Timothy Olyphant

CHICAGO – Very few films have felt more made my a movie-making machine than the dull “I Am Number Four,” a film that hopes so desperately to feel like something that you’ve seen before and that you’ll like the familiarity that it never develops a personality of its own. With a dull lead, lackluster romance, goofy dialogue, and melodramatic storytelling, “I Am Number Four” disappoints in nearly every way that a movie can.

CHICAGO – In our latest superhero edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Blu-ray, we have 6 Blu-rays up for grabs to “I Am Number Four” from the director of “Disturbia” and producer Michael Bay!

CHICAGO – Sebastian Gutierrez is the sort of filmmaker who thrives best on the festival circuit. His work is just quirky and distinctive enough to garner overenthusiastic praise from jaded festival goers in the mood for markedly lighter fare. Yet when screened out of the celebratory atmosphere at SXSW, Gutierrez’s films fail to register as anything more than mediocre trifles.

CHICAGO – Joelle Carter was one of those actresses who was probably a familiar face through small roles in films like “American Pie 2” and “High Fidelity” or through a number of TV guest appearances, but it was her excellent work on the first season of the FX hit “Justified” that brought her to a new level of fame.

CHICAGO – While the new sci-fi/superhero film “I Am Number Four” can be easily dismissed as yet another “Twilight” knockoff, the power of two mega-producers arms the film with nearly as much right as it does wrong.

CHICAGO – We have every reason to believe that the second season of “Justified” will be even better than the first and that excellent outing landed on my top ten for 2010. In other words, one of the best shows on TV is back and looks likely that it could get even better.

CHICAGO – The first season of “Justified” was one of my favorites of 2010, but quality TV seasons don’t always translate to quality home releases. It seems as though studios are still unclear as to which shows to release standard-only and even when they do make the upgrade decision to HD it doesn’t always come with interesting special features.

CHICAGO – Just in time for the holidays, HBO’s brilliant “Deadwood” has been chosen for induction into the complete series Blu-ray catalog of the most important TV network in the last twenty years. Very few HBO series are available in complete series HD sets from HBO (“Band of Brothers,” “Rome,” “The Pacific”) and while fans of “The Sopranos,” “The Wire,” and “Six Feet Under” may finally have their day next holiday season, this one belongs to David Milch’s masterpiece.

CHICAGO – Horror remakes almost always fall flat as too many filmmakers fail to recapture the magic of the original but there seems to be something about George A. Romero’s films that defies that rule. Take for example Breck Eisner’s take on “The Crazies,” a shockingly good genre entry that should find a loyal cult following on Blu-ray and DVD.

CHICAGO – In the hundreds of shows that I’ve reviewed in my decade covering television, I’ve rarely been as instantly blown away as I was by the premiere of “Justified,” a riveting, perfectly paced, expertly acted piece of drama that simply must be seen. The next two episodes are a slight step down but that doesn’t change the fact that this is the best new drama of 2009-2010.