Zac Efron

[7] Lee Daniels (Precious, The Butler) directs this moody piece about a college dropout who helps his older brother investigate the murder of a police officer. The convicted killer’s girlfriend joins the investigation to help prove his innocence. Zac Efron and Matthew McConnaughey play the brothers and Nicole Kidman plays the girlfriend — each of them showing range and abilities you haven’t seen from them …

[7] James Franco directs and co-stars with his brother Dave in The Disaster Artist. the true story of two men of questionable talent who move to Hollywood and spend millions of dollars making one the worst movies ever made, The Room. Franco emerses himself in the role of Tommy Wiseau, a weird, kinda-creepy dude of indiscernable age and heritage. His accent sounds a little European, …

[4] A dude (Matthew Perry) gets an opportunity to go back in time (where he’s played by Zac Efron) to better appreciate his life. I’m not sure what it would take to overcome a scenario as stale as the one at play here, but for a dug-up corpse, it’s not as rank as I thought it would be. Zac Efron shows (eating a little crow …

[4] The old fraternity house next door to Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne has moved away… but now there’s a sorority there — and the girls are even worse than the boys were. Rogen and Byrne seek out their old fraternity nemesis, Zac Efron, to help them banish the boozie babes. I enjoyed the first Neighbors because it gave Rogen, Byrne, Dave Franco, and surprisingly, Efron, …

[5] Two loser brothers are forced by their parents to bring dates to their sister’s wedding. Zac Efron and Adam Devine (mini-Jack Black) play the losers, channeling goofy male leads from every romantic comedy you ever saw. Anna Kendrick and Aubrey Plaza are more interesting as their crude-n-rude chosen companions. Neighbors screenwriters Brendan O’Brien and Andrew Jay Cohen can’t avoid all the pitfalls of narrative rom-coms. We …

[8] This version of Hairspray disarms you from the very beginning notes of “Good Morning, Baltimore” and builds to one of the most joyful finales of any movie in recent memory. The musical numbers are all superbly choreographed and staged by director Adam Shankman, but it’s the last half-hour of this movie that really seals the deal for me. The climactic performance of “You Can’t …

[6] A college fraternity moves in next door to a married couple with a new baby. Shenanigans ensue when the two households try everything they can think of to get the other party to move. Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne play the new parents, and the fraternity is led by Zac Efron and Dave Franco (James’ little brother). The cast have enough charisma to carry …