Dolph Lundgren

CHICAGO – The dripping sound of water you will hear this upcoming weekend will be the tears of DC Comics fans, as they cry from frustration over the latest cinema hit job on one of the Super-Friends. The tepid and overlong “Aquaman” is another hero movie that tries to combine origin story and “first case” adventure, and fails at both.

CHICAGO – In the EIGHTH exploration (wow) for the story of boxer Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) – that began way back in 1976 – the son of his first opponent, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), must settle an old score and seek redemption for himself and those around him in “Creed II.”

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 40 pairs of advance-screening movie passes up for grabs to the highly anticipated dramedy “Hail, Caesar!” from Joel and Ethan Coen!

CHICAGO – The old man as macho action hero trend has finally calcified. If you haven’t seen either of the two previous “Expendables” pictures – this is definitely not the place to start. Sylvester Stallone’s creaky franchise hits rock bottom.

CHICAGO – Do kids still play with He-Man and Skeletor? When I was young, there wasn’t a single kid at my school who didn’t know these characters and pretend to harness the power of Greyskull. The irony of the Gary Goddard movie from 1987 wasn’t just let that it was pretty awful but that it kind of came on the tail end of the “Masters of the Universe” trend. At least for me. By the time “Masters” came out, He-Man didn’t have quite the same power. And Goddard’s movie, recently released on Blu-ray, really didn’t help.

CHICAGO – Face it, it is fun to see the major action stars of the 1980s, ‘90s and now – Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Chuck Norris, Dolph Lundgren, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger – together again for “The Expendables 2.” Why the hell can’t anyone write a decent story for them?

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: DVD with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 5 free DVDs up for grabs for “The Expendables” in support of the sequel “The Expendables 2,” which hits theatres on Aug. 17, 2012!

CHICAGO – Like most instances in Hollywood these days, one gun-filled, explosive, action-packed film is never enough; not when a sequel can be made that promises the same exciting sequences and macho heroes. That is why it is no surprise that Lionsgate has given the green light to a sequel for the 2010 film “The Expendables,” titled “The Expendables 2,” and two of the biggest action stars of all time will join the fun.

CHICAGO – In our latest action/adventure edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 10 admit-two run-of-engagement movie passes up for grabs to the new film “The Expendables” with Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke and Dolph Lundgren!

CHICAGO – Seeing them all together was fun. Enduring some macho joshing, even in the form of stiff dialogue, was tolerable. But doing a bad, boring action movie with Sylvester Stallone trying to prop up his “legacy” was sadly too much to bear.