The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

Year: 2008
Director: David Fincher
Cast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Julia Ormond, Tilda Swinton, Jared Harris, Jason Flemyng


Oscar season continues, and this week I'm writing about a Best Picture contender that has 12 other nominations running alongside it.

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button begins in a hospital in New Orleans, where a woman named Caroline (Julia Ormond) is visiting her mother Daisy (Cate Blanchett) as Hurricane Katrina blows outside. Daisy is on her deathbed and asks Caroline to read a diary to her, a diary that belongs to Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt).

And so the story of Benjamin begins in New Orleans after the end of World War I, the day he was born. His father Thomas Button (Jason Flemyng) takes a look at his newborn son and sees an abnormal child, one covered in wrinkles and looking so fragile and horrifying. He abandons his son at the doorstep of a nursing home, run by a kind black woman named Queenie (Taraji P. Henson). Queenie is equally shocked by the child's appearance, but decides to give him a home amongst the old folk she looks after. She gives him the name Benjamin.

As time passes, Benjamin grows younger and younger, and looks less and less like the old people living in the nursing home. You see, Benjamin has a rare condition where he is born old and ages backwards. Despite his strange condition, Benjamin tries to lead a normal life under Queenie's care as well as the elderly folk he mingles with daily. He eventually leaves home and has his own little adventure, working with tugboat captain Mike Clark (Jared Harris), travelling to Russia and having a relationship with a married woman (Tilda Swinton), discovering the identity of his father and running into his childhood sweetheart Daisy, and how their love progresses through tragedy and pain.

I must say that this film is beautifully made, and it's astonishing to know that it was directed by David Fincher, a man who is well known for thrillers like Se7en, The Game and Panic Room. Fincher takes his time in telling his story, which is based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and puts everything into place without overdoing it or misplacing his focus. Everything, from visual effects, makeup and score to pacing and cinematography is near perfect. Yes, at 2 hours and 45 minutes, it does feel long, but unlike his last film Zodiac, it doesn't feel tiring at all to sit through this.

Brad Pitt gives a subdued performance as Benjamin. He paints Benjamin as a calm and quiet man, who meets many people along the way and watches them all go when their time comes, and the sadness he must experience with every loss. His only real happiness comes when he is with his true love Daisy, played very well by Cate Blanchett. With her southern accent, Blanchett reminded me of her character in Ron Howard's The Missing, except here she gets a wider range of emotions to play with. The other supporting cast members, even the smaller ones all make their presence felt throughout the movie.

In hindsight, this film is a lot like Forrest Gump, as it charts the story of one man narrating his life from beginning till end, telling his story of all the people he met, cared about, lost and the adventures and moments in between that mattered the most to him. The only difference is the story of Benjamin Button is a little more tragic, and it has an underlying message, that no matter which way you age, you can't escape the pain and loss that comes with life.

Pitt is up against some great competition for Best Actor come Oscar night, and I'm thinking it's still not his time yet despite his great performance here. But it would be a shame if this film didn't win some awards for such a splendid effort by its cast and crew. Recommended. (4/5)

Changeling

Year: 2008
Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan, Colm Feore, Michael Kelly, Jason Butler Harner, Amy Ryan, Denis O'Hare


Wow, I haven't updated this place for a long time. My apologies. The festive season got to me. Anyway, I'm back, and it's Oscar season again. To start it off, I'm reviewing Clint Eastwood's latest vehicle, Changeling.

Based on a true story, Changeling takes place in 1928 Los Angeles, and centres on Christine Collins, a telegraph switchboard supervisor who is a single mother to her son Walter. One day, she goes to work for an unplanned overtime and leaves Walter at home. She returns later to discover that he's missing. Christine lodges a police report, but no word comes on Walter's whereabouts, until several months later when LAPD captain JJ Jones informs Christine that they have found her son in Illinois. However when they reunite Christine with the boy, she discovers that the boy they brought back isn't Walter.

The police attempt to convince her that the boy is indeed her son and advise her to bring him home. Christine does so, thinking at first that she is in shock. But there is no mistake on her part, Christine is certain that the boy is not Walter. She complains to Captain Jones on his department's error but he won't have any of it. He even sends a doctor to convince Christine of the 'changes' Walter may have gone through the past few months to end up looking different. Christine remains defiant and takes her case to the media, supported by Rev Gustav Brieglieb of the community church, who himself is on a mission to expose corruption in the LAPD. Jones responds in kind by having Christine committed to an asylum under the suggestion that she is delusional.

But just when all hope is lost, a discovery is made by an LAPD detective on a child serial killer up north who may have been responsible for the disappearance of Walter and many other young boys. With that discovery, Christine and Rev Gustav work together to take down the LAPD's corrupt members.

Since it's Clint Eastwood, you can expect this film to be lengthy and very elaborate. Eastwood loves taking his time and it shows. As far as set design and costumes go, Eastwood hits it spot on. The look of 1920-30s LA is beautifully recreated and filmed. Everything from cars, trams, streetwalks and buildings seem authentic.

Performance wise, it's Angelina Jolie that drives it from start to finish. She puts in a good, but not great performance as the distraught yet courageous Christine. I say good but not great because she has put in better work before, such as in Girl, Interrupted (though personally I didn't like her in that one). The other supporting cast members do well too, but all of them take a backseat to Jolie. Even John Malkovich who plays Rev Gustav only comes on half as many times as she does.

But there is something else that bugs me about Changeling. Compared to Eastwood's other films, this one seems less connected on an emotional level. Sure, we do feel for Christine and her plight, but the entire film is more of a reenactment of facts than a drama. In Mystic River, we get to see consequences of emotionally disturbing events. In Million Dollar Baby we get heartbreaking drama. But here, we see how this story based on real events happen, from the start right up to how it ends, fact by fact. Some dramatic scenes are added here and there, but not much registers. It's like everyone's just going through the motions, with no surprises.

And then there's the last 45 minutes of the film which I thought was unnecessarily long. It features Christine confronting the man who supposedly killed her son, his eventual execution and ends with a scene that hints of a possibility that Walter is still alive. All I can say is that this could have been shortened tremendously. The viewers need not be continuosly reminded that Christine loves her son and won't give up on him despite all the facts presented to her blah blah blah. Mr Eastwood, please tighten your film a bit, that's all I ask of you.

In the end, Changeling is an interesting film about the Wineville Chicken Coop murders (that's what the case was called back then), but is not very gripping emotionally. I don't see Jolie winning the Oscar later this month (she's nominated for Best Actress), but I'll give her credit for successfully making this film slightly above average. Just don't put high expectations on it. (3.5/5)

[REC]

Year: 2007
Directors: Jaume Balaguero & Paco Plaza
Cast: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Jorge Serrano, Pablo Rosso


Some of you might remember reading my review on the horror flick Quarantine not too long ago. I was fortunate enough to catch the original film that Quarantine was based on, [REC]. And yet, at the same time, it was also unfortunate that I watched this, but more on that later.

So I'll run the story by you again: this film is supposedly discovered footage of a TV crew filming the night shift of a fire station crew. The TV crew, made up of reporter Angela Vidal and cameraman Pablo, follow two firemen who answer a distress call concerning an old lady at a downtown apartment complex. When they arrive there, they attempt to help the lady to the hospital, only to be horrifyingly attacked by the lady that goes berserk all of a sudden. One fireman and a policeman are seriously injured, and before they can get backup, the building is suddenly sealed off by the authorities.

Angela, Pablo, the other fireman, another policeman and the building occupants start to panic fast, not knowing what exactly is happening. Soon they learn that a virus is causing all of them to turn violent, and they slowly fall victim one by one. The uninfected have to fight for their lives, with no way to escape.

Again, let me clarify that this film is the original, and Quarantine is the remake. And I had already watched the latter previously, and now I realise to my disappointment that the makers of Quarantine pretty much copied 95% of [REC]. The way it starts, runs and ends is uncannily identical. It's not exactly the same shot for shot, because John Erick Dowdle, who made Quarantine added a few more things in his version, and I can't say specifically without ruining your enjoyment of his film. Nevertheless, the fact that they copied so much of the original meant that watching the original now leaves no room for surprise. I was able to see where all the scares would come from, and that killed the thrill for me. No doubt that the atmosphere of the film and the scary elements are still enough to give me chills, but the excitement is depleted due to the familiarity.

However, does that mean that [REC] is a bad movie? No. Far from it. This IS the original take on the story, so it should be good too. For one thing, directors Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza used more lighting than Dowdle did, and it makes it easier to see what's happening on screen. The editing is also better, at least we are spared a boring and lengthy intro. Dowdle must have used up ten minutes of film for the fire station scene in Quarantine, [REC] only spent half the time for that. [REC] also includes a nifty trick that Quarantine ignored; there are moments when the sound gets cut or disrupted due to the camera being 'shaken' or getting bumped, which adds realism to the footage. And most importantly, Manuela Velasco, who plays Angela Vidal is much prettier than Jennifer Carpenter, and a better actress too.

I recommend this film to anyone who enjoys horror, and if you haven't seen Quarantine yet, you have an even better reason to see this. (3.5/5)

The Spirit

Year: 2008
Director: Frank Miller
Cast: Gabriel Macht, Samuel L Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Sarah Paulson, Eva Mendes, Dan Lauria, Louis Lombardi


Have you guys read all the horrible reviews this film has been getting? I have, and despite that I still went to see this, for two reasons. One, I had a free ticket to spare. Two, I was curious. I wanted to know how this film could go wrong.

But first, the story. The Spirit is based on a comic book written by Will Eisner, who is a pioneer in the comic book industry. It's set in the fictitious Central City, about a rookie cop named Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht), who after being killed in the line of duty, comes back from the dead as The Spirit, a midnight masked hero who can't be mortally wounded.

For every hero, there is a villain, and it is in the form of The Octopus (Samuel L Jackson), a self obsessed super villain who wants to live forever. The Octopus wants something that is in the possession of a jewel thief named Sand Saref (Eva Mendes), who also happens to be The Spirit's old flame. So The Spirit has to stop The Octopus while wooing all the gorgeous women that he meets along the way, especially Dr Ellen Dolan (Sarah Paulson), whom Denny was once close to.

Director Frank Miller, who wrote 300 and Sin City, happens to be a big fan of Eisner's work, which explains why he took this project. So the trademark green screen type filming used in the film adaptations of Miller's two books is also used here, to great effect. The entire film is in three colours: black, white and red. And it's quite gorgeous to look at, kinda like watching a comic book spring to life.

Unfortunately, Miller fails at everything else, especially in direction. This is a noir type film, so plenty of those noir type dialogue is present here, and it's way too corny to listen to. Do you remember watching Whose Line Is It Anyway, where there's a segment called Film Noir, and in this segment Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie do funny narrations in between noir dialogue? THAT was funny. THIS is not. I mean, listening to The Spirit talk on and on about his city, and his lovers, and The Octopus to himself is not cool. It's not even funny. In the first few minutes it actually worked, but then it slowly got excruciating to put up with.

And then there's Samuel L Jackson, a talented actor who's a personal favourite of mine, doing an oh so over the top performance here. What's with the costume changes throughout the film? One second he's a samurai, the next he's a Nazi. That added to the silly lines he had to say, made me wonder what the heck Miller is trying to pull off here. And poor Scarlett Johansson, playing The Octopus' sidekick, has to follow suit with the OTT acting as well. And there's also the annoying hench clones played by Louis Lombardi, and Paz Vega ......I wish I could express my disgust over her moronic appearance in so many words.

The problem is Miller, who is trying waaaaayyyyyy too hard to make this exactly like a comic book. It's not good enough for him that it looks like one through the CGI, now he wants to make it feel like one too. You know how comic books always have dramatic dialogue and narration inserted into the frames? Miller tries to do that here too, and saying that it's excessive is an understatement. Miller needs to know his limits, and inject some realism into his work.

But it's not all bad. I know most critics were put off by all the bad stuff so much that they had nothing good to say about it. But for me, I'll give credit to the visual effects that gave the comic book look to it, to some good characters like Commissioner Dolan played by Dan Lauria, and to certain scenes that were genuinely funny in a good way. So it wasn't a total waste of time, it's just hard to stomach if you were expecting something more.

My suggestion? Don't watch this unless you have a free ticket and some spare time, like me. But you don't have to avoid it totally. (3/5)

Bolt

Year: 2008
Director: Byron Howard & Chris Williams
Voice cast: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Mark Walton

I wasn't originally planning on watching this, but I had some free time yesterday evening, so I went to check out Disney's latest animated offering.

Bolt is the story of a canine named Bolt, the loyal and lovable pet of a girl named Penny. He's a super dog, who has super speed, heat vision and a super bark that destroys anything in its path. His duty is to protect Penny from the evil clutches of The Green Eyed Man, who holds Penny's father captive.

Sounds interesting, doesn't it? Well, that's because what I've just told you is a Hollywood script. Penny is just a girl on a TV show whose dog Bolt is the star, and on the show he is a super dog that constantly saves her from danger. What's even more interesting is the fact that Bolt thinks it's all real. He truly believes he's a super dog with powers, and that Penny is always in danger and he needs to dedicate himself to saving her life. And he believes it because the producers want him to be the ultimate dog actor.

But what happens when you take Bolt out of that fantasy? That's when the story kicks into high gear. An episode ends in a cliffhanger for the first time, and Bolt thinks Penny is in mortal danger when she really isn't. So he rushes out of the set to save her, and gets transported by accident across the country as a result. Bolt must now try to make it back home, thinking he has to rescue Penny, with the help of Mittens, a street smart stray cat, and Rhino, an overweight yet lovable hamster in a plastic ball, who just so happens to be Bolt's biggest fan, and thus truly believes he's a super dog.

Disney once again try their hand at animation without Pixar's help, and after the uninteresting Chicken Little and Meet The Robinsons, they finally hit the mark here. This story is rather familiar, kinda like Toy Story, where there's a character who has the wrong idea about his existence, and must find his way home. Nevertheless, it's a great tale and well executed. Kudos to directors Byron Howard and Chris Williams for creating a great film with likeable characters. I especially liked Rhino, who gets the lion's share of the laughs, and the pigeons Bolt meets along the way. You'll notice how stereotyped they are, from the Mafia speaking type to the wannabe scriptwriters type. It sounds weird, but when you see a bunch of birds playing characters like that, how would you not laugh?

John Travolta isn't well known for making voice contributions, unless you're talking about singing back in the 70s, but he gives enough depth to the heroic yet misguided Bolt. Miley Cyrus has a very identifiable voice, which is perfect for the role of Penny. Susie Essman and Mark Walton give able support as Mittens and Rhino respectively.

I'll have to admit that this film will appeal more to the younger audience, but as an adult, I had fun too. It's a nice feelgood film about friendship, loyalty and heroism. It's the kind of stuff Disney is well known for, so it's expected. I enjoyed it anyway. Catch it if you can. (4/5)