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Chicago – One of the most contentious issues in America now is the handling of “illegal” immigrants from Mexico. They, like anyone else, want a better circumstance for themselves and their families, as director Chris Weitz explores in the new film “A Better Life.”

Rating: 3.5/5.0

Essentially a modern re-telling of Victorio De Sica’s “The Bicycle Thief,” A Better Life mines the emotional journey of its protagonists, a father and son trying to get somewhere, anywhere in the midst of the slave wages and substandard living conditions for the illegal immigrant in this country. Surrounding the father is a cloak of pressure-filled fear, and even when a sliver of hope appears on the horizon it comes with consequences.

Carlos (Demián Bichir) life is one of redundant hard labor, earning a living sub contracting through a friend’s landscaping business. He has been in America illegally since he and his wife escaped from Mexico years before.

Chicago – In our latest drama edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 35 admit-two passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of the new film “A Better Life” from Oscar-nominated director Chris Weitz (“The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” “About a Boy” and “The Golden Compass”)!

“A Better Life” stars Demián Bichir, José Julián, Eddie “Piolin” Sotelo, Joaquín Cosio, Nancy Lenehan, Gabriel Chavarria, Bobby Soto, Chelsea Rendon, Trampas Thompson, Tim Griffin, Valorie Hubbard, Dolores Heredia, Isabella Rae Thomas, Carlos Linares and Robert Peters from director Chris Weitz and writers Eric Eason and Roger L. Simon.

To win your free pass to the advance Chicago screening of “A Better Life” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just answer our question below. That’s it! This screening is on Tuesday, July 5, 2011 at 7 p.m. in downtown Chicago. Directions to enter this Hookup and win can be found beneath the graphic below.

The movie...

Writer: Eric Eason

Director: Chris Weitz

Cast: Demián Bichir, José Julián, Carlos Linares

Studio: Summit Entertainment

Chris Weitz surprised me on this one. From the filmmaker of The Twilight Saga: New Moon comes a very small, intimate, and touching look at a father and son learning to understand each other against the backdrop of East Los Angeles. Weitz could have done any film after the financial success of the second film in the Twilight series, but he opted to do this one. For this, I admire Chris Weitz. That said, A Better Life is film that has its moments that come off as strong, but what bothers some viewers about this film is that it doesn’t take its themes and ideas and explore them any deeper than it should.

Read more on Theatrical Review: A Better Life...

Reviewed by Jay Antani

(June 2011)

Directed by: Chris Weitz

Written by: Eric Eason

Starring: Demián Bichir, José Julián, Dolores Heredia, Joaquín Cosío and Carlos Linares

In “A Better Life,” an illegal Mexican immigrant named Carlos (Demián Bichir) struggles to make ends meet as a gardener in modern-day Los Angeles. His son Luis (José Julián), alienated and adrift, is a high-school misfit, a thug in the making. After borrowing funds from his sister, Carlos acquires a truck and tools to start his own gardener’s business. The business offers Carlos a ray of hope, a way out of poverty for himself and his son.

But no sooner have the clouds of despair lifted than Carlos’ truck and tools are stolen, leaving father and son in a desperate search through the city’s Latino neighborhoods to recover them. Along the way, the wayward Luis finds greater respect and understanding — for his past,...

Reviewed by Jay Antani

(June 2011)

Directed by: Chris Weitz

Written by: Eric Eason

Starring: Demián Bichir, José Julián, Dolores Heredia, Joaquín Cosío and Carlos Linares

In “A Better Life,” an illegal Mexican immigrant named Carlos (Demián Bichir) struggles to make ends meet as a gardener in modern-day Los Angeles. His son Luis (José Julián), alienated and adrift, is a high-school misfit, a thug in the making. After borrowing funds from his sister, Carlos acquires a truck and tools to start his own gardener’s business. The business offers Carlos a ray of hope, a way out of poverty for himself and his son.

But no sooner have the clouds of despair lifted than Carlos’ truck and tools are stolen, leaving father and son in a desperate search through the city’s Latino neighborhoods to recover them. Along the way, the wayward Luis finds greater respect and understanding — for his past,...

Clips from Chris Weitz's A Better Life starring Demián Bichir, and Jose Julian! Summit Entertainment's drama A Better Life gets several new clips in standard and high definition. Also, get feedback from the stars as well as well as 6 behind-the-scenes videos from the drama helmed by Chris Weitz (About a Boy, The Golden Compass, The Twilight Saga: New Moon). A Better Life is a touching, poignant, multi-generational story about a father’s love and the lengths a parent will go to give his child the opportunities he never had. Eric Eason wrote the script based on the story by Roger L. Simon. The film opens June 24th with a cast including Dolores Heredia, Joaquin Cosio and Carlos Linares.

Clips from Chris Weitz's A Better Life starring Demián Bichir, and Jose Julian! Summit Entertainment's drama A Better Life gets several new clips in standard and high definition. Also, get feedback from the stars as well as well as 6 behind-the-scenes videos from the drama helmed by Chris Weitz (About a Boy, The Golden Compass, The Twilight Saga: New Moon). A Better Life is a touching, poignant, multi-generational story about a father’s love and the lengths a parent will go to give his child the opportunities he never had. Eric Eason wrote the script based on the story by Roger L. Simon. The film opens June 24th with a cast including Dolores Heredia, Joaquin Cosio and Carlos Linares.

Clips from Chris Weitz's A Better Life starring Demián Bichir, and Jose Julian! Summit Entertainment's drama A Better Life gets several new clips in standard and high definition. Also, get feedback from the stars as well as well as 6 behind-the-scenes videos from the drama helmed by Chris Weitz (About a Boy, The Golden Compass, The Twilight Saga: New Moon). A Better Life is a touching, poignant, multi-generational story about a father’s love and the lengths a parent will go to give his child the opportunities he never had. Eric Eason wrote the script based on the story by Roger L. Simon. The film opens June 24th with a cast including Dolores Heredia, Joaquin Cosio and Carlos Linares.

The Los Angeles Film Festival has announced the world premiere of Richard Linklater's Bernie as the opening night film for the 2011 festival.

The film will kick off the festival on June 16 at Regal Cinemas Stadium 14 at L.A. Live. It is written by Skip Hollandsworth and director Linklater and stars Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, and Matthew McConaughey.

The film follows a beloved mortician (Black) from a small Texas town, even winning over the town's richest, meanest widow (MacLaine). Even after Bernie commits a horrible crime, people still will not utter a bad word against him.

"We're thrilled to be opening the Festival with the world premiere of this delicious black comedy - a treat from one of the most original and exciting voices in independent film, Richard Linklater," said Festival director Rebecca Yeldham. "With its fabulous all-star cast, Bernie is a perfect stage setter for the incredible line-up of...

Ryan Gosling, Drive Also at the Los Angeles Film Festival 2011: the world premiere of Chris Weitz's A Better Life and the North American premiere of Nicolas Winding Refn's Palme d'Or competitor Drive, starring Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan. Best known at this stage for handling a vampire (Robert Pattinson), a werewolf (Taylor Lautner), and the woman between (Kristen Stewart) in The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Chris Weitz has now tackled a low-budget, socially conscious drama featuring plain old human beings. The Laff's press release describes A Better Life as "the poignant, suspenseful tale of an illegal immigrant in La struggling to build a better life for his beloved son." Written by Eric Eason from a story by Roger L. Simon, A Better Life stars Demián Bichir, José Julián, Dolores Heredia, Joaquín Cosío and Carlos Linares. Summit Entertainment will have a limited release of the film on June...

It's been a long time coming and finally news has broken about when your first opportunity to see the Guillermo del Toro produced and Troy Nixey directed remake of the Seventies TV scare-a-thon Don't Be Afraid of the Dark! California residents you Do Not want to miss this!

From the Press Release

Today the Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by the Los Angeles Times and supported by L.A. Live, announced Guillermo del Toro as Guest Director, as well as film selections for closing night, a special screening, galas, conversations and more. As previously announced, the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival will screen a diverse slate of over 200 feature films, shorts, and music videos, representing more than 30 countries. The Festival ­– produced by Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that also produces the Spirit Awards – will announce opening night, additional galas, special guests and programming for the Festival Talks later this month.

Check out the trailer for A Better Life directed by Chris Weitz and starring Demian Bichir, Jose Julian, Dolores Heredia, Joaquin Cosio and Carlos Linares. A Better Life is a touching, poignant, multi-generational story about a father’s love and the lengths a parent will go to give his child the opportunities he never had. A Better Life opens June 24th via Summit Entertainment and is produced by Paul Junger Witt, Christian McLaughlin, Chris Weitz, Jami Gertz and Stacey Lubliner. A Better Life movie trailer...

Check out the trailer for A Better Life directed by Chris Weitz and starring Demian Bichir, Jose Julian, Dolores Heredia, Joaquin Cosio and Carlos Linares. A Better Life is a touching, poignant, multi-generational story about a father’s love and the lengths a parent will go to give his child the opportunities he never had. A Better Life opens June 24th via Summit Entertainment and is produced by Paul Junger Witt, Christian McLaughlin, Chris Weitz, Jami Gertz and Stacey Lubliner. A Better Life movie trailer...

Watching the trailer for A Better Life, you'd never guess it's from Chris Weitz, the director of American Pie, The Golden Compass, About a Boy and The Twilight Saga: New Moon. There's no big concept here, it's a small film full of unknowns about an illegal immigrant in Los Angeles working hard to make a better life for his son. Check out the moving trailer, see the poster, images and read more about the movie after the break. A Better Life will be released June 24. Thanks to 24 Frames [1] for the premiere of this trailer. Just a quick note, however, before you watch it. Like most trailers that are released these days, this trailer basically gives away the whole movie. [The embed code was disabled, so you've gotta click here to go over to the page.] [2] The film stars Demian Bichir, José Julián, Dolores Heredia, Joaquín Cosio, Carlos Linares and is written by Eric Eason. Here's the plot description from the official site [3]: From the director...

Chicago – Summit Entertainment sent over four images highlighting their 2011 slate including images from “Drive Angry 3D,” “The Beaver,” “Source Code,” and “The Three Musketeers 3D,” along with synopsis and release date information for the rest of their slate, including “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.”

This 4-image slideshow contains images featuring Nicolas Cage, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, and more.

Summit’s 2011 lineup include, in order of release:

“Drive Angry 3D”

Release Date: February 25th

Starirng: Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, Billy Burke, and William Fichtner

Directed by: Patrick Lussier

Written by: Todd Farmer and Patrick Lussier

In Drive Angry 3D, Nicolas Cage stars as Milton, a hardened felon who has broken out of hell intent on finding the vicious cult who brutally murdered his daughter and kidnapped her baby. He joins forces with Piper (Amber Heard) – a sexy, tough-as-nails waitress with a ’69 Charger, who also seeking redemption of her own.

We have some more news from Afm for you tonight. First up, we have the first poster and full plot synopsis for The Cold Light of Day. As we previously reported, the film will star Henry Cavill (The Tudors) as “a young American whose family is kidnapped while on a vacation to Spain. He is left with only hours to find the connection between their disappearance and his father’s secrets.” The film will also star Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver. The film’s plot may sound like a bland thriller, but what makes this project exciting to me is that it will be Mabrouk El-Mechn’s directorial follow-up to his surprisingly great directorial debut, Jcvd.

Secondly, we also have a plot synopsis and poster for director Chris Weitz’s (About a Boy) upcoming drama, The Gardener. The film stars Demian Bichir (Weeds) as a gardener trying to find an...

Culebra is set to release at Slamdance tomorrow at 10:30pm and now horror fans can have a look at the first teaser for the trailer here. This first clip adds an adrenalized heartbeat in the soundtrack for extra excitement, as characters scream for help. Is there something hidden underground? Those who like the trailer for Culebra will have to wait a little longer to see the short, unless you are in the Utah area tomorrow nite. Director Sean Carter will be awaiting the response to his horror short in order to decide whether to make Culebra a feature length film. Definitely worthy of a peep, check out the teaser trailer for Culebra inside.

The synopsis for Culebra here:

"A pregnant Mexican woman follows a shady human smuggler into an underground border crossing that goes terribly awry (Slamdance)."

Release Date: January 24th, 10:30pm (Limited Theatrical).

Director/writer: Sean Carter.

Sean Carter (The Killing Room) is the brains behind the horror short Culebra, while Vanessa Hidalgo (The Glitch) is the brawn. Showing at Slamdance beginning January 24th, Culebra is a fifteen minute film that covers the illegal smuggling of immigrants across the American southern border, with a twist. The short, at Slamdance, is the start of what could be a feature length version of the film that has been compared to "Paranormal Activity, Cloverfield, and The Blair Witch Project (Marcos Akiaten)." Have a look at a full scene from Culebra, which shows Hidalgo's character Rosalie trapped, pregnant, and very alone.

The synopsis for Culebra here:

"A pregnant Mexican woman follows a shady human smuggler into an underground border crossing that goes terribly awry (Slamdance)."

Release Date: January 24th, 10:30pm (Limited Theatrical).

Director/writer: Sean Carter.

Cast: Carlos Linares.

The movie clip for Culebra here (movie trailer below):

*Movie clip removed by director's request.