Elysium

Late in the 21st century, the Earth has become drastically unfit to live on for some people due to a rising crime rate and pollution, among other things. A project was started by the world's elite to build a space station that orbits Earth called Elysium. This little haven is run by a ruthless head of security named Delacourt. Delacourt uses any means necessary (including actions which some might consider illegal) to ensure Elysium is not infiltrated by the inhabitants down on Earth.

Max is a factory who just wants more than anything to get off Earth and make his way into Elysium. He even goes so far to promise a childhood friend named Frey that he'll take her up there someday. There's just one problem - Max is a career criminal. His record keeps him from earning the massive amount of cash to get his ticket into Elysium. So Max grudgingly turns from his life of crime and goes to work for a factory making robots. For awhile he seems to be doing well for himself, until one day when he gets in an accident at the factory resulting in Max taking in lethal doses of radiation. After the accident Max is told he only has five days to live. Trying to find an alternative, Max realizes that the only way to save himself is to return to his life of crime by breaking into Elysium and using their healthcare system.

If you have ever seen the first feature film by Neill Blomkamp titled District 9, then you should pretty much know what to expect from Elysium. Blomkamp does a fantastic job with Elysium of not only creating a great general sci-fi flick, but also inserting his own ideas about politics and human nature. I wasn't a big fan of District 9, so I was a little hesitant about seeing Elysium but surprisingly I greatly enjoyed it. Elysium isn't perfect though. Some of the fight scenes looked like it came straight out of a video game, and one or two scenes in particular looked like it was trying to imitate The Matrix. The more realistic action was better, though your typical R-rated graphic violence. Probably the most gruesome (yet slightly unbelievable) scene was when one character gets their face blown off by a grenade, somehow survives and then has their face reconstructed by a machine. It initially was quite jarring to see his face completely blown off.

Despite all that, I absolutely enjoyed seeing Matt Damon as Max, Jodie Foster as Delacourt, and Sharlto Copley as an evil mercenary used by Delacourt to hunt down Max. I also appreciated the fact that Elysium wasn't just a stereotypical sci-fi action flick, but actually had a deeper purpose. I would definitely recommend seeing Elysium if you're tired of seeing mindless action flicks that only care about violence, car chases and explosions. Since it is rated R, I want to caution parents before they let their kids see it. This is still a violent action movie with a lot of graphic violence and harsh language.

Lee Daniels' The Butler

For years, Cecil Gaines has quietly fought against racism and the stereotypes of African Americans in the shadows by serving as a boy on a plantation where he saw his father murdered in front of him, to ultimately serving seven Presidents as a butler in the White House later in life. His servant's heart and attitude gained him the opportunity to work for some of the most powerful men in the free world. His son Louis, on the other hand, is tired of standing by and tolerating how he is treated due to the color of his skin. Louis turns to more outspoken means of taking a stand against racism. He starts out doing rallies and sit-ins at diners as a way to protest. After being arrested multiple times for his "crimes" Louis falls in with the Black Panther movement. Cecil and his son become estranged because of their differences in opinion. It takes Cecil's wife Gloria nudging Cecil to mend the relationship years later before they overcome their issues and Louis finally begins to see just how much his father has done in his own way to fight racism while working as a butler in the White House.

Lee Daniels' The Butler is a powerful tale based on the true story of a man named Eugene Allen who stayed in the White House a few years longer than the fictional Cecil Gaines did. It is a movie that is sure to receive a bit of Oscar buzz. The Butler does take quite a few creative licenses involving Cecil Gaines and each of the Presidents he interacts with. However, what it changes for entertainment purposes does not take away from the core message of how one man stood in the face of adversity and from the shadows helped the movement to change the attitude towards racism. Forest Whitaker is perfectly cast as the fictional Cecil Gaines. Whitaker should be up for an Oscar for his portrayal of Cecil. It is not as jarring in its portrayal of harsh racism as 42 was earlier this year, but it still was effectively hard to watch at times. I would highly recommend moviegoers not miss this one.

2 Guns

DEA agent Bobby Trench has been working undercover for almost three years trying to nail a Mexican drug kingpin named Papi Greco. Time and time again it feels as if he gets close, but then Papi slips from his fingers once more. Trench's boss is getting a bit anxious to seal the deal, so he puts the pressure on Trench to work harder to bust Papi. Navy intelligence officer Marcus Stigman, on the other hand, is under pressure from his own superiors to pull off a heist of Papi's drug money, rumored to be around 3 million dollars. Neither of the two men are aware of their real motives - they each think the other is just a common criminal. What neither of them also realize is their superiors were lying about how much cash is in Papi's bank: there is really just over 43 million dollars. Trench and Stigman have to figure out the truth about why there's more money than expected while running from Papi's cartel and others who want them dead if they want to come out of the ordeal alive.

I went into 2 Guns thinking it was going to be a stereotypical R-rated action flick. What I didn't realize is it is actually an action COMEDY - and a hilarious one at that. I laughed even harder than I did watching The Heat. The camaraderie between Denzel Washington as Bobby Trench and Mark Wahlberg as Marcus Stigman was some of the best (and funniest) interaction I've seen in awhile. 2 Guns is one of the very few R-rated comedies that I feel like I can totally recommend without many reservations. The jokes do get a bit crude at times, but I still found it pretty hilarious. Wahlberg had some of the best lines throughout the film. The only thing I didn't like was the ending: it felt like it suffered from the same problems that RED 2 had, one of them being too many characters switching sides so much it was hard to keep track of who was good or bad. Despite that, 2 Guns still ended up being a great action comedy that I think most adults will enjoy (I don't recommend it for young kids as it is rated R, but for young adults 17+ I would recommend it).