Film: The Butler

GENRE: Biography, Drama
RATING: 14A for violence, language, thematic elements
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 12 minutes
STARRING: Forest Whitaker (Last King of Scotland, Panic Room)
Oprah Winfrey (The Color Purple); David Oyelowo (Jack Reacher)
DIRECTOR: Lee Daniels (Precious)
WRITER: Danny Strong (Game Change, Recount)
PLOT: The civil rights movement is explored as Cecil Gaines serves eight presidents as a White House butler.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 I know some have dubbed this film a black Forrest Gump but this one has way more bite and less whimsy. Whitaker’s Cecil is more of an observer and quiet sage as opposed to a participant. Still extremely well done and eye-opening.
2 Whitaker and Oprah are fantastic. They easily command the screen and make you feel every emotion that fills their fragile household. 
3 While there are many stand-out supporting performances, I was most enthralled with Alan Rickman (Die Hard, Harry Potter) as Ronald Regan. While the last half-hour usually drags in a film like this, I found the final years invigorating and part of that is due to Rickman’s entrance into the sprawling story.
4 I was a little annoyed with the editing of the film. There was some intercutting of scenes that I found a little distracting. I also didn’t like that the editing made it seem like JFK was assassinated as a response to civil rights issues.
5 I don’t know why this makes me smile but the writer, Danny Strong, played nerdy Jonathan on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It’s cool to see him make his mark on the industry. In fact, I just found out that he’s writing the screenplays for Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I & II. I’m even more excited now.

RECOMMENDATION: Theatre for Oscar-worthy stuff
UPCOMING REVIEWS: The World’s End

Film: Elysium

GENRE: Action, Sci-Fi, Drama
RATING: 14A for violence and language
RUNTIME: 1 hours and 49 minutes
STARRING: Matt Damon (Bourne series, Contagion)
Jodie Foster (Inside Man); Sharlto Copley (District 9, A-Team)
DIRECTOR: Neill Blomkamp (District 9)
WRITER: Neill Blomkamp (District 9)
PLOT: A sick man on the trashed and overpopulated earth tries to get to the space Station Elysium, where the wealthy live.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 This film is definitely District-9ish, if you know what I mean. It has an independent South African sensibility while still being a sci-fi flick. If you liked District 9, you would probably like this one as well.
2 I was hoping for more time and visuals of Elysium. They spent a little too long on Earth. I guess it’s a lot cheaper to shoot it that way.
3 I was also hoping for more sneaking around. They pretty much go everywhere guns a-blazing. And hand-to-hand stuff as well.
4 While Damon and Copley do fine work as adversaries, I also enjoyed some of the supporting cast as well. Wagner Moura (newcomer) as the hacker Spider is fun to watch as is the slimy William Fichtner (Armageddon, Lone Ranger).
5 At some points, watching Damon and Copley fight is like seeing a skeletal version of Iron Man. Just a bunch of metal beings hitting each other really hard; this seems more brutal and painful though.

RECOMMENDATION: DVD or theatre, it’s a toss-up
UPCOMING REVIEWS: The Butler

Film: 2 Guns

GENRE: Action, Crime
RATING: 14A for violence, language and brief nudity
RUNTIME: 1 hours and 49 minutes
STARRING: Denzel Washington (Man on Fire, Training Day)
Mark Wahlberg (The Other Guys, Pain & Gain); Bill Paxton (Twister)
DIRECTOR: Baltasar Kormakur (Contraband)
WRITER: Blake Masters (Brotherhood tv series)
PLOT: Undercover agents (who are unaware of each other) botch the infiltration of a drug cartel and pay the consequences.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 This film reminded me of old-school Jerry Bruckheimer films like Bad Boys, The Rock, Bad Company and Gone in Sixty Seconds. Get two good actors to play well off each other and shoot lots of stuff up. It maybe formulaic but it’s still pretty entertaining.
2 The film works because of the great chemistry between Washington and Wahlberg. They both get their share of funny lines and action-packed stunts. Wahlberg is pretty hit or miss with me and in this film he does pretty well.
3 After watching this and FX’s The Border, I’m going to steer clear of Mexico/US border cities; maybe forever. They all seem full of crime and corrupt agencies.
4 It’s fun watching Bill Paxton and Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica) play bad guys. They are gleefully intimidating. James Marsden (X-Men, Superman Returns), on the other hand, continues to turn in ‘meh’ performances. He so not dynamic on screen.
5 I was not a fan on Denzel’s facial hair in this film. Just sayin’.

RECOMMENDATION: Wait for DVD or TBS
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Elysium

Film: The Lone Ranger

GENRE: Action, Western
RATING: PG for intense action and violence
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 29 minutes
STARRING: Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Tourist)
Armie Hammer (Social Network); William Fichtner (Armageddon, Go)
DIRECTOR: Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Carribean, Rango)
WRITERS: Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio (Pirates, Shrek, Mask of Zorro )
Justin Haythe (Revolutionary Road, Snitch)
PLOT: A very long backstory on how Tonto helps the man who would become The Lone Ranger.  

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 What a mind-numbingly boring  story! There’s this mini-scene involving a robbery. I wish the rest of the movie was more like that instead of this boring story about the railroad and vengeance.
2 I enjoyed the chemistry and characterization of Tonto and the Lone Ranger but I didn’t find myself caring what happened to them. I also wondered why they rode together as they seemed pretty selfish for almost the entire film.  I like Silver the most though.
3 I liked Hans Zimmer’s musical score. I enjoyed the use of the Lone Ranger theme song (The William Tell Overture).
4 I enjoyed the cinematography. At least the movie was well shot.
5 I felt most sorry for the boy listening to the telling of the story. I had a hard enough time sitting through the bloated 2½ hour running time, imagine standing. What a terrible book end to the movie? So unnecessary.

RECOMMENDATION: Wait for TBS
UPCOMING REVIEWS: The Way, Way Back

Film: Despicable Me 2

GENRE: Animated Comedy
RATING: G for some rude humour and mild action
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 38minutes
STARRING: Steve Carell (The Office, Burt Wonderstone, Date Night)
Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids, SNL); Benjamin Bratt (Miss Congeniality)
DIRECTORS: Pierre Coffin(Despicable Me), Chris Renaud (The Lorax)
WRITERS: Ken Daurio & Cinco Paul (Despicable Me, Horton, Lorax)
PLOT: Gru is on the dating scene and is recruited by the Anti-Villain League to go undercover in a mall.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 I would say that this film is pretty on par with the fantastic first installment. Thankfully they gave more to the fun characters of the first film (namely Agnes and the minions) without taking away from Gru’s main storyline (unlike Pixar’s Mater-centric Cars 2). Agnes is adorable once again. If only I could adopt a cartoon character.
2 The minions are put to better use in this installment as they are more integral to the plot. Sure there are some extra stuff thrown in for fun. Some work (All 4 One’s I Swear and the swinging mace) and some not so much (ice cream party). I also love how all the minions have names (Kevin, Bob, Stuart) and Gru knows them all.
3 I wish Wiig’s Lucy character had more of something. I can’t quite place my finger on it but something was missing. I enjoyed Bratt’s El Macho much better than Jason Segel’s Vector from the first one. Maybe there something about being tied to a shark instead of having one swimming under your feet.
4 There were a couple parts that went on a bit too long including the break in at Salsa with Salsa, the minion ice cream party and the cinco de mayo dancing. But these are minor offences. 
5 I didn’t watch it in 3D but probably should have. I’m sure the underwater sequence looked awesome as well as the always fun closing credit antics of the minions.  

RECOMMENDATION: See it in theatres, in 3D
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Lone Ranger