Shia LaBeouf plays Sam Witwicky in “Transformers: Dark of the Moon.” It takes about an hour and a half for Michael Bay’s shrill and noisy action thriller “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” to get to the good stuff. And when I write “good stuff,” I really mean the stuff that’s not as bad as the […]
Author Archives: Dann Gire
‘Bad Teacher’ barely earns passing grade
Cameron Diaz shakes up a middle school fundraiser as the “Bad Teacher.” Columbia Pictures screened “Bad Teacher” for the press Wednesday night after many regular newspaper deadlines, a sign the studio doesn’t think the movie will be a winner with critics and the public. (We held the presses for our readers, naturally.) “Bad Teacher” isn’t […]
‘Cars 2’ moves along, despite underpowered dramatic motor
Race car Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson), left, joins tow truck Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) and spy car Finn McMissile in the action-packed “Cars 2.” Pixar’s computer-animated sequel “Cars 2” races through record numbers of visual and verbal gags, and they fly by at such speed that multiple viewings may be required just to absorb […]
Generic ‘Green Lantern’ lacks punch and power
Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) answers the call to defend the Earth from evil in the comic book-based superhero adventure “Green Lantern.” I wasn’t much of a Green Lantern fan back in the ’60s when I read a lot of comic books, both from the DC and Marvel brands. How powerful can a superhero be if […]
Witless ‘Penguins’ for the birds
Tom Popper (Jim Carrey) leads six birds in a dance number during the unappealingly preposterous “Mr. Popper’s Penguins.” The alleged family comedy “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” lacks wit, cleverness, convincing characters, a serviceable plot, worthy messages about parenting and real fun. It’s the kind of bleak, soul-deprived comedy that even Dean Jones would refuse to do, […]
This ‘Company’ better suited to stage
Martha Plimpton, Stephen Colbert and Neil Patrick Harris sing away in a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s 1970 musical “Company,” in movie theaters on four nights only. What makes for good live theater doesn’t always make for a good movie, and the proof lies in the New York Philharmonic’s all-star revival of “Company,” Stephen Sondheim’s 1970 […]
100 Ways To Get a Bad Review (41-50)
When you think about it, a lot of places can tell filmmakers how to make movies: Columbia College. UCLA. USC. NYU. But how many of them can tell filmmakers ways to avoid bad reviews of their movies? I can. I offer 100 ways to warn filmmakers – beginners and veterans – on how they can […]
Spielberg’s fingerprints all over Abrams’ ‘Super 8’
Martin (Gabriel Basso), left, Cary (Ryan Lee), Joe (Joel Courtney) and Charles (Riley Griffiths) witness a terrible train derailment in “Super 8.” The kids in J.J. Abrams’ science-fiction thriller “Super 8” are so personable, so funny, so transparent and so real that it feels like a distraction when a hokey, angry extraterrestrial drops in on […]
‘X-Men’ prequel a first-class affair
Erik (Michael Fassbender), left, and Charles (James McAvoy) prepare to prevent World War III by using telekinetic powers in “X-Men: First Class.” Matthew Vaughn’s marvelously inventive “X-Men: First Class” wraps a classic comic book superhero origin tale around the Cuban missile crisis, then creates a coming-of-age teen angst drama that poses pertinent philosophical questions: What […]
Well-constructed ‘Yellowbrickroad’ leads to confounding finale
A group of investigators follows a path where an entire New Hampshire village disappeared in 1940 in the psychological horror film “Yellowbrickroad.” We’re only two films into AMC Theaters’ exclusive summer horror movie series “Bloody Disgusting Selects,” and I must admit, I’m impressed. Between last month’s Armageddon plague drama “Rammbock” and this month’s psychological brain […]