CMG CINEMA BuzzFEED - 18 August 2013

Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique in full body makeup

Makeup Can Make or Break a Role


Makeup can make or break a role.  Changing the actor into someone/something entirely different from their 'real' look.  If done well, makeup can lead to a big box office gross and/or accolades from peers, press, and public. Sometimes lost is the process, makeup provides the real fantasy vs. the special effects of a film. And for certain genre, like syfy, horror, and period pieces makeup makes the movie.  Appreciate the art of the makeup artist next time you're at the cinema.

The Butler - A Lot of Hype But No History


Fonda/Rickman as Nancy/Gibber

As they have done over and over in the past, the Weinstein Company tried to drum up free buzz for The Butler by making a huge deal out of the fight for the use of the title - "The Butler" (which was used by Warner Bros. in a previous film from the 1940s). Remember the recent fuss the Weinstein Company put up over the audience rating the MPAA give to The Bully. It was an "outrage" shouted Harvey Weinstein, "that the youth of American could not view the film because of its R rating." It finally got the PG-13 rating wanted but for all the hoopla The Bully has only grossed $3.4 million to date.  It's like the boy who cried wolf, after awhile nobody listens to the Weinstein wails.

Having said that, The Butler, as a movie, is a cliché. It offers no new perspective as it journeys through the life of Cecil Gaines, a civil service employee that worked as a White House butler through 6 U.S. administrations (Ike's, JFK's, LBJ's, Dick's, Jimmy's, and The Gipper's).  Forest Whitaker's portrayal of Gaines is a mix of Hank's Forest Gump and Seller's Chance the Gardener.  A middle-class family man dedicated to a cause (his job) which is disrupted by outside forces he can not control.

The Butler tries to cover too much history, resulting in a film that is peripheral to the issues it raises.  For example, Gaines is only marginally involved in the civil rights movement and to believe that President after President would ask a WH Butler for advice on complex domestic issues and seem to be awe inspired by the very humble advice given by Gaines is ludicrous.  I can't imagine Ike, JFK, LBJ, or The Gipper asking a butler for advice on any issue of national importance. Jimmy Carter was left out of The Butler, I guess the only civil unrest under him was taking place in Iran with the U.S. hostages and I guess Cecil didn't have any answers to that dilemma.

Regardless of the 'expected' Weinstein hype, The Butler, to be fair, is a decent drama but it brings very little historic reality to the screen.

2015 Could Be The BIGGEST Box Office Ever


In looking out at what is in production it struck me that 2015 was shaping up to be the year of the blockbuster - as it has a very heavy slate of  'sure thing' sequels of franchises that never stop giving.  The 2015 lineup includes:

- Avengers-Age of Ultron / Release Date May 2015
- Untitled Superman/Batman Movie / Release TBA
- Star Wars: Episode VII / Release TBA
- Independence Day-2 / Release July 2015
- Jurassic Park 4 / Release TBA
- Terminator 5 / Release June 2015
- Assassin's Creed / Release June 2015
- Ant-Man / Release Nov. 2015
- James Bond 'Solo' / Release Nov. 2015
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Park II / Release Nov.2015


Best
Jim