Cinema Babble: If you only see one movie about the fall of the White House...

The Flick: Olympus Has Fallen

The Peeps: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Ricvk Yune, Dylan McDermott, Angela Bassett, Melissa Leo, etc, etc.

The Dealio: The White House is taken over and the President is being held captive, while things go from bad to worse throughout the greater DC metroplex. With absolutely no one able  to affect a rescue and with fear and hopeless ruling the day, disgraced former Secret Service agent, Mike Banning (Butler), finds himself the only surviving member of the team to actually be on-site. Driven by the twin demons of failure earlier in the administration, and the desire to save both the President and the country he loves, Banning becomes a one-man spoiler, the monkey in the wrench, the fly in the ointment- as another pain in the butt cinematic law officer once said. Along the way, there are many eye-rolling moments, but also some grippingly tense and engaging ones, too. So, why, do you suppose we need other similar flicks (Summer's White House Down and the now-playing and also available at Walmart mention GI Joe: Retaliation- which we also saw)? Clearly...we don't. So, pick, but choose wisely, because those are two hours you will never get back.

Lessons Learned: Beware the disgruntled former employee, for therein lies the concealed serpent's tooth, which will surely strike when least expected. Also this, learning a subject inside out, upside down and backwards- as we were taught in elementary school- actually can come in handy. You just never know when. Lastly this: if someone is torturing you to learn something you are reluctant to give up, but you think you will survive if you do, just let them kill you outright, 'cause that's how this is always going to end. Always.