Monday, August 19, 2013

Lee Daniels' The Butler

First of all, let's get one thing straight. This movie is 95% FICTION- it is not historical (other than some of the references to presidential order and black panthers) and it is NOT true to the real story. The actual Butler's memoirs would tell you that the Butler had one son who went to Viet Nam and came home healthy, had one faithful wife who didn't drink or fool around, never was called a "house nigger", never had a mother (played by Mariah Carey, for Pete's sake) raped by a plantation owner's son, and never had a father SHOT over it, never felt like a token at the White House dinner or treated poorly by other staff at that event, never said Ronnie Reagan was against civil rights (in fact, had fond memories of the Reagans), never protested Mandela, never had a second son who was a revolutionary, etc, etc. NEVER. That is what is so pathetic- that movie goers will believe this is really a true retelling of the story of Eugene Allen. It is a sad and sorry anti-white movie about a fictional man with a fictional family. The mere fact that Jane Fonda is cast as Nancy Reagan should tell you something. So, never mind that Oprah plays a  20 year old woman and then morphs into a 70 year old woman and looks the same throughout- at least she is plausible. I'm no fan of her, but she is really a great actress. What kind of movie casts Robin Williams as Eisenhower, Alan Rickman as Reagan, some dude as Kennedy, etc? I cannot tell you how mad I was that a movie that could have been a dramatic TRUE story of a real White House butler was turned into some sort of bizarre lie marketed as the truth. It's up to you if you want to see this, but certainly do a little research on the topic before you swallow this crap hook, line and ridiculous.  And by the way, the current use of the apostrophe for a name ending in "s" is to go ahead and PUT the apostrophe S. That ought to tell you how much they care about what is right.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Elysium

Another film about how rich people are SO rich that they can totally separate themselves from the poor by creating their own Elysium- hilariously led by Matt Damon who is worth $65 million. I just love that. Keep in mind if you see this, that Mr Damon is also notoriously vocal about gun violence and gun control.  But that 65mil didn't come from NOT making movies where guns and graphic violence are used to entertain. The script is full of ridiculous loopholes- and it is pretty funny that when rich scriptwriters and actors think of the future, the earth is always destroyed by people who evidently cannot bathe, cannot pick up trash and rely on crappy medical care. Is that because the rich stop making soap and trash cans?  That might be part of the problem.  I know it is science fiction, but you'll notice there is also some race baiting here.  I groaned a few times in this movie- are audiences that stupid that they fall for these lines? Yeah, okay okay, it is "science fiction"- but obviously the actors believe in the story. I don't like apocalyptic sci-fi (stop asking why I WENT to it- I had to review it), but aside from that, I loved District 9 and other movies. I loved Mad Max. But this movie is just too much. And Matt Damon should be ashamed of himself because this movie implies he believes the rich are bad and hoarde all the money, and the poor are victims living in a wasteland.  It was very gory and kind of digusting. And it cost $33 for 2 of us to see it. No wonder the rich get richer!!! I'd say skip it if you can't separate Damon from the role he plays.