goes to Giles Keyte, copyright goes to Father Features Limited and image is courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Colin Firth as Blake Morrison (left) and Gina McKee as Kathy Morrison in “When Did You Last See Your Father?”.
Photo credit goes to Giles Keyte, copyright goes to Father Features Limited and image is courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Read Patrick McDonald’s full “When Did You Last See Your Father?” review.