Transformers: Dark of the Moon - **1/2

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is an intelligent, well-crafted action/drama that serves as a biting commentary on today's socio-economic landscape. The battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons has over the course of three films evolved into a layered metaphorical critique on current Unite-- Okay, no it hasn't, nor is there any biting social commentary, but we knew that going in, right?

The Transformers series is about one thing, and that's spectacle. Dark of the Moon has great effects and well-staged, if not almost exhausting, action sequences and, yes, the female love interest is most definitely introduced by a close-up of her ass... The spectacle is there. And what's better is director Michael Bay and his writers seem to have learned from the second film that the robots are not interesting as characters, which yields far less scenes of the robot teams just hanging out on world monuments talking strategy. Oh, and no racist robots this time, either.

So what else occupies its bloated 150 minute run time? A great opening sequence that was sort of ruined by being the film's teaser trailer, nine minutes of over-the-top comedic gold from Ken Jeong that is better than anything and everything in The Hangover 2, and John Turturro delivering some of the weirdest lines in recent memory ("Megatron! Let's tango!").

Is it perfect? No. Is it kind of hollow and empty inside? Sure. Could they have shaved 40 minutes off of the run time? Yup. Will you probably forget most of it twelve minutes after leaving the theater? Absolutely, but while you're watching it, it's honestly a pretty good time.

Ramona and Beezus - **1/2

The first half of Ramona and Beezus is kind of an annoying experience, especially if you're over the age of six. During this forty-five minute period everyone in Ramona's life treats her like a nuisance and condescends to her whenever she opens her mouth. The hyper-polished look and obnoxiously over-cute tone led me to the early conclusion that this would be yet another children's film with no joy and an obvious message. I was wrong, or half wrong anyway, because that description certainly does suit the first half of the film well. But then it eases up somewhat, and with the help of a nice supporting performance from Transformers' Josh Duhamel of all people, Ramona and Beezus gently glides into the territory of genuine sincerity. Though the obvious message remains, the film is made for kids, not a twenty-three year-olds. And when the message is to be yourself, and let your imagination run wild, I'm not going to bitch too loudly.

When in Rome - *1/2

Nothing unexpected happens in When in Rome. Is that good or bad? Your call. Girl in love with job has no time for men until she goes to Rome for her sister's wedding and falls in love with a guy, mistake's guy's sister for guy's girlfriend, gets drunk, takes coins out of a magic fountain and owners of coins instantly fall in love with girl. I refuse to put any more effort into a plot description of this film because there was no more effort than that put into the plot itself. It's formulaic, silly, ridiculous and sometimes downright stupid, but it's almost made tolerable by the small parts, like Danny DeVito as one of Kristen Bell's suitors who owns a sausage factory and constantly tries to woo her with fancy sausage links. Any other actor and that's dull, even for this movie, but DeVito has the stuff to pull it off. Jon Heder plays Napoleon Dynamite the fourth (this is his fourth film, right?), this incarnation being a shitty magician, and believe it or not he is actually funny some of the time. Overall not good, but not all wretched, either.