The story of Cecil Gaines, a White House butler spanning seven administrations, is ever-so-loosely based on the life of the late Eugene Allen. But the result is too reverent to feel like fiction, too improbable to feel like the truth.
Christopher Lawrence
Christopher Lawrence is the movie critic for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
clawrence@reviewjournal.com … @life_onthecouch on Twitter. 702-380-4567
“Elysium” is many things, but subtle isn’t one of them. Too bad, really, because otherwise, the grim, grimy tale from “District 9” writer-director Neill Blomkamp is a quite good — excellent by this summer’s standards — rough-and-tumble sci-fi tale of the haves vs. the have-nots.
(Most) everyone’s favorite X-Men super hero, Wolverine, goes from self-punishing vagabond to master ninja fighter, but amazingly something is still missing.
“The Way, Way Back” feels like the ultimate summer movie… of 1983. No cities are leveled. No planets are ruined. The only thing that blows up is a relationship.
Oh, sure, it may sound stupid. Three fraternity brothers drag their nerdy friend (“Malcolm in the Middle’s” Frankie Muniz) to Las Vegas for spring break. They meet up with three sorority girls who’ve also dragged their nerdy friend to Las Vegas for spring break.
In these uncertain times, we all want bright futures for our children. The best thing you could do for them right now? Train little Bobby or Susie to dedicate months of their life to constructing elaborate digital cityscapes only to have them carelessly torn asunder. If this summer is any indication, they’ll never want for food.
The Lone Ranger is a spirit walker whose life can’t end in battle.
“World War Z” could have been the Amanda Bynes of summer blockbusters.
It has the hallmarks of a failed Match.com date.
Why wouldn’t you just go to Canada for the night?
The first performance by the magic supergroup known as The Four Horsemen takes place inside the MGM Grand.
At this point, it’s like being reunited with old friends. Old friends around whom you should never, under any circumstances, consume Jagermeister. Or marshmallows. Or pretty much any substance that could mask a powerful sedative.
After some exhilarating, genre-melting moments in director Baz Luhrmann’s wildly anachronistic take on “The Great Gatsby,” things settle down and more closely resemble F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic tale of love and loss amid the opulence of the roaring ’20s.
