Lee Daniels’ The Butler is probably going to be the most remembered movie opening this weekend and even into awards season.
If you are wondering who Lee Daniels is and why his name is before the title (especially with superstars like Oprah Winfrey and Forest Whitaker among the cast), it is for two reasons.
Daniels was producer on both Monster’s Ball and Precious, which was based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire which he also directed.
The other reason is a dispute over the title The Butler which Warner Brothers held the rights to. To be able to use the title, the producers had to add Daniels’ name to the title. Not a bad compromise as his name adds even more credibility and the dispute created publicity for the movie.
Whitaker plays the real life character Cecil Gaines, who worked as a White House butler for eight presidents from 1952 to 1986. From a unique perspective, he and his wife (Winfrey) experienced some of the most dramatic political and social changes in history.
Yet another comic book superhero sequel is being released this weekend, but this is not one for the entire family.
Three years ago, the violent and crude Kick-Ass was released and became a cult hit, earning over $90 million on a $30 million budget.
It created controversy because of its violence and profanity, especially because much of it was performed by then 13-year-old Chloë Grace Moretz as Hit Girl.
She’s back in Kick-Ass 2 but Hit Girl is being forced by her parents to hang up her costume and try to have a normal life in high school.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson returns as the title character and joins a team of superheroes led by costumed vigilante Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey).
However, Hit Girl’s retirement does not last long when the Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) is reborn to exact revenge for his father’s death in the last movie and plans to create a super-villain army.
Paranoia stars Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Richard Dreyfuss, Embeth Davidtz and Liam Helmsworth.
Helmsworth plays a young low-level employee at a technology firm who jeopardizes his job when he pulls a prank.
His superiors give him the chance to save his job if he agrees to an undercover corporate espionage assignment at a rival company.
Although being a corporate spy nets him a corner office and the life of his dreams, he soon finds himself trapped in a war between two tycoons.
In Jobs, Ashton Kutcher stars as Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. The film tells the turbulent story of the late visionary who changed the way we interact with technology.
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Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Kelowna’s community spirit and the heroism of firefighters, police and volunteers in the wake of the devastating forest fire of 2003, Firestorm will be showing in all three auditoriums at the Paramount Theatre on Friday night, starting at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $10 each and are available online at www.ascentfilms.com/firestorm or at Bella Clothing Boutique on Pandosy.
Rick Davis is the general manager of Landmark Cinemas 8 in West Kelowna.
landmarkwk_gm
@landmarkcinemas.ca
