Larry Crowne

Until he was downsized, affable, amiable Larry Crowne Tom Hanks was a superstar team leader at the big box company where he's worked since his time in the Navy. Underwater on his mortgage and unclear on what to do with his suddenly free days, Larry heads to his local college to start over. in his public speaking class, Larry develops an unexpected crush on his teacher. Tom Hanks may not be America's finest screen actor, but he's got statuettes that say otherwise. When he won his back to back Best Actor Oscars in 1994 and 1995 for "Philadelphia" and "Forrest Gump", respectively, he became the first actor to do so since Spencer Tracy in 1937 and 1938, who was always considered the gold standard of classic Hollywood. Mr. Hanks has been compared repeatedly to James Stewart over the course of his three decade career. He's a distant relative of Abraham Lincoln's mother; he fought long and hard to get a World War II memorial built on the Mall in Washington, D.C. if he were running for something, it would be National Treasure.

But as difficult as it is to dislike Mr. Hanks, it takes no effort to all to develop an aversion toward "Larry Crowne," the alleged comedy being perpetrated today by Mr. Hanks, his director, Mr. Hanks, his producer, Mr. Hanks; and the co writer, Mr. Hanks. It is a distinctly painful experience: On one level, the story pushes all the Recession Era buttons Larry,Mr. Hanks has been laid off from his manager's job at a Wal Mart style budget store because he never went to college, and he never went to college because he joined the Navy. That the film opens the same week as Transformers: Dark of the Moon could only have been a marketing calculation, Larry being intended as the perfect counterprogramming to Hollywood's most callous exercise in soulless commerce.

But so little effort has been exerted toward making Larry Crowne more than a class warfare cartoon that the film generates its own sense of cynicism and the distinct sense that Larry Crowne is simply a sop to certain disgruntled theatergoers. Some may see it as a movie that strives to restore emotional warmth and simple human values to a medium that could certainly use a little more of both. But unlike the freshly matriculated Larry himself, Larry Crowne gets a flunking grade in every discipline.

Reuniting Mr. Hanks and Julia Roberts for the first time since the grossly underappreciated Charlie Wilson's War, this is the first feature film directed by Mr. Hanks since That Thing You Do! 1996 and establishes Larry immediately as the quintessential U.S. worker: He's enthusiastic, hardworking, honest, cheerful and, we have to guess, trustworthy, brave, clean and reverent. He's the antithesis of the very corporatized ethos that cuts him loose so brutally and nonsensically since his educational shortcomings mean he can't advance in the company, he must therefore be let go. It turns out to be a blessing, of course: Larry goes to community college, where he's introduced to modern America, the comic basso profundo of his weirdly disassociated economics professor Dr. Matsutani Star Trek" vet George Takei and Mercedes Tainot Ms. Roberts, a leggy professor so weary and disillusioned she seems capable of extinguishing the spark of even the most eager, knowledge hungry student. But not, of course, Larry Crowne.

The script by Mr. Hanks and Nia Vardalos My Big Fat Greek Wedding is one of those wonders of the cinema: You wonder who thought any of this was funny. The fractious scenes between Mercedes and her stay at home husband Bryan Cranston are painful, although they do give Larry the opportunity to provide a romantic palliative. Larry's adoption by a group of younger students all of whom ride eco friendly motor scooters is cloyingly, comically clueless; Gugu Mbatha Raw, who plays Larry's style tutor, Talia, is positively adorable, but as directed by Mr. Hanks seems to be auditioning for her own Disney Channel program. The direction is generally awkward and given the coarsely written role Ms. Roberts is assigned to play, the burden of charm is placed squarely on Mr. Hanks well intentioned but sagging shoulders. Even a national monument will collapse under too much pressure.

TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON

 The Autobots learn of a Cybertronian spacecraft hidden on the Moon, and race against the Decepticons to reach it and learn its secrets, which could turn the tide in the Transformers. Transformers: Dark of the Moon is better than 2009's infamous Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a futile declaration best left for mathematicians to ponder, as only they might care to take the time to calculate the minuscule percentage that was necessary for this to emerge, uh, superior to its predecessor. 2007's Transformers contained enough flashes of warmth, emotion and workable humor to catch many critics off guard, but all that goodwill dissipated with the release of the first sequel, which one scribe  oh, yeah, me described as the filmic equivalent of a 150 minute waterboarding session. This latest franchise filler is just as soulless, cynical and stupid and five minutes longer!, with director Michael Bay no longer even pretending to care about anything but breaking his own box office records.

Featuring the summer's second rewriting of U.S. history the concept was better handled with X Men: First Class's Cuban Missile Crisis episode, this film reveals that the real reason the astronauts landed on the moon back in 1969 was to check out an alien construct  that turned out to be tied into the long running intergalactic battle between the Autobots good Transformers and Decepticons bad Transformers. After much exposition culminating in a sellout appearance by Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the plot carries us to the present day, where the nerdy Sam Witwicky ,Shia LaBeouf again has an only in the movies supermodel esque girlfriend, Carly,played by Victoria's Secret supermodel Rosie Huntington Whiteley, replacing Megan Fox as the requisite sex object.

Sam's mother, Julie White, disturbingly surmises that her son must have a big schlong in order to land such hot girlfriends, while his father,Kevin Dunn is concerned that he has no job. He finally acquires one, working for an eccentric CEO ,John Malkovich, Carly, meanwhile, is employed by a wealthy slug Patrick Dempsey whose mere presence makes Sam jealous. But this boy has no time for such high school hijinks, as he soon discovers that the Decepticons have returned with another plan to take over our world. Before long, Sam soon finds himself fighting alongside other returning characters ,Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, John Turturro plus one newcomer, Frances "Are you kidding me?" McDormand, as well as the Autobots: Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Ironhide, Sleepy, Bashful and Dopey.

Bay's fascistic tendencies aren't quite as pronounced as in the last installment though there is an appearance by Fox storm trooper Bill O'Reilly as himself, but there isn't anything this man won't do for the sake of arousing himself, be it an establishing shot of Carly that solely captures her 3D enhanced ass or a scene in which a little girl unknowingly plays tea party with a disguised Decepticon who then leaps up and murders her mom and dad. From start to finish, it's a miserable viewing experience, and the robot slugfests are once again incoherent and endless. So why is Dark of the Moon better than Revenge of the Fallen? Two reasons. First, there's an Inception like sequence right down to similar music involving a folded building that's pretty cool. And second, unlike its predecessor, there are no shots of Transformer testicles.

 Transformers Dark of the Moon also known as Transformers 3 is a 2011 American science fiction,action film, part of the Transformers film series, directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is the sequel to Transformers and Transformers Revenge of the Fallen and was released on June 29, 2011.The film will be presented in regular 2D, Real D 3D and IMAX,featuring Dolby Surround 7.1 sound.

Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and John Turturro reprise their starring roles, with Peter Cullen returning as the voice of Optimus Prime and Hugo Weaving returning as the voice of Megatron. Ehren Kruger, who collaborated in the writing of the last film, was again involved in the writing. Despite having initially been confirmed for the film and with the film already into principal photography, it was announced that Megan Fox would not be reprising her role from the previous two films. With Fox's character Mikaela being dropped, Sam was assigned a new love interest, who was played by English model Rosie Huntington Whiteley. Also, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, having written the last two films, did not return for this installment in the series,which Orci had earlier somewhat anticipated, fearing the duo would risk getting stale. Bay has stated this would be his last installment in the series. In May 2011 it was announced that Paramount Pictures had bumped Transformers:Dark of the Moon's release date of July 1, 2011 two days earlier, June 29, in order to receive an early response to footage. The film officially made its premiere on June 28 in 3D and IMAX theatres, nationwide.

As the Decepticons return to battle the Autobots on earth in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, we reveal the other on screen robots who want you dead. Billed as the blockbuster event of the summer, the third and from star Shia LaBeouf's point of view final Transformers movie, has had fans salivating over the awesome special effects, epic street battles and hot new love interest in the form of Victoria's Secret model, Rosie Huntington Whiteley. With fan faves Optimus Prime and Bumblebee returning, there are also some sleek new additions to the Autobot family in the shape of Mirage, a red Ferrari 458 Italia  and Wheeljack a blue MercedesBenz E550. But, just as the good 'uns return, so too do the baddies, with Megatron and Starscream back, along with a new villain Shockwave a Cybertronian self propelled cannon. Scary!So, as the Decepticons set out to destroy the Autobots and the earth once and for all, we reveal some of our fave  big screenkiller robots.

Megatron:- With Hugo Weaving returning once more to voice the leader of the Decepticons, Megatron has changed his vehicle mode in the third instalment, to embody an armoured Mack Titan 10 wheeler fuel tank truck. But this time around the chief baddie will hide half of his face behind a cowl due to injuries sustained in the last movie.

The Terminator:- A cold, soulless killing machine with a human looking appearance, Arnie's Terminator cyborg stopped at nothing to complete his massacre mission, hunting down Sarah Connor in order to prevent her from giving birth to the future leader of the Resistance.

The Evil Robot Us's:- When Bill S. Preston, Esquire and Ted ‘Theodore' Logan are captured by ‘the evil robot Us's' in Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, the baddies set out to destroy the boys' band, Wyld Stallyns, and break up with their girlfriends so that the real Bill and Ted don't bring harmony to the universe in the future. Melvined!

The NS 5s:- Managing to break their programming free of Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, I, Robot's NS-5s destroy the older, subservient robots in a bid to take over the world. But they don't bet on Will Smith's robot-hating Del Spooner.

The Sentinels:- The octopus like killing machines nicknamed ‘Squiddies'  patrol the passageways of the dead human cities in the three Matrix films, attacking their enemies and releasing guided explosives that can destroy hovercrafts with ease.

ED 209:- Robocop's prototype police replacement, the ED 209, was the can't be reasoned with, machine guns for arms robot, which famously informed its soon to be dead victims, You have 20 seconds to comply.

Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks Born in California, Tom Hanks grew up in what he calls a "fractured" family. His parents were pioneers in the development of marriage dissolution law in that state, and Tom moved around a lot, living with a succession of step families. No problems, no abuse, no alcoholism just a confused childhood. He had no acting experience in college and, in fact, credits the fact that he couldn't get cast in a college play with actually starting his career. He went downtown, auditioned for a community theater play, was invited by the director of that play to go to Cleveland, and there his acting career started. He met his second wife, actress Rita Wilson on the set of his television show Bosom Buddies. Tom Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title role in Forrest Gump, Commander James A. Lovell in Apollo 13, Captain John H. Miller in Saving Private Ryan, Joe Fox in You've Got Mail, Chuck Noland in Cast Away, and voicing the character Woody in the Toy Story series.

 Tom Hanks has always enjoyed a challenge. After all, his break out role came playing a woman in TV's Bosom Buddies. He co starred with a volleyball in Cast Away and played a gay man with AIDS in Philadelphia at a time (1993) when playing gay in Hollywood was thought to be a career killer. So, perhaps it should come as no surprise that the Hollywood star is bringing out his newest movie, Larry Crowne about a man who loses his job due to the recession, at a time when so many people are out of work. To heighten the risk, Hanks not only stars in the movie, he directed it and co wrote the screenplay with "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" writer Nia Vardalos. Making "Larry Crowne" a box office hit will be a challenge to say the least, especially during the summer when movie theaters are filled with big budget, effects filled films like Transformers: Dark of the Moon. But Hanks feels that he and his movie, which co stars Julia Roberts, are up to the challenge, and he thinks "Larry Crowne" has one key secret for its potential success. It's not about loss, so much as about hope for the future. He said that he was competing in a marketplace in which the thing he might have going for them is the true battle against cynicism. Hanks plays the title character who is fired from a Walmart like store where he's worked for decades. Divorced, with a mortgage and a gas guzzling SUV, he enrolls in college to start over, taking classes taught by a teacher,Julia Roberts with her own problems. He sells his house, rides a scooter to save money and works at a diner to make ends meet. Yet rather than being depressed about things, he's got this amazing new forceful presence in his life and he can honestly say.

But to people in the real world struggling with unemployment, a film like "Larry Crowne" may not be the type of escapism they want to see even with its lighter tones and characters played by comedian Cedric the Entertainer and former "That 70s Show" sitcom star Wilmer Valderrama. Last year, writer/director John Wells released a feature film he wrote and directed, "The Company Men," about how three men deal with joblessness, how it affects their families and their status in the community. "Company Men" starred Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones and Kevin Costner and had an estimated, low budget of $15 million. Still, it grossed only $4.4 million in U.S. ticket sales hardly a hit. To be fair, it was a rather dark drama. Vardalos said that despite the subject matter, "Larry Crowne" is not a "downer" movie. She told that This was an uplifting movie and it's not out of the realm of the ordinary and also said It's what can happen if you keep your heart open. And Hanks is quick to point out that very often when people step out of one life situation and into another, they find the change can be very life affirming. Hanks said that That actually  happened in the real world and it's also a glamorous. There can be little argument that when Hanks spies a challenge, he responds pretty well himself. After all, that gay role in "Philadelphia" the one that could've been a career killer earned him an Oscar. And it wasn't his last.