Dann Gire
Daily Herald
Chicago, IL, United States
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Past articles by Dann:
Preposterous narrative twist ruins promising father-daughter drama 'Don't Make Me Go'
"Don't Make Me Go" possesses a wonderfully provocative title that could apply to both its principal characters. Teen Wally Park (Mia Isaac) doesn't want to go with her dad to his 20th college reunion in New Orleans. And Dad (John Cho) doesn't want to go to heaven, where he's presumably headed within a year because of a terminal brain tumor. → Read More
Harsh survival tale 'Where the Crawdads Sing' compromised by voice-overs, inauthentic details
Olivia Newman's "Where the Crawdads Sing" supplies a superb example of what happens when filmmakers try to create an excellent adaptation of a best-selling novel instead of trying to create an excellent motion picture experience based on a best-seller. → Read More
Indie filmmakers get 'X'-ed out in meticulously crafted ode to vintage horror films
Just when you think Ti West's gore-spurting, porno-slasher film "X" couldn't possibly be funny, the plot's driving force turns out to be -- no kidding -- a bad case of senior citizen erectile dysfunction. "X" doesn't qualify as one of those cheap and often trashy contemporary streaming horror movies. It deserves its theatrical release. → Read More
Damien Chazelle directs a frustrating, glorious, messy epic in 'Babylon'
Early in the exhaustingly ambitious epic "Babylon" -- Damien Chazelle's furious, curious satirical assault/love letter combo to Hollywood -- an elephant takes a huge dump on a main character's head, indicating that we could be in for a bumpy ride. This sleazy and pleasy debaucherous tale of Hollywood's sound-era infancy constantly operates at two frames short of the dreaded NC-17 rating. → Read More
Perfectly pitched 'Puss' has boots for walking away with your heart
I don't know how a Hollywood executive decided to greenlight the engagingly clever, kinetically comical sequel "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish," but they did almost everything right, including bringing back the vocal gravitas of Antonio Banderas as Puss. → Read More
'Cursed' an atmospheric horror tale with teeth
Sean Ellis' gothic thriller shouldn't be labeled as a "werewolf movie," simply because the term connotes a host of cliches and cheap, exploitative violence that does not apply here. Instead, the atmospherically sumptuous "The Cursed" immerses us in a sharply edited, moodily photographed creature feature where you don't merely observe the violence. You feel it. → Read More
Spurned lovers plot nutty revenge in risky, frisky rom-com 'I Want You Back'
Just when we need a snappy, funny relationship movie that playfully stretches the boundaries of traditional rom-coms, Amazon Prime Video gives us "I Want You Back," a shrewdly observed study of thirtysomethings rebounding from the soul-wrenching experience called "being dumped." → Read More
Pattinson's moody, broody 'Batman' trades comic book pretense for classic film-noir crime and grime
In Matt Reeves' oh-so-serious "The Batman" we finally get a fresh, complex and inventively retooled Batman movie without a powerful, quirky antagonist constantly overshadowing the Dark Knight and his alter-ego, Gotham City zillionaire Bruce Wayne, played by a gaunt, scarred and haunted Robert Pattinson. → Read More
The aptly titled 'Violent Night' is big on gore, but not much more
Accurately promoted as "Die Hard" meets "Home Alone" -- but with elaborate gore effects smothering the sharp, machined dialogue of the former and the comically cruel timing of the latter -- Tommy Wirkola's "Violent Night" spends most of its 101 minutes struggling to squeeze every crimson drop out of its one-joke premise: Jolly old St. Nick can be one big, bad vengeful Thor. → Read More
'Devotion' a handsomely produced, anti-white savior drama
J.D. Dillard's handsomely produced period Korean War movie "Devotion" tells the fact-based social justice story of the conflict-fraught friendship between a white Navy fighter pilot and the first Black aviator to complete the Navy's basic flight-training program. → Read More
Film Critic Dann Gire says a major Oscar upset may be in the works
To accurately predict the winners of the 94th Academy Awards -- to be announced starting at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 27, on ABC -- one tricky question must be answered: How much did the invasion of Ukraine by Russia influence Oscar voters during the six-day balloting period from March 17-22? → Read More
13 horror fantasies to open your mind this Halloween
Horror movies have been popular ever since the dawn of cinema. But of what value can they possibly be? "Movies are society's dreams," director Wes Craven once told film critic Dann Gire. "Horror films are a legitimate part of our psyches." Here are 13 horror options from Dann that might open your mind a bit this Halloween. → Read More
'I want to show up in this life' says 'Protégé' star Maggie Q
The Hawaiian-born performer Maggie Q, who stars in the new action thriller "The Protégé" out Friday, continues to draw fans for her fictional characters and her real-life political stands. She recently discussed her new movie, plus Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee and being a role model for women with film critic Dann Gire. → Read More
'Stillwater' ripples with realism in its story of a flawed father seeking redemption
Matt Damon gives a seamless performance as a blue-collar worker from Oklahoma in France to help his imprisoned daughter in the daring drama "Stillwater." → Read More
Disney's 'Jungle Cruise' takes viewers on predictable, pun-filled adventure
Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt set sail in the absurd but mildly entertaining "Jungle Cruise," based on the Disney amusement park ride. → Read More
Lin-Manuel Miranda musical soars to new 'Heights' in film adaptation
Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tony Award-winning musical "In the Heights" delivers sheer jubilation and spectacle in its film adaptation. → Read More
Krasinski's 'Quiet Place' sequel chills as suspense-filled survival drama
John Krasinski's chilling horror sequel "A Quiet Place Part II" comes off as a perfect allegory for the pandemic. → Read More
LeBron James gets assist from Bugs and company in 'Space Jam: A New Legacy'
LeBron James takes over as the resident superstar -- and battles baddies on a virtual basketball court -- in "Space Jam: A New Legacy." → Read More
'Undergods' a bold, bleak apocalyptic drama filled with loathsome characters
Overlapping stories segue into stories-within-stories that then loop back on each other in Chino Moya's dark "Undergods." → Read More
'Dark Shadows' doc reveals the man behind the fangs
In "Dark Shadows and Beyond: The Jonathan Frid Story," director Mary O'Leary's biography of the popular actor evolves into a love letter for the performing arts, exemplified by a man whose devotion to his craft became the driving force in his life. → Read More