Despicable Me 2

In Despicable Me 2, Steve Carell’s Gru is a changed man. No longer a dastardly villain, he’s now domesticated. Unfortunately, Gru has also domesticated his comedy edge. Shooting for the moon isn’t near as funny as stealing it.

Enter a complex plot to get him back in the action, and another complex family subplot that aims to recreate the charm of the first film. None of Gru’s stories come together. The original Despicable Me (2010) managed to juggle the belly laughs with action and a charming family story — this does not.

Enter the Minions, the silly yellow workers who had a sub role in the first film and prime roles in 3 mini DVD movies (2010). All of their zaniness works so well that Gru’s unfocused stories don’t even matter. They alone make this a winning film.

If you have small kids, time your bathroom breaks around the meandering Gru stories, not the Minion comedy breaks.

Simply put:  Gru and the girls (who I loved the first time around) are now despicably boring, but this is really a Minion spin off. And the Minions deliver a zany good time.

Award potential: Best Animated Film and (maybe) Best Original Song nominations. It won’t win either of them.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks. For adults and kids.

The Heat

The plot of every buddy cop movie is simple: A pair of law enforcers is assigned together. One guy is a straight arrow and the other guy is a wheels off toughie. They clash at first but eventually become friends to get the bad guy (usually an insider). The twist in The Heat, is that the cops are both women.

So, hurray, it has been achieved: a formula buddy comedy with women can be just as underachieving, unoriginal and boorish as one with men.

Director Paul Feig explored contrasting issues like female camaraderie and female competitiveness so winningly funny in Bridesmaids. But this is just a throwaway. The good news is that the fearless duo of Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock are hilarious in all the small bits. The bad news is that the film is almost two hours long.

Simply put: Not so hot. A few laughs from McCarthy.

Award potential: Feig directed McCarthy to an Oscar nomination with Bridesmaids. No chance for a comic nod for this slight film. Not even at the Globes.

The ten buck review: Not worth ten bucks. Unless you think it’s worth ten bucks to see Sandra Bullock shoot a peanut out of her nose.

Much Ado About Nothing

The Bard can throw a good party — even in 2013. Shakespeare's timeless comedy is given a contemporary spin in Joss Whedon's (The Avenger, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Firefly) film.

Shot in flat, uninspiring black and white, the familiar story takes place at a modern day Los Angeles home — but the dialogue is strict Shakespearean. This clash is jolting at first but the director makes it work quite naturally. 

And while the whole film feels effortless, that’s also the biggest problem. It just never went to the next level of hilarity. It needed a little spark. I blame the performances – perhaps they were too focused on making the premise work. Amy Acker (Angel) as Beatrice and Clark Gregg (The Avengers) as Leona came closest injecting that energy and interest.

Simply put: Not near as funny as it should be — but I protest too much — it will be an enjoyable rental.

Award potential: Some art house cred kudos to the director will be the only reward for this light comedy.

The ten buck review: Not worth ten bucks. ‘Tis worth a $2 rental.

White House Down

Director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day) attempts another “Die Hard In The White House” movie three months after Olympus Has Fallen. One would assume that a less serious take on this concept might be the better popcorn movie — not true.

Attempting to play Bruce Willis in a tank top is Channing Tatum in a tank top, who is neither as witty or charismatic. The backstory is a broken family drama that parallels the Die Hard movies, but Emmerich didn’t even attempt to create a villain as interesting as Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber.

The original element here is the White House. Jamie Foxx, an action hero himself, plays the anti-action hero POTUS. I suppose this is a misplaced attempt to do an impression of Barack Obama. By the time the Presidential state car is doing laps on the White House lawn, you realize this movie is doing laps on you.

This isn’t an assault on 1600 Pennsylvania, it’s an assault on moviegoers.

Simply put: Hardly Die Hard. Just plain White House dumb.

Award potential: None. Even the FX were dumb.

The ten buck review: Not worth ten bucks.

World War Z

After I got a tweak of paranoia while exiting the theater into a crowded mall and jumped at the sound of screaming patio diners, I knew that I just seen an effective thriller.

Fans of the inventive Max Brooks political book and hordes of Walking Dead and zombie-film lovers may be disappointed, but for the rest of us WWZ is the best thriller so far this summer.

Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park was translated to its 1993 film with just a hint of the book’s commentary on modern ideological catastrophe, but it sure made for some good slink-down-in-your-theater-seat moments. The same thing happens here. And in both cases, it's probably best that it did.

The action packed film chose a simple, pared-down setting for the cringing final act. As Brad Pitt’s character walks through this location, you can see everything that is right with this movie — and everything that was wrong with Man of Steel.

Simply put: The artistic book is reduced to a thrill ride, but this zombie flick saves the summer from all the superhero disasters

Award potential: Potential for makeup, sound and Marco Beltrami’s score. The CGI has some flaws in a competitive FX year.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.

Man Of Steel

Superman is back in Man of Steel, but does this new version fly?

Well, for the first hour, it almost does. Director Zack Snyder’s (300) and producer Chris Nolan’s makeover starts out strong with a re-telling of this overfamiliar story (yes, ugh, another hero origin story) that was surprisingly inventive. The Krypton story, the Lois Lane relationship and Clark’s journey to his thrilling first flight all felt fresh and appropriate for modern movie times.

The underlying themes had potential too. There are themes of sacrifice, acceptance and loyalty — and an unmistakably religious undertone. But by the time Russell Crowe makes his second appearance, overly designed alien ships land and the fights take over, the story and deeper themes are hammered by too many…mindless hammerings. It just devolves into a super chaotic mess.

Kudos to Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner and Diane Lane for attempting something that never worked out. And although girls love him, brooding Henry Cavill is a stiff one. One can assume that’s also the ticket seller.

Simply put: It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, wait, take that back — it’s just plain unnecessary.

Award potential: Probably won’t fly compared to other FX films.  

The ten buck review: Not worth ten bucks.

Frances Ha

“You guys are like magic.”

Frances Ha is a lighthearted black and white film that explores fractured friendships, social class, modern love and youthful confusion — all through the eyes of an adorable misfit and dancer named Frances (Greta Gerwig).

It’s an authentic story of failure and redemption that won me over mostly due to the charming performance by Gerwig. There are two scenes that I remember from the movies in 2013 so far…and both of them involve Gerwig running in the street.

Simply put: If Woody Allen did a French New Wave Bridesmaids, it would be Frances Ha.

Award potential: Charmingly awkward Greta Gerwig is a breakout new star, but not in an Oscar way. Long shot for Golden Globe in comedy.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.