Donald Sutherland

CHICAGO – NBC’s “Crossing Lines,” premiering with a two-part pilot on Sunday, June 23, 2013 at 8pm CST, was blatantly created for an international audience. It’s a product of a French production company, filming largely in the Czech Republic with an international cast. Designed for sales in as many markets as possible around the world, it’s a financial consideration more than a creative venture, and it’s a boring one at that. Don’t bother.

CHICAGO – Can a Blu-ray be both great and a likely placeholder for a future Special Edition? “The Hunger Games” makes that case. The lack of a commentary track or deleted scenes (and Lionsgate’s double-dipping track record) lead one to believe that a Special Edition will likely hit stores in conjunction with “Catching Fire” but this is still a great release with hours of special features and a stellar HD video and audio transfer.

CHICAGO – Lionsgate announced 2-disc Blu-ray and DVD editions of their massive hit “The Hunger Games” to be released on August 18, 2012 complete with three hours of extensive bonus features. The highlight of the bonus material is an eight-part documentary called “The World is Watching: Making of The Hunger Games.”

CHICAGO – What is remarkable about the book phenomenon known as “The Hunger Games” is how rich, literary and symbolic the series is, considering they are for a “young adult” audience. Jennifer Lawrence, Stanley Tucci, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson and Josh Hutcherson bring the characters to life.

CHICAGO – Gary Ross’ “The Hunger Games” is a spectacular piece of blockbuster entertainment, a movie that should connect across all demographics from those who have never heard of the book to those who have shrines to Katniss and Peeta in their closets.

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CHICAGO – This 21-image slideshow contains a selection of the Lionsgate-provided official stills from Gary Ross’ “The Hunger Games” with Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, and Donald Sutherland.

CHICAGO – Fans of the hit book series and much anticipated film series “The Hunger Games” were treated to a full look inside the world of Panem this morning when Lionsgate debuted a full trailer for the new film. After a short teaser trailer premiered this past summer showing the main character, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), running through a forest during battle, the new trailer gives a full look at the modern/futuristic world.

CHICAGO – Two of the funniest movies ever made hit Blu-ray next week in the John Belushi flicks “The Blues Brothers” and “National Lampoon’s Animal House.” Both are rich with special features but they’re of material that has been available before. The fact is that these two films have been released and re-released a hundred times and most people probably own them by now. If you don’t, get to it.

CHICAGO – We have seen dozens of movies about hit men caught in dangerous situations. There is something that fascinates us about men who take the assignment to kill someone and just pack up and wait for the next job. Inevitably, the movies tell us that these men will pay the price, whether it be a job gone horribly wrong or an attempt to leave a profession that doesn’t come with a pension plan. The latest entry in the subgenre is the Jason Statham vehicle “The Mechanic,” a film that works reasonably well as a rental but falls a bit flat with a disappointing final act.

CHICAGO – In ancient times, history was at the end of a sword point and edge of the world. “The Eagle” tells of a Roman Empire battle in those times, and Channing Tatum plays a general bent on restoring his family name.