The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons

broderic on December 31, 2008

There’s a lot of fancy CG effects in The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons. There’s the site of a Brad Pitt growing younger as he ages. There’s a riveting attack on a German U-boat. There’s a wonderful, old-timey gag on lightning strikes. And there is Cate Blanchett — young and old.

There was the CG effects, and it dominated every scene of the movie to a point that I had to think about what wasn’t real and was. Then I thought about how they pulled that off. Did they put Brad Pitt’s head on a kid? A midget? Or was he completely built up as a CG model like Neo in the later Matrix films. The most intriguing CG was the your Cate Blanchett. How did they graft her face on that body so seamlessly? Or did they digitally stretch and shape her to look young and svelte?

The effects really got in the way of the story. It was a short story from F. Scott Fitzgerald, but was mainly written and adapted by the guy who did Forest Gump. It shows. Benjamin Button seemed to go from one thing to the next just as Forest did. So the story was rather meager. It was filled with love, but was so boring.

And it was long. The problem was that Brad Pitt is in his 40s and when he reached the look of his natural age, the movie was already two hours old. We followed that dude to the grave and it felt like it.

It also had an unfortunate framing device of the old Cate in the hospital dying and her daughter (Julia Ormand!!!!) reading Benjamin’s diary in New Orleans as hurricane Katrina bears down on them. You get too worried about the present to enjoy the past. I’m hoping Julia Ormand made it out of New Orleans to safety.

Just not that good and intriguing. A disappointment from Fincher (!) whose last film was very, very good.

2 of 5 stars.

Quote of the Day [12.30.08]

broderic on December 30, 2008

“Only one thing in the world could’ve dragged me away from the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window.”

Ralphie, A Christmas Story

Quote of the Day [12.29.08]

broderic on December 29, 2008

“Quit? You know, once I was thinking about quitting when I was diagnosed with brain, lung and testicular cancer, all at the same time. But with the love and support of my friends and family, I got back on the bike and I won the Tour de France five times in a row. But I’m sure you have a good reason to quit. So what are you dying from that’s keeping you from the finals?”

Lance Armstrong (Lance Armstrong), Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

Link of the Day [12.29.08]

broderic on December 29, 2008

It’s a good time to be a skater in SoCal. If you know anything about skateboarding history, you know that pool skating became huge because of the emptying of pools in the 70s. Now we have more houses being abandoned because of the housing market turmoil, and once again we are having an emptying of pools. I wonder if people are flying planes to find the hidden gems.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/29/us/29pools.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

The Day the Earth Stood Still

broderic on December 29, 2008

All throughout The Day the Earth Stood Still you just know that Keanu Reeves is an emotionless alien and not just for the character he plays, but for his acting.

If there was one movie not worth remaking, it was the original, The Day the Earth Stood Still. It’s not that the original was a great movie not to be tinkered with, but that it’s message of peace, love and kindness among men can be told in hundreds of ways that something original can be created without rehashing the old. The original is a classic sci-fi film, and it has wonderful sci-fi elements. To update to now means to mash up sci-fi with the CG thriller action idioms that dominate Hollywood movies today. To update to now means to take those precious rhythms of the original story and flatten them to a monotone of contemporary dreariness. To update to now means to make a very forgettable film. The original was not.

In the original, the viewer was active in confronting the need for change. In the latest, the viewer is replaced by the plaintive wail of a character expressing that things can change. In the former, it is left to each one to devise whether change can happen. In the latter, the need for change is just another story moment. It is groveling which hurt the latest. That character seems to whine too much. In the original, we must change because we are confronted with the need to; we the viewer are asked to act. The latest makes us passive, and it makes us fools. No more whining about it.

2 of 5 stars.

The Bandit is Skynet

broderic on December 29, 2008

Went to DC to get some lunch at an all you can eat Filipino buffet. Picked up CapitolSwell at his house which is just down Connecticut Ave. Driving down the street and everyone was Sunday driving. What’s wrong with people! I pass them, but realize that it’s because of all the traffic cameras there to ensnare hapless motorists. Damn. I just hope that they were under repair as there was a maintenance vehicle with one of the boxes open while we cruised through at around 40 mph.

Leaving DC, it’s the same story.

Movie List 2008

broderic on December 28, 2008

I always compile this list before the end of the year. While looking over my posts of the movies I saw in the theatre, I was surprised that I had a lot of 2 stars even from the ones that were “good.” (I’m looking at you Dark Knight.) I’m also surprised that I saw very few movies. A rough estimate is about 60 this year whereas last year was probably around . I still a few reviews to post, but those films are just average or below. So here’s my list of 4+ star films.

Click the link to read my review. Post your own list.

I’ve also noticed that my list is getting shorter. Either I am becoming a better judge of movies or I am becoming more finicky.