Beyonce Knowles

CHICAGO – It’s unlikely that you’ll see a more visually striking American animated film in 2013 than Fox and Blue Sky Studios’ “Epic,” a film that was written off by many critics and audience members in its May release but that has more going for it than your average family fare. Now available on Blu-ray and DVD, “Epic” frustrates in the way that it too often falls back on storytelling crutches that we’ve seen before but the movie looks great at every turn. It’s the kind of animated flick that’s designed to show off your new Blu-ray player and accompanying HD TV. The special features are disappointingly thin but the movie deserved a bigger audience that it is likely to find on Blu-ray.

“Epic” is the best-looking 3D animated film since “How to Train Your Dragon”. From the very first scenes, it has a mesmerizing visual palette as the natural world comes to life in a way reminiscent of “The Lord of the Rings” and “Avatar.” It’s gorgeous. Sadly, the lurching, generic script doesn’t live up to the look of the film but it’s worth seeing just for the memorable visuals.

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 30 family movie 4-packs (a total of 120 tickets!) up for grabs to the advance screening of the highly anticipated new film “Epic”!

CHICAGO – Steve Shill’s “Obsessed,” now on Blu-Ray and DVD, nearly works as a guilty pleasure thriller with some talented stars, but it’s so shockingly predictable and by-the-numbers that what starts promising quickly gets generic and dull. By the time the film gets to its explosive climax, most viewers will be too bored to care and a sub-par Blu-Ray release doesn’t help the overall package.

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Beyoncé Knowles stars in Screen Gems thriller Obsessed.

CHICAGO – This 19-image slideshow contains the official press images from Sony’s “Obsessed,” starring Beyonce Knowles, Idris Elba, Ali Larter, and Jerry O’Connell. The film, written by David Loughery and directed by Steve Shill, opened on April 24th, 2009.

CHICAGO – We have just received from Screen Gems a new viral video for the upcoming film “Obsessed” with Ali Larter, Beyoncé Knowles, Idris Elba, Jerry O’Connell, Scout Taylor-Compton, Bruce McGill, Richard Ruccolo, Christine Lahti and Candice Cunningham.

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – There’s a lot to like about the individual parts of “Cadillac Records,” now on Blu-Ray, but they never come together to form a cohesive sum. A frustratingly episodic film, “Records” crams too many stories into one movie, ending up more like a greatest hits album than a creative vision of its very own.

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Host Hugh Jackman

CHICAGO – This 27-image slideshow contains a selection of the award-winners and presenters at “The 81st Annual Academy Awards,” which aired on ABC on Sunday, February 22nd, 2009.

CHICAGO – There wouldn’t be a second and third “Austin Powers” movie if it wasn’t for the massive success of the first film on Home Video, so it seems appropriate that all three have been released in a Blu-Ray box set called the “Shagadelic Edition: Loaded with Extra Mojo” but Warner Brothers missed an opportunity to do anything more than a technical upgrade.