BELATED REVIEW OF LONDON HAS FALLEN

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIIXNs7lAqiXYADOotfjg_pGJD_EfAVJwv3l1LUz5h_itRaKrlDm1Cf-_QRFVOxWs74Xh21bMSOY-BIX9D7LiEHQSToSabTopikgp8YO4YmbvzUmpM6esB_BozBGY6X8xBXdnq9cGc6bI/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIIXNs7lAqiXYADOotfjg_pGJD_EfAVJwv3l1LUz5h_itRaKrlDm1Cf-_QRFVOxWs74Xh21bMSOY-BIX9D7LiEHQSToSabTopikgp8YO4YmbvzUmpM6esB_BozBGY6X8xBXdnq9cGc6bI/s640/1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gerard Butler and Aaron Eckhart try remaining visible and important amidst all the death and explosions in LONDON</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> You will always find a brand new situation here on CULT FILM FREAK, a movie review website that learns along the way... And so, while watching LONDON HAS FALLEN, yours truly had no idea (or had simply forgotten) that OLYMPUS had FALLEN beforehand: as now, American President Benjamin Asher, played by THE DARK KNIGHT dimple-chinned Aaron Eckhart, and really starring Gerard Butler as Mike Banning have, well, another big crisis on their hands...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRi1uJoBRwZrM1plbR8jcDXyE6f-mcq_JTtuK60C8gv3T-EU3dVtm6U5T2eSBqblSTuzy576IEX3IKPlKS7OIMcRXHMHgKbfxmAkb5GiwkQMWW4IqnrMp7shwfbIhOskp6bBM8hJX1CJc/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRi1uJoBRwZrM1plbR8jcDXyE6f-mcq_JTtuK60C8gv3T-EU3dVtm6U5T2eSBqblSTuzy576IEX3IKPlKS7OIMcRXHMHgKbfxmAkb5GiwkQMWW4IqnrMp7shwfbIhOskp6bBM8hJX1CJc/s320/2.jpg" width="219" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aaron Eckhart & Gerard Butler</td></tr> </tbody></table> Now, not having seen OLYMPUS, this particular writeup will center only on LONDON, without comparison... Either way, it's pretty obvious Mike Banning is the greatest Secret Service Agent on Earth. Seeming to have taken classes from Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood flicks, he's the man of the hour... From the onset, as the two important muscular guys are jogging outside the White House, it's obvious who's the strongest of the two... Darwin's theory is kinda lost here...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2PLa7qq_9nJ1CRplHz9uigpkDKGPui-gDkytxBso8O9IJpjuHemIoxZcYOz_ibNdRV4ZK0yRtnb4q3auVTnpWDAXnzeg6eVaRRcd3_J1CpNK7tvBNhc7oOZUkp4cIMfRxOMwx-dymgdo/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2PLa7qq_9nJ1CRplHz9uigpkDKGPui-gDkytxBso8O9IJpjuHemIoxZcYOz_ibNdRV4ZK0yRtnb4q3auVTnpWDAXnzeg6eVaRRcd3_J1CpNK7tvBNhc7oOZUkp4cIMfRxOMwx-dymgdo/s320/3.jpg" width="122" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gerard Butler</td></tr> </tbody></table> For the physically weakest, Eckhart is indeed the "Leader of the Free World," and if you could fathom having to read a hundred names from a phone book just to burn it to shreds thereafter, this is the most annoying LONDON gets as<i> every person's</i> name is displayed below themselves when first shown, in several regions... and hardly any are important enough for that to occur in the first place...<br /> <br /> Instead, who really matters are those two previously mentioned joggers that, while attending a beloved Prime Minister's funeral in England, wind up in a dark THIRD MAN underworld beneath the literally explosive London streets and, before and during one of the biggest terrorist raids in history, much of the film is Butler's agent keeping his President not only alive down there, but from getting captured and, most important and nightmarish to imagine, filmed (and forever viewable for his son) on YouTube, being possibly executed by agents working for... well that's one of the few people who really matter, at least of the bad guys, and he gets about a minute of screen-time... or less.<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhM7R8rhuscV0MMXLlrzwXrPTJc1p1yPpoGO779bTjY15F5wHhAOcKca-BRUbl4gNLwlMyB6ZFun91sontY98jjzlSwjRUXWvfP4gQh7esyylOtR9kylnv_GHc6nqay7_AbejERTD1-BA/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhM7R8rhuscV0MMXLlrzwXrPTJc1p1yPpoGO779bTjY15F5wHhAOcKca-BRUbl4gNLwlMyB6ZFun91sontY98jjzlSwjRUXWvfP4gQh7esyylOtR9kylnv_GHc6nqay7_AbejERTD1-BA/s400/4.jpg" width="120" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gerard Butler</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> So while LONDON isn't exactly a deep and/or flawless film, with far too many deaths for a viewer to take, it's not too shabby for a testosterone-heavy action-thriller relying on friendship and explosions...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga8R_M81liUcQqmIZrRtQz6hxeniRsrc87LGdavssvMAnoAzp2FqE5Vco8N8Vy6lSFLBml9221PDEqaHs7ITd1nVUs2NI147_lB25U4m2xAn8Fhw9twRZmlSLA-hULs9rQalCAV8AHC8Q/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-03-26+at+10.47.25+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga8R_M81liUcQqmIZrRtQz6hxeniRsrc87LGdavssvMAnoAzp2FqE5Vco8N8Vy6lSFLBml9221PDEqaHs7ITd1nVUs2NI147_lB25U4m2xAn8Fhw9twRZmlSLA-hULs9rQalCAV8AHC8Q/s400/Screen+Shot+2016-03-26+at+10.47.25+PM.jpg" width="122" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert Forster</td></tr> </tbody></table> Also, not knowing till after of its sequel status, FALLEN is upped a notch since sequels are usually god-awful. And throughout the exterior noise and interior conversations, ranging from helicopter chases to hacker backrooms to Veep Morgan Freeman's Washington roundtable, we mainly center on the two friends: one that loves his family more than his important job, and the other who knows his own less-important yet much more (cinematically) involving job well enough to make all the distractions not matter a bit.<br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <br /> <u>RATING</u>: ***1/2<br /> <u>TRIVIA</u>: For Cult Movie fans, there is a sadly wasted duo sitting amongst many people at the table where Morgan Freeman does his figuring-out of the situation: that being Robert Forster, one of the most genuinely talented character-actors ever, starring in flicks from many decades including MEDIUM COOL, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2014/02/black-hole.html">THE BLACK HOLE</a>, ALLIGATOR and VIGILANTE... And also on board is the original <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2014/11/bad-news-bears-archive1.html">BAD NEWS BEARS</a> tough kid Jackie Earle Haley, all grown-up after several comebacks: why they don't make a movie centering on his WATCHMAN character is insane... Meanwhile, Forster needs to turn up in bigger, better roles after what was supposed to be a solid Oscar nominated comeback in Tarantino's JACKIE BROWN as bail bondsman Max Cherry...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrmdq5TcfxJnpzYeCyvkj0h9QiKT-N7NvWD6Cl58gwcuV20rOwK4pnFAcqCsNv8bNFQ62rh0AJzaKNgFFrktGoe-haZXHlYXyCSAR5KU6_-ZWSr4_Bpmh3nA7sEkCqH3SPAbsbAaQMgfQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-03-27+at+2.49.51+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrmdq5TcfxJnpzYeCyvkj0h9QiKT-N7NvWD6Cl58gwcuV20rOwK4pnFAcqCsNv8bNFQ62rh0AJzaKNgFFrktGoe-haZXHlYXyCSAR5KU6_-ZWSr4_Bpmh3nA7sEkCqH3SPAbsbAaQMgfQ/s200/Screen+Shot+2016-03-27+at+2.49.51+AM.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lights Out... Lights Out in...</td></tr> </tbody></table> Speaking of "Cult" but now of the music world, when the prime underground hacker is about to blackout all of London, he says "Lights out in London," referencing a track from the band UFO • THE THIRD MAN reference is from a classic Film Noir starring CITIZEN KANE actors Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles, directed by Carol Reed and with a famous finale taking place in the dark English sewers • And saying (semi-humorously) Banning learned his moves from Bronson and Eastwood flicks aren't just because both tough guy actors starred in movies centering on the Secret Service, because ASSASSINATION and IN THE LINE OF FIRE, compared to the likes of DEATH WISH and MAGNUM FORCE, weren't very good... but it's all about connecting here, so those two were chosen.

aaron eckhart, action, gerard butler, jackie earle haley, morgan freeman, robert forster, sequel, thriller

BELATED REVIEW OF LONDON HAS FALLEN

Gerard Butler and Aaron Eckhart try remaining visible and important amidst all the death and explosions in LONDON You will always find a...

OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIxlr20VUDO9s1ha7E4j7TmmSSlUxB-WdL-A3VwvEMLHuATiKFAWYCBNMnVpEbhz_l_58rcPODOYz968JShH0fUYFozPnNr81nX4zpmHzDwKibjGKlHo1cfX3L6Jae78n5KRufvgSSfDx7/s1600/olympus-has-fallen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIxlr20VUDO9s1ha7E4j7TmmSSlUxB-WdL-A3VwvEMLHuATiKFAWYCBNMnVpEbhz_l_58rcPODOYz968JShH0fUYFozPnNr81nX4zpmHzDwKibjGKlHo1cfX3L6Jae78n5KRufvgSSfDx7/s640/olympus-has-fallen.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year:</b> 2013 <b>cast:</b> Gerard Bulter, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Robert Forster <b>rating:</b> ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> Beginning with a successful yet ultimately tragic rescue of the President of the United States, resulting in the death of his wife into an icy lake, his number one Secret Service agent and chief decision maker Mike Banning is laying low in Washington, sadly remembering the good old days. Meanwhile President Asher, played by Aaron Eckhart, has an important meeting about North Korea and his young son misses mom, and even more so, Gerard Butler’s Manning, who was sort of a big brother and/or cool uncle through the years.<br /> <br /> The word Olympus refers to the White House, and with a blasting of jet planes soaring through the blue skies of Washington D.C., followed by nefarious terrorist ground troops moving in, the White House is penetrated while the Prez himself, along with his Veep and a few others, go down to a secret safe room – which doesn’t remain secret or safe for long.<br /> <br /> This initial all-out attack/invasion, the second action sequence following the first lady’s demise, is both exciting and involving, without the use of too many shaky cameras. The important thing, though, is that Banning (Butler) manages to get inside the now dilapidated White House interior. All the while, a villainous Korean “mastermind” named Kang has the President hostage, blowing away most of his important underlings to prove he means business. <br /> <br /> All the bombastic acrobatics aside, with violence bordering on a gratuitous level and sporadic cuts to a round table emergency session (which includes Morgan Freeman's Secretary of State), the good stuff has Butler making edgy ground throughout the White House, taking out the bad guys and attempting to rescue the President’s son.<br /> <br /> Heck, even a sweaty one-on-one fistfight against the main villain trumps the last minute attempt to avert an all-out nuclear war, proving that a good old fashion muscular hero is worth his weight in action genre gold, or in this case, solid bronze.

2013, aaron eckhart, action, gerard butler, morgan freeman, robert forster

OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN

year: 2013 cast: Gerard Bulter, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Robert Forster rating: *** Beginning with a successful yet ultimately ...

PLAYING FOR KEEPS

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDNAsaT3PvR_lhztl1o0_MiPWM2ic4fyDGYDKwIN4jofCFjXcFpfdRWD9huf_C5FwkdY7oy2bO0LTSdsSFxPVbUCaw48rIkEPFbXuMPj2aowjEagMtMIiXuGpigpI7kHkarDlrc32t0Zg/s1600/playing+for+keeps+cultfilmfreaks.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDNAsaT3PvR_lhztl1o0_MiPWM2ic4fyDGYDKwIN4jofCFjXcFpfdRWD9huf_C5FwkdY7oy2bO0LTSdsSFxPVbUCaw48rIkEPFbXuMPj2aowjEagMtMIiXuGpigpI7kHkarDlrc32t0Zg/s640/playing+for+keeps+cultfilmfreaks.com.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2012 cast: Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, Dennis Quaid, Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta Jones rating: **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> It’s always a matter of time before an action hero climbs into a romantic comedy vehicle. Being Gerald Butler’s turn, he decided to meet in the middle and play someone athletic. Although as a has-been soccer star named George, he’s more lethargic than active.<br /> <br /> George's main <i>goal</i> has always been women… and that’s what he gets when he decides to move to the town where his ex-wife and son live. He winds up being the soccer coach to help his kid's team, and all the soccer moms have the ever-loving hots for him. <br /> <br /> These include Judy Greer, who cries at the sight of the big Scottish lug. Then there’s Catherine Zeta-Jones as a sexy sportscaster… or ex sportscaster turned domesticated mother… who can help George land a gig – with a sultry price. And Uma Thurman is the promiscuous wife of Dennis Quaid, the town boob with so much money to throw around he practically drowns in it. <br /> <br /> Having tanked so hard in theaters and receiving a disastrous 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes, you’d think PLAYING FOR KEEPS would be a lot worse. Sure, it’s not very funny… Gerald Butler has the comedic chops of a deer in headlights and even seems out of his element romancing (or being romanced by) the ladies.<br /> <br /> But his performance comes around when he realizes what the audience knows from the start – and what the movie’s title implies: that his son and ex wife, played with a girl next door charm by Jessica Biel, mean more than anything… including a game changing career. <br /> <br /> The best scenes have George realizing his days of wild abandonment have gone past. Not only because he has another shot at regaining his family, but the lusty hijinx with the town moms, meant to put the <i>Comedy</i> in <i>Romantic</i>, isn't very funny and, with the exception of an 11th hour dilemma, ultimately lacks purpose.   <br /> <br /> But this could be due to the film’s star, who fares better with blood oozing from a sword. In KEEPS, Butler seems like a mercenary on vacation, itching for the idyllic break to end. 

2012, catherine zeta-jones, dennis quaid, gerard butler, romantic comedy

PLAYING FOR KEEPS

year: 2012 cast: Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, Dennis Quaid, Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta Jones rating: **1/2 It’s always a matter of time...