Dann Gire
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Stars steal the show at critics' award ceremonyJan 12, 2012 5:00 am - Chi film awards recap! I'm still recuperating from coproducing and cowriting the 23rd annual Chicago Film Critics Awards Saturday at the Broadway Playhouse in Water...
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'Joyful Noise' deserves no stars. None.Jan 12, 2012 5:00 am - If all you care about in a movie is a bunch of good songs and you're not remotely bothered by suggestions of white supremacy, appallingly mixed moral messages, tasteless...
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'Contraband' traffics in IQ-challenged characters, clichésJan 12, 2012 5:00 am - "Contraband" is one those mediocre, cliché-packed action thrillers that spends 90 minutes slogging through a complex setup just so we can see how the hero - confronted b...
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Streep commands the screen (and Britain) in Thatcher bio dramaJan 12, 2012 5:00 am - In "The Iron Lady," the play's not so much the thing as the player, for Meryl Streep's uncanny channeling of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is the raiso...
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Before Pine Valley, Walt Willey was a suburban guyJan 09, 2012 10:00 pm - If you shopped for shoes at Woodfield Mall in the summer of 1975, your salesman might have been "All My Children" star Walt Willey. "I worked at Morse Shoes. They're lo...
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Strong performance marks drama 'Pariah'Jan 04, 2012 10:00 pm - Reel Life mini-review: 'Pariah' Dee Rees' black teen coming-of-age drama "Pariah" is a heart-rending plea for empathy, compassion and understanding, a work that not onl...
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Des Plaines native evolves into Geico CavemanJan 02, 2012 10:00 pm - Jeff Daniel Phillips didn't just evolve from a caveman like the rest of us. He became one for a series of popular TV commercials that put Geico Insurance on the America...
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From 'The Descendants' to 'Drive,' Dann sums up his favorite films of the yearDec 30, 2011 5:00 am - The year 2011 gave us an unwanted remake (“Conan the Barbarian”), a remarkable reboot (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”), a new low in PG-13-rated sleaze (“Sucker Punch”...
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'Tree of Life' wins 4 Chicago Film Critics AwardsDec 29, 2011 5:00 am - WLS radio hosts Richard Roeper and Roe Conn will host the 23rd annual Chicago Film Critics Awards on Saturday, Jan. 7, at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place in ...
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Spielberg rides anti-war message in 'War Horse'Dec 22, 2011 5:00 am - Here's an epic Steven Spielberg movie that could just as easily have been titled "Horsey Come Home." "War Horse," based on Michael Morpurgo's 1982 novel and the popular...