Quick Takes: ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’ gets better reviews than Tom Hanks’ ‘Larry Crowne’

There’s no question Michael Bay can crush giant robots. Now the “Transformers” director has flattened Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.

Though reviews for Bay’s “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” were scarcely glowing, they were nonetheless superior on average to the notices given Hanks and Roberts’ “Larry Crowne,” the romantic comedy that Hanks also directed and is opening this weekend against “Transformers.”

According to two of the three most prominent movie review aggregation sites — Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic — the third “Transformers” film received better marks than “Larry Crowne” by a slim but consistent margin.

Rotten Tomatoes assigned “Transformers” a score of 37% positive reviews compared with “Larry Crowne’s” 35%, while Metacritic favored the intergalactic robot story over the Hanks movie by a 42 to 41 margin. Movie Review Intelligence, the third big aggregation site, gave “Larry Crowne” the narrowest of victories, with the Hanks movie rating 47.1%, barely surpassing the 46.6% for “Transformers.”

—John Horn

Bernstein rarity ‘Tahiti’ due

What’s the trouble with Leonard Bernstein’s “Trouble in Tahiti”? The one-act opera about a married couple going through an emotionally difficult patch has had a complicated history. It was first performed in 1952 but never attained the popularity of many of Bernstein’s other works. Later, the piece was often performed on a double bill with Bernstein’s “A Quiet Place,” since both works feature some of the same characters. Eventually, the composer incorporated “Tahiti” into “A Quiet Place” as an extended flashback.

In July, audiences in Southern California will get a rare opportunity to see a stand-alone “Trouble in Tahiti” courtesy of the Pacific Opera Project, a new group whose mission is to produce affordable opera featuring local talent. “Trouble in Tahiti” will be performed July 29 at 8 and 10 p.m. at the Santa Monica Playhouse, and on July 30 at 5 and 8 p.m. at Vitello’s in Studio City.

Josh Shaw, the company’s artistic director, said that the choice to produce “Trouble in Tahiti” was “to be as varied as possible and to reach as many people as we can. The main reason was to show that opera isn’t always Mozart and Puccini.”

—David Ng

Brandeis settles museum lawsuit

A settlement has been reached that will keep the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University open with its collection intact.

Museum supporters filed a lawsuit in 2009, several months after then-Brandeis President Jehuda Reinharz announced that the school planned to close the museum and sell off an estimated $350 million in artwork in response to a university budget crisis. He later clarified that the Rose would no longer be a public museum, but would remain open to serve the school’s educational needs.

The settlement reached on Thursday will allow the Rose to move forward with a renovation, hire a new director and plan future exhibits.

Current Brandeis President Frederick Lawrence told the Boston Globe he welcomed the settlement.

A plaintiff in the case, Jonathan Lee, said the deal guarantees that the museum’s collection will not be “shuffled off.”

—Associated Press

Costner wins Dakota dispute

A judge has ruled in

favor of Kevin Costner in a dispute between the Hollywood actor and an artist he commissioned to create a bronze sculpture for a resort in South Dakota’s Black Hills.

The dispute centered around whether there was agreement between Costner and artist Peggy Detmers on the site where the artwork now sits. The Rapid City Journal reports that Judge Randall Macy ruled there was.

Under terms of the contract, if the two hadn’t agreed on a site, Costner was to sell the sculpture and split the proceeds. Costner said there was agreement; Detmers said she had little say on the site.

The resort has not materialized after 20 years.

Costner’s attorney says the actor is “well satisfied.” Detmers declined immediate comment.

—Associated Press

Martha Stewart becomes 10 again

Lifestyle guru Martha Stewart is being reinvented as an animated 10-year-old in a bid to inspire young girls to take up cooking and crafting.

Stewart, 69, whose empire includes publishing, broadcasting and merchandising, is the inspiration behind an animated, multimedia Internet series called “Martha & Friends” that made its debut on AOL Kids on Friday.

The 26 short webisodes feature a 10-year-old blond Martha as a problem solving, craft-loving girl who with her three friends and two dogs shows kids how to do it themselves.

The series is aimed at 6- to 11-year-old girls and also features interactive online games, activities and projects.

—Reuters