Movie

Have I got an opportunity for you! I've secured the rights to a 19th century Swedish folk tale that, since it was discovered at the bottom of well by a traveling circus monkey, has been widely regarded as a major predecessor to "Harry Potter. " It features wizards, spells, demons and a teenage love triangle, this time involving a young wizard, a demon who used to be a boy and a beautiful girl who used to be a demon. Together they experience all the highs and lows of adolescence, just with far more confusing terminology and expressions of their love for beef stroganoff.

Summer TV season really gets going in June with the returns of several favorites and the premieres of what are bound to be new ones. I'm looking forward to "Halt and Catch Fire" on AMC, "Rectify" on SundanceTV, "Orange is the New Black" on Netflix, "The Musketeers" on BBC America, "The Last Ship" and "Falling Skies" on TNT, the final season of "Wilfred" on FXX and the new "Tyrant" on FX, "Endeavor" and "Vicious" on PBS and "The Leftovers" on...

Sometimes movies romanticize the idea of the "perfect job. " Being the consistently overzealous idealist that I am (aka drama queen), I admit I have spent days dreaming about my own career taking flight in a movie montage. It would start as one of those "I forgot to put on deodorant" kind of days. After breaking a heel while helplessly trying to wave down a cab that splashed through a puddle of water leaving me soaking wet, I finally arrive home to find a letter from my boyfriend explaining he thinks we should break up because I've become too vanilla.

** (out of four) I feel more strongly about the title “Cold in July,” which better not be an accurate forecast, than I do about the movie. That's partly because it's been only four weeks since “Blue Ruin” invigorated a familiar story about vigilante justice and families intertwined by violence. (See it.) Now “Cold” attempts to do the same, with milder results. Playing someone who kills by accident this time around, Michael C. Hall (“Dexter”) stars as Richard, who wakes to hear a stirring in the house.

When trying to identify the quintessential American movie, you could look at a timeless classic - and a celebration of all-American love, cinema, song and dance - like "Singin' in the Rain. "Or you could go to something grittier like "12 Angry Men,"which encapsulates the American judicial system and its vulnerability to group-think as well as the importance of standing up for your beliefs against a vocal, close-minded majority. Sorry, "Independence Day. " Despite your title, alien invasion doesn't really fit here.

*** (out of four) “Hey, kids! Wouldn't you love to see a movie that touches on the early days of filmmaking? You might learn about how frames are spliced together to create an illusion on screen! And there's lots of steam coming out of pipes and trains. In 3-D!” Fine. So this dignified family adventure from Martin Scorsese - yes, that Martin Scorsese - doesn't scream “Huge hit with short-attention-span kids,” despite the presence of, uh, some fun-looking wind-up toys.

Good grief? Coinciding with the comic strip's 65th anniversary, Charles Schulz's "Peanuts" gang--that's Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Lucy and the rest, if your memory needs a reboot--will hit the big screens Nov. 25, 2015, a press release announced this morning. My first thought, of course, is concern that "Peanuts" will be adapted with the same pop culture references and obnoxious sense of humor as the recent movies based on "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and "The Smurfs. " Fortunately the script for the as-yet-untitled movie has been written by Schulz's son Craig.

No matter who wins or loses Sunday, the 2013 Golden Globes ceremony obviously will be awesome because Tiny Fey and Amy Poehler are hosting. Really: That should be enough to make even the most awards show-averse movie/TV fans tune in. Yes, there will probably be plenty of frustrating developments once the winners are announced but I'm trying to stay positive here, people. In 11 categories of the movie department, here's who I want to win, who will actually win and who really, really needs to not win. Best Picture, Drama.

Lifetime's "Drew Peterson: Untouchable" movie generated record viewership, the network said Monday, averaging about 5.8 million total viewers when it aired Jan. 21. I wonder how many of them made watching it a drinking game. It'd be easy to do. Each time Rob Lowe, playing Peterson, squints, you take a gulp. Each time his accent turns to Wiconsin instead of Chicago, you take a sip (you'd be drunk too fast if you were gulping). Each time the movie "convicts" him, you pick a friend to do a shot.

**1/2 (out of four) Maybe Elizabeth Olsen should stick to big cities. In the tremendously unsettling “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” escaping a cult for a quiet lake house wasn't enough to calm the demons in Martha's (Olsen) head. Now in “Silent House,” returning to a childhood vacation home quickly goes from Sarah (Olsen) admiring the water nearby to being trapped in a house without power, where she hears the footsteps of an intruder. Incidents like this make people want a vacation from their vacation.

*1/2 (out of four) Love it or hate it, the mean-spirited, wildly profitable “Ted” delivered jokes almost faster than you could process them. It was Seth MacFarlane doing close to nothing to adapt his non sequitur-heavy, racism- and misogyny-friendly sensibilities from animated TV to the big screen. His ted-ious follow-up, “A Million Ways to Die in the West,” allows long stretches between stabs at comedy and is ambitious only in theory. Practically nobody makes expensive Westerns anymore.

* (out of four) Plenty of stories covered in animated Disney movies have become live-action adventures. “101 Dalmatians.” “Alice in Wonderland.” “Mirror Mirror” and “Snow White and the Huntsman.” “Hook.” “The Sorcerer's Apprentice.” Next year's live-action “Jungle Book.” I wouldn't bet against a live-action “Lady and the Tramp” starring Uggie from “The Artist.” What makes “Maleficent” special is...

These upcoming TV shows and movie depict young adults battling the often life-threatening illness. 'Chasing Life' 8 p.m. June 10, ABC Family April, played by Italia Ricci, is a Boston 20-something aspiring to become a successful journalist. While working her way up the newspaper's ladder and juggling family issues, her life is flipped upside down when she is diagnosed with cancer. The show follows April as she struggles with her disease while still trying to attain her goals.

**1/2 (out of four) Less than two years ago, Joaquin Phoenix starred in a movie that opened with a shot of water - the wake of a boat. Paul Thomas Anderson's challenging masterpiece “The Master” offered not just extraordinary performances but a fascinating examination of guidance, rebellion and so much more. It was the best movie of 2012. Affecting but undeserving of the “masterpiece” tag some have tossed its way , “The Immigrant” also stars Phoenix and also involves water in its opening, to much different effect.

Zero stars (out of four) The heinous “Blended” feels like a two-hour version of Aldous Snow's “African Child” video in “Get Him to the Greek.” It also continues Adam Sandler's streak of taking comedy beyond subjectivity and into objectively despicable, misogynistic cruelty threaded into family-friendly movies. He spits in your face and calls it a kiss. As usual Sandler plays a gigantic jackass and loving father, so he can go for laughs while insulting or punching children.

*1/2 (out of four) One of the worst sins a documentary can commit is assessing a situation and saying, “If everyone could just stop caring about money, things would get so much better.” Discussing the issue of childhood obesity in a somewhat clueless vacuum, “Fed Up” says that 80 percent of the nation's schools have contracts with fast food companies - and just imagine how much healthier kids could be. In theory, that's a great call....

* (out of four) “Act of Valor” began as a small recruiting film. Five years and a script from one of the writers of “300” later, that's still all it is. I definitely don't understand how the Navy thought the best way to showcase its members' bravery was to let active duty SEALs film a fictional, non-documentary story that makes real war look like a generic action flick. That is, if generic action movies featured real-life Navy soldiers doing a stiff job of playing themselves - with supporting turns by Nestor Serrano (recognizable from practically every TV show ever,...

Before the Chicago Air & Water Show is held this weekend, downtown workers and residents may notice other aircraft swirling around the city. The movie "Jupiter Ascending," starring Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis, is filming aerial stunts this week, according to a newsletter emailed by Ald. Brendan Reilly's (42nd) office. The stunts involve low-flying helicopters in the early morning between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. around the Willis Tower on Monday, near Daley Plaza at Clark and Washington streets on Tuesday and the Chicago River locks and the...

** (out of four) Like a disappointing, minimal adaptation of a great novel, “Ida” (which isn't actually based on a book) turns what should have been a complex mystery into a simple question and answer. The 1960s-set film from Polish director/co-writer Pawel Pawlikowski (“My Summer of Love”) watches as Anna (Agata Trzebuchowska) meets her only living relative, Aunt Wanda (Agata Kulesza), just prior to taking her vows as a nun. Wanda's the opposite of Anna: Outgoing and somewhat desperate, she drinks, smokes and sleeps around.

** (out of four) You can call it superhero burnout, but it's really just idea burnout: “X-Men: Days of Future Past” is a big-budget, highly anticipated comic-book movie that does nothing to set itself apart. The story? The action? Yes, there's a lot going on. But the texture and wow factors are gone. Don't get me wrong. I really, really liked 2011's “X-Men: First Class,” and “Days of Future Past” does, uh, travel all over the world in hopes of being entertaining.