Lee Daniels' The Butler

THE PITCH

WORTH

$$$$1/2



THE VIEWING

" The whole world was changing and I didn't know how I fit in."

   Memorable in a very good way.  I’m not certain why most of the professional critics panned it but everyone that I personally know gave only glowing reviews about it.  In fact, almost every story that we've traded about our experience watching it always refers to real applause  in the auditorium at the end of it.  Simply worth every cent of that dollar.

     The Butler serves as a sure pick for this year’s best underdog movie.  Beating out  Elysium     (which turned out to be really good as well),  Kick-Ass 2, and Jobs.  

      If you pointed a gun at me and made me pick something wrong I would say the pace… At times it may have seemed slow but as I defend my desperate plea now that the gun is away… That’s also what I liked about the film.  They covered some very important events.  All that would've made really good movie(s) on it’s own except  the viewpoint of all the settings was from the Butler himself… Not a politician, strategist, or anything like that.  That perspective is what gave the overall feel a more personal, human touch.

    I HAVE to mention the superb casting job done by Leah Daniels and Billy Hopkins!!!  Some of the best casting jobs that I've seen in a very long time.  Everyone was great but James Marsden was scary good as JFK… I mean incredible!  Minka Kelly did a wonderful job as his wife as well.  Alan Rickman WAS Ronald Reagan… not sure if he was acting or morphing into Ronald but Jane Fonda was definitely Nancy!  Again…. scary good rendition.  All of the lead cast have a wonderful chance of being nominated for the little gold guy…

    Great family picture, bring your friends… I think this movie is going to be in the theater for a while.  I anticipate The Butler hovering around the top of the box office now that word of mouth is spreading.

  recap:  Worth every penny.  letter grade: A-

The Conjuring

THE PITCH

WORTH

$$$


THE VIEWING

" The devil exists. God exists. And for us, as people, our very destiny hinges on which we decide to follow. "

Horror flicks, especially exorcism movies all have generally the same format.  Haunted house movies all have one format:  New family or group moves into a house tattooed with a terrible past.  They receive warnings to leave and ignore them. The entity haunting the house plays with them then tries to pick them off one by one. 

 What is different about The Conjuring is that the movie gives an excellent reason why the family can’t move.  Albeit my personal preference is to be without a home rather than living inside one that is haunted, I must admit that the reasoning is very plausible and ultimately made the movie watchable.

         Great job with timing and still moments.  Likable story or script [for horror] whichever you prefer, being that it was based off true events.  Really good acting especially from Joey King, she usually plays her roles very well.  

      Really not much else to say about this one.  If I was more of a horror genre fan maybe I would detail more but all these movies feel the same to me.

 Still worth your buck if you have all your ”must see’s” crossed off the list… letter grade: B-