HollywoodChicago.com Content

CHICAGO – The 45th Chicago International Film Festival will open with Katherine Dieckmann’s “Motherhood” and a star-studded red carpet where the film’s writer and director, Dieckmann and actress Uma Thurman at the AMC River East 21 Theater (322 E. Illinois St in Chicago) on Thursday, October 8th at 7pm.

CHICAGO – FX’s award-winning legal thriller “Damages” is adding four new actors, Campbell Scott (“Royal Pains”), Martin Short (“Primetime Glick”), Lily Tomlin (“Desperate Housewives”) and Keith Carradine (“Dexter”), to the cast for the upcoming season which premiers in January. Production on the series 13-episode season begins in New York tomorrow.

CHICAGO – When “F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin” was released earlier this year, it took me awhile to get into the rhythm of the game and to realize what worked about the title.

CHICAGO – Clearly inspired as much by the success of “Desperate Housewives” as that of its actual source material, ABC’s “Eastwick” is a mixed cauldron of possibilities, a show with a strong enough cast and concept to warrant a second look but also one with enough deep flaws in its premiere to suggest that perhaps this spell will not be cast over too many viewers.

CHICAGO – The highlight of tonight’s debuting shows on ABC is one of the most promising new comedy pilots of the season, the multi-layered “Modern Family,” a sitcom that both skewers the conventions of the typical TV family show and lovingly embraces them at the same time.

CHICAGO – There are major chunks of ABC’s very disappointing “Cougar Town” with Courteney Cox that resemble a stand-up comedian so eager to please that you can see the desperate flop sweat forming on their brow as joke after joke hit the floor with a thud. More pathetically manic than honestly funny, it’s the writing on the weakest part of the network’s entirely new Wednesday night line-up that lets down its talented star.

LOS ANGELES – “Sweet Valley High” filtered through Diablo Cody? That is exactly what Universal is doubling down on, in negotiations to pick up the rights to the long-running book series, with Cody (“Juno,” “Jennifer’s Body”) attached to adapt.

CHICAGO – In our latest horror edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 20 admit-two passes up for grabs to the Chicago screening of the film festival-favorite horror film “Paranormal Activity,” which Bloody-Disgusting.com calls “one of the scariest movies of all time”!

CHICAGO – What do you want out of a fighting game? Aren’t they designed around the social experience of picking up a controller and kicking your friend’s ass? Fighting titles even the playing field, allowing the wimpy kid to kick the football player’s ass with the right mix of animated moves. They are the ultimate revenge of the nerds.

CHICAGO – Doesn’t it feel like there will someday just be a few mystery franchises with several different iterations on the air? We have three versions of “Law & Order” and “CSI,” and now “NCIS” has joined in, expanding the franchise of this surprisingly popular show to “NCIS: Los Angeles” with appealing stars Chris O’Donnell and L.L. Cool J.