Dann Gire
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'Samba' a sincere, endearing immigration dramaJul 30, 2015 5:45 am - Mini-review: 'Samba' Immigration issues may be hot-button topics in the U.S., but they approach meltdown levels in France, the setting of this sincere and well-acte...
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Reel life: R rating liberating for 'Vacation filmmakersJul 30, 2015 5:45 am - Jonathan Goldstein and actor John Francis Daley have written the screenplays to the comedies “Horrible Bosses,” “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” and “Cloudy With a Chan...
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Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation' a thrill ride, but script disappointsJul 29, 2015 5:30 am - My disappointment with Christopher McQuarrie's "Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation" has nothing to do with its entertainment value. Just its sophomoric script and cartoon ...
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Griswolds return in shock-filled 'Vacation'Jul 28, 2015 1:00 am - John Hughes would be shocked! shocked! at how gross and graphic the characters he wrote for Harold Ramis' 1983 comedy "National Lampoon's Vacation" have now become. In t...
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Wheaton casting director can spot 'it' factorJul 27, 2015 1:00 am - Ta'Rhonda Jones, a Chicago rapper with no professional acting experience, came in to Simon Casting hoping to get a small role on the hit TV show "Empire." But when casti...
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Quiet 'Unexpected' a proving ground for Cobie SmuldersJul 23, 2015 5:45 am - Mini-review: 'Unexpected' Cobie Smulders' unadorned, low-key, ego-drained performance as a single, 30-year-old pregnant Chicago schoolteacher serves as the attractive hu...
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Boxing clichés KO chameleonic Gyllenhaal in 'Southpaw'Jul 23, 2015 5:45 am - Chameleonic actor Jake Gyllenhaal's light heavyweight boxing champ Billy "the Great" Hope can take on any contender with a record of 43 wins and no losses. But when he f...
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Shrill, shallow 'Pixels' propelled by nostalgiaJul 23, 2015 5:30 am - On paper, or at least on a computer printout, Chris Columbus' "Pixels" probably looked like the next "Ghostbusters" or the next "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," two comedy cla...
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Horrifying 'Alleluia' loosely based on a true storyJul 23, 2015 5:00 am - Mini-review: 'Alleluia' Just when you think that most American horror films have become too conventionally PG-13 or too timid to actually shock audiences, along comes B...
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Gire: Woody's philosophical crime comedy Kant cut itJul 21, 2015 11:00 pm - Few things make me want to play Russian roulette (with six bullets in the cylinder) more than inner-monologing voice-overs that constantly update what movie characters t...