Character

Mysterious protagonist Aiden Pearce might be the star of the upcoming video game "Watch Dogs," but downtown Chicago lights up the box art. Comissioned by Ubisoft to paint a scene that contained both the iconic visage of the Willis Tower and an "L" train in the background, artist Alex Ross recently drove down to the Loop from his Glenview home and hunted for a perfect background. He chose a section of LaSalle Street between Wacker Drive and Lake Street, which he later painted complete with Pearce, the menacing masked man who can hack computers with his smartphone.

There's a scene in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" in which Daniel Craig is in bondage--no pun intended. His character, Mikael Blomkvist, has been strapped into a device and is being flung about the room as if he were a Cirque du Soleil performer with a plastic bag over his head. According to "Tattoo" director David Fincher, things went very wrong. Although Craig had a small metal device in his hand to pop the plastic bag in case it became too hard for him to breathe, Fincher and the crew didn't realize that he was having difficulty until they heard the piece of metal hit the floor.

Today I spoke with Josh Hutcherson, who stars as Peeta in the just-a-bit-anticipated big screen version of "The Hunger Games. " The full interview will post the week of the film's March 23 opening, but here's a taste. “We wanted to give him a little bit more balls,” Hutcherson said of his character. “The cave scene where Peeta's admitting his love to Katniss, in the book it can come across a little sappy. We wanted it to come across as, 'I'm gonna die. I need to tell you how I feel.'” On a scale of 1 to 1 zillion, how excited are you for the movie?

*** (out of four) (Dine Alone Records) Release date: March 20 Need to know: Despite evoking a heavily American, '70s pop-rock sensibility, Yukon Blonde hails from Vancouver. Less surprisingly, native Canadian/”How I Met Your Mother” character Robin Scherbatsky is a fan. Need to appreciate: The effortlessly sunny vibe that permeates throughout, from jangly opener “My Girl” to the sweet harmonies of “Oregon Shores” to “For LA,” which resembles Surfer Blood with less edge.

Giving out high fives, Chicago native and television star Danny Pudi received a deafening applause from fans at University of Illinois Chicago April 11 as he ran down aisle after aisle so attendees could smack his backside. Pudi showed students on UIC's campus that his quirky, Indian character Abed from NBC's hit show, " Community ," isn't so different in reality. In honor of Asian American Awareness Month at UIC, Pudi discussed his unique bloodline as a bi-racial Polish and Indian child, as well as his life growing up in Chicago.

Darth Vader is getting the pop-art treatment tonight as students from a Lakeview school are attempting to set a Guinness World Record with more than 100 portraits of the "Star Wars" character. Students from Alphonsus Academy & Center of the Arts will display their Andy Warhol-inspired portraits at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Athenaeum Theatre in Lakeview (2936 N. Southport Ave.). While Warhol famously used screen prints for his portraits of Marilyn Monroe and other famous figures, the students used stencils and a variety of colors to depict Luke Skywalker's villainous father.

In "Chicago Fire," the men and women of Firehouse 51 save lives, mourn lost colleagues, and, in the cases of Taylor Kinney and Jesse Spencer, spend a some time shirtless or in tank tops. Nothing wrong with that. "Law & Order" mastermind Dick Wolf doesn't blaze any new trails with his latest effort, but at least he's getting out of the courtroom and precinct house. Though there's not anything particularly groundbreaking about "Chicago Fire" ( 9 p.m. Oct. 10, NBC; 2.5 stars out of 4 )

As of last month, 81.4 percent of people who were dressing up knew what their costume would be already.   Of the people who reported knowing what they would dress as for Halloween, the top 20 answers were: Witch Vampire Pirate Batman character Zombie Wench/tart/vixen Princess Ghost 8. Nurse (tie) Cat Superman Unspecified scary costume/mask Political costume Devil 13. Dracula (tie) 13. Fairy (tie) Clown Grim Reaper 15. Monster (tie)

Denzel Washington has a weird, recurring dream about flying, but it has nothing to do with piloting an airplane like he does in his new film, "Flight. " "I've had it for most of my life," Washington said during a recent press conference at Montage in Beverly Hills. "I somehow always end up near the city and I go underneath bridges and I'd stay under them. The other part of the dream is I just take off forever. I don't know what it means!" When you're a two-time Oscar winner who is whipping up buzz for playing a commercial airline pilot with addiction issues, you're allowed to let your subconscious soar a bit. In "Flight," opening Friday, we're introduced to Washington's character, Whip Whitaker, during the night when his sleeping aids were a flight attendant, drugs and Jack Daniels.

“The Guilt Trip,” the upcoming movie starring Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand will be taking a trip around the country. Exclusive screenings will be held at participating AMC movie theatres in major cities on December 2, well before the film's December 19 release datte.  The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Rogen and Streisand responding via satellite from LA.  The movies is about a son and mother duo who embark on a road trip...