Dann Gire
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'Cartel Land' offers conflict without much contextJul 09, 2015 5:30 am - Mini-review: 'Cartel Land' Matthew Heineman opens his rough and tough documentary "Cartel Land" with the funerals of many family members killed because their employer di...
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Gire: Horror tale 'Gallows' chokes on stale storyJul 08, 2015 11:00 pm - I consider the dumbness of the high school students to be the most believable element in the found-footage horror tale "The Gallows." These teenagers would be dumb enoug...
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Gire: Slapstick triumphs over smarts in 'Minions'Jul 07, 2015 11:00 pm - As lovable and cute as those little yellow Minions are, their new movie - appropriately titled "Minions" - comes off significantly less engaging and warmhearted as its p...
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'2 Broke Girls' actor learned accent in suburbsJul 06, 2015 1:00 am - The Ukrainian accent he uses to play a sex-crazed cook on the CBS comedy "2 Broke Girls" is something Jonathan Kite first learned in the suburbs. Growing up in Skokie, K...
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Critics take on the trouble with trailersJul 01, 2015 11:00 pm - Critic's tirade No. 1 Have you seen the trailers and commercials for the new Arnold Schwarzenegger action film “Terminator Genisys”? Then you've had the purity of y...
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Frankenstein meets Clone Wars in sci-fi thriller 'Closer to God'Jul 01, 2015 11:00 pm - Critic's mini-review: 'Closer to God' Mary Shelley's Dr. Victor Frankenstein morphs into brilliant geneticist Dr. Victor Reed in writer/director Billy Senese's modernize...
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Familiar 'Genisys' a case of deja-viewJun 30, 2015 4:00 pm - To me, time-travel plots involving “alternate timelines” work the same as other plots where somebody wakes up and we discover, “It was all a dream!” In other words, forg...
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Sequel features 'Mike' minus magic, McConaugheyJun 30, 2015 3:00 pm - "Let's see if there's any magic left in that Mike!" strip club madam Jada Pinkett Smith shouts during "Magic Mike XXL." Nope. The magic, plus original stars Matthew McCo...
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'Magic Mike' producer's film life began in Lake ForestJun 30, 2015 5:30 am - Oh, sure, blame it on Mom. Reid Carolin does. "Mom was a movie addict," the Lake Forest native said. "Every night she was watching a couple of movies. I'd watch with her...
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Dogs act to the 'Max' in canine family dramaJun 25, 2015 12:00 pm - Boaz Yakin's "Max" ranks as one of the sincerest, freshest boy-and-his dog dramas I've ever seen, up until the ending when it implodes in a pile of cloying clichés and s...