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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 2013)
Arts & Entertainment The ‘Lee Daniels’ The Butler’ Interview Kam Williams Special To The Skanner News L Lee Daniels ee Daniels is best known for direct- ing and producing the Academy Award-winning film Precious which was nominated for a half-dozen Oscars in 2010, including histwo for Best Picture and Best Director. Mo’Nique won for Best Sup- porting Actress while scriptwriter Geoffrey Fletcher landed another for Best Adapted Screenplay. Lee’s production company, Lee Daniels Entertainment, made its feature film debut in 2001 with Monster’s Ball, the dysfunc- tional family drama for which Halle Berry would earn her historic, Best Actress Oscar. Last year, he wrote, produced and directed The Paperboy, an adaptation of the Pete Dexter novel starring Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, John Cusack, and Nicole Kidman. Here, he talks about his new picture, The Butler, a civil rights epic recounting the real-life story of an African-American who served in the White House at the pleasure of eight presidents, from 1952 to 1986. Kam Williams: Hey Lee, what a phe- nomenal film! Lee Daniels: Did you like it? KW: I loved it! LD: Thanks, Kam. KW: I was born in the Fifties so all of the ground you cover in terms of the father-son relationship and the Civil Rights Movement resonated with me and touched me very deeply. LD: That makes me feel good. Thank you very much. KW: So, what inspired you to make the movie? LD: What attracted me to the project was the father-son story which I looked at as a love story with the Civil Rights Movement as a backdrop. That was intriguing to me both because I’d had issues with my own dad, and because I have issues with my teenage son. I think the father-son love story is a universal one which transcends See THE BUTLER on page 8 New Movies Opening Aug. 9 By Kam Williams Special To The Skanner News Elysium (R for pervasive profanity and graphic vio- lence) Sci-fi thriller, set in 2154, in a world where the wealthy live on an exclusive space station while the rest of humanity is stuck on a polluted, overpopulated planet that’s looks like a Third World slum. Plot revolves around an ailing factory worker’s (Matt Damon) attempt to reach the heavily-fortified, orbiting retreat for some urgently- needed cancer treatment. With Jodie Foster, Alice Braga and Sharlto Copley. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (PG for scary images, mild epithets and fantasy violence) Logan Lerman reprises the title role in this sequel based on the Rick Riordan novel of the same name which finds the son of Poseidon and his pals presently embarking on an epic journey in search of the fabled Golden Fleece. Cast includes Alexandra Page 6 The Portland Skanner August 7, 2013 Daddario, Brandon T. Jack- son, Leven Rambin and Stanley Tucci. Entertainer, Brad Garrett, John Cleese, Sinbad and Larry the Cable Guy. Planes (PG for mild action and rude humor) Ani- mated adventure about a rickety, farm crop duster with a fear of heights (Dane Cook) who with the help of a veteran aviator (Stacy Keach) prepares to compete in a famous, high-flying aerial race against the das- tardly reigning champ (Roger Craig Smith). Voice cast includes Val Kilmer, Teri Hatcher, Cedric the We’re the Millers (R for pervasive profanity, crude sexuality, drug use and full- frontal male nudity) Raunchy road comedy revolving around a cash- strapped pot dealer (Jason Sudeikis) who enlists the assistance of a stripper (Jen- nifer Aniston), a latchkey kid (Will Poulter) and a teen runaway (Emma Roberts) to smuggle two tons of mari- juana out of Mexico by Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters posing as a family on vaca- tion. Ensemble includes Ed Helms, Luis Guzman, Nick Offerman, Thomas Lennon and Kathryn Hahn. I Give It a Year (R for profanity, sexuality and See MOVIES on page 8
