Movie-O-Meter: Save Yourself From Transformers: Age of Extinction, Go See The Discoverers Instead
SEE IT NOW!
The Discoverers: It’s been far too long since Griffin Dunne has had a role of sufficient significance. Sure, the After Hours star has maintained steady work, but in recent years he’s been more a TV pinch-hitter, blowing onto a set for a couple episodes and just as quickly moving on. This comedy from writer/director Justin Schwarz, making his feature debut, promises a more rewarding Dunne experience. He stars alongside John C. McGinley, and Dreama Walker as a beleaguered patriarch who takes his grown kids on a rambling Lewis and Clark reenactment adventure. Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%
Korengal: As a followup to his searing war documentary Restrepo, journalist/filmmaker Sebastian Junger has returned to the same miserable, war-torn Afghanistan valley (sans fellow filmmaker Tim Hetherington, who died while covering another battle zone). With many of the same grunts—and issues—the film delves into the idea that for many of these soldiers, the constant terror and adrenalin burn of combat keeps them coming back for more, even when their lives are increasingly at risk. Rotten Tomatoes Score: 77%
WAIT FOR DVD
La Bare: With the Magic Mike sequel still a year away, male-stripper-flick fans will have to make do with this documentary from actor/filmmaker Joe Manganiello—the dude who memorably played Big Dick Richie in the original—which concerns the comings, goings and wild times of a selection of male dancers from world-famous male strip club La Bare Dallas. Not that you wouldn’t want to check this on the big screen, but we suspect it might play a bit better in the privacy of your own living room. Rotten Tomatoes Score: n/a
SKIP IT!
Transformers: Age of Extinction: It almost goes without saying that this latest installment of the Michael Bay-helmed summer boom boom will be reviled by critics. Has there ever been a major, big-money franchise more loathed by the ink-stained masses? (Well, yes, Tyler Perry, you can put your hand down.) Has it ever mattered less what we critics have said, ranting and railing for four straight films (average rottentomatoes.com score: 35%; total estimated domestic gross of the first three: $1 billion)? No sir! Whatever Bay does or doesn’t do with Optimus Prime or whomever he uses to star in this dreck (Mark Wahlberg replaces Shia LaBeouf, one thing we can be thankful for) doesn’t seem to matter to the hoards of 8 to 14 year olds who make up the vast majority of the audience. Like the German National team, the rise of drug-resistant bacterial infections, and Bret Michaels, there appears to be nothing we can do to stop them. Rotten Tomatoes Score: 26%
