Blu-ray Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Written by: Eric Roth with a screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
Based on the Short Story by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Directed by: David Fincher
Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Julia Ormond, Jason Flemyng, Elias Koteas, and Tilda Swinton

Blu-ray specs:
2.40:1 Aspect Ratio
1080P High Definition
5.1 Dolby Digital, also features French and Spanish dubbed soundtracks
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing and optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles.

Bonus Features: Criterion Edition includes Director Approved Special Features on a 2 disc set. Interviews with brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, Audio commentary from David Fincher, Footage revealing state of the art make up and visual effects, Step-by step examination of the motion capture process aging Brad Pitt, In-depth exploration of Davind Fincher's creative process on set, interview with composer Alexandre Desplat, featurettes on storyboards costumes, and art direction, still galleries, and an essay by film critic Kent Jones.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a ten time Oscar nominated tale of a boy who is born an old man who then ages in reverse. It's hard to imagine why this movie received so many critical accolades and award nominations (69 if IMDB is accurate.) because it's not that great. It has some amazing things about it but as a whole, it's rather ordinary. It's also not worthy of the Criterion treatment it gets with this release. There were far better films worthy of a release as robust as this one. I just wish I knew why this film was chosen.

Click the Rawr! for the full review.


A lot of people seemed to compare this movie with Forrest Gump. I can see that I guess as both seem to chronicle the journeys of unusual protagonists, but I was more reminded of Interview With The Vampire except without the horror and gore. I guess it depends on who watches it. You could probably think of any number of movies that Benjamin Button is similar to. It doesn't come across as terribly original, nor terribly interesting.

My talents as a critic seem to fail me here. I can't pinpoint exactly what it is I didn't like about the movie. Brad Pitt was great but I think that might be a result of the make up effects more than him. I say that because I enjoyed his character more when he was a wrinkly kid more than when he was a de-aging adult. It seemed as though as he grew older/younger the charm of the character seemed to evaporate. The rest of the cast turned in good performances as well. I will say that I did not give one care about Cate Blanchett's character. I really didn't care what happened to her.

I can say that the film looked beautiful. It's shot and directed extremely well. I would expect nothing less from David Fincher. I enjoyed the aging effect they put on some of the flashbacks. Blu-ray only seems to increase the beauty of the film. It's a shame that I didn't love this film as much as I wanted to. When I first saw the trailer I was captivated by it but in the end, I just found it to be boring and uninteresting.

This release is a part of the Criterion Collection which is famous for comprehensive and robust DVD and now Blu-ray release for great films. Personally, I think this is wasted on this film. The large number of features we get here prove useless because I wasn't interested in the film enough to care about them. We get loads of information about the film and the effects but I just didn't care about any of it. Criterion should have given this treatment to Slumdog Millionaire which is a vastly superior film to Benjamin Button.

A movie that I was expecting to be a grand epic full of great characters turned out to be a lackluster way to lose almost 3 hours of my day. I really really wanted to love this movie. I was ready to be wowed. Instead, I found myself bored. Besides the atmosphere of this film, nothing really stood out to me. Not even the score, which I am hard pressed to remember a single note of.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is worth a watch for its technical achievements alone. It seems to lack and emotional substance or any ability to make you give a lick for any of the characters but the look and the atmosphere may just be worth the price of admission.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is available now on Blu-ray and DVD.

RAWR(for more)

Oh hai Robin Hood!

Right there is your first look at Russel Crowe as Robin Hood in the upcoming film from Ridley Scott. The film also stars Cate Blanchett as Maid Marion and is scheduled for release next year. Is Crowe still playing both Robin Hood AND the Sheriff of Nottingham?

By the way, this marks our 1000 Post! Here's to many more.

Source

RAWR(for more)

God Save The Queen

Cate Blanchett returns to her Oscar nominated roll as Elizabeth, The Virgin Queen, in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age."

She was brilliant. As usual. That is the best thing I can say about this movie. Well, her performance and the top notch cinematography. There were some truly stunning shots in the movie. That however, does not make up for the mediocrity that plagues the rest of it.

I just found myself not caring about anything that was going on.

From the amazing trailer to the lackluster film. It was a major disappointment.

The rest of the cast seemed as if they were bored. Geoffrey Rush mumbled his way through the movie, barely showing an once of charisma or charm. I know he was supposed to be sick but really he was barely a blip on the screen. Clive Owen, who happens to be one of my favorite actors, barely caught my attention. Samantha Morton, same thing.

The only notable performance was Cate Blanchett and she saved this movie from being a total disaster.

The movie centers on the events leading up to Spain's attempt at invading England including a ridiculously flawed and pointless love triangle between Walter Raleigh, Elizabeth, and one of her ladies.

King Philip of Spain is played like a vaudeville villain. I kept waiting for an old time piano score to come on as he stumbled around the screen. That or him to start twirling his mustache. I may be ignorant of this time period or some illness Philip may have been stricken with but he had some strange sort of walk that made me want to get out of my chair and kick him in the ass.

His daughter seemed like she crawled out of the TV in The Ring. She spoke not a single line but still managed to ham up the screen.

Even the directing by Shakhar Kapur seemed lackluster. There was nothing of real note brought to the screen. It was a major step back from the original.

As I said, really the only saving grace of this movie was Cate Blanchett. She plays this role with such elegance, charisma, and grace that it is hard to to say she was not born to play this part. She IS Queen Elizabeth I.

The other positive of this was the cinematography of Remi Adefarasin. There were scenes of breathtaking beauty throughout the movie. Unfortunately, littered among them were just odd shots from weird angles. Almost as if were were supposed to be spying on what was happening. That experiment failed miserably.

Overall, I think the movie is worth at least a rental. If only to see another shining example of one of the best actresses working today. Dare I call Cate Blanchett the next Meryl Streep?

I wouldn't waste 11 bucks to see it in the theatre. Matinee price at most.

RAWR(for more)

DVD Check In

Netflix is a wonderful thing. Even if I keep the same movie for weeks before I watch it. It's still a great service. In light of that, I am going to start watching the movies as soon as I get them and then putting up little reviews here so you, readers, can be informed when decided what to rent.

So here is a quick recap of three films I've just caught on DVD from best to worst:

Hot Fuzz

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost star in the Edgar Wright directed action comedy extravaganza. The guys behind Shaun of the Dead deliver this fantastic movie about hot shot London street cop Nicolas Angel who is forced to take a promotion that would station him in a seemingly peaceful small town. Simply because he is making the other cops look bad. Well, the town is plauged by some pretty insane "accidents" and it's not long before Angel suspects murder, much to the dismay of the entire town. Laughs throughout and some great over the top action scenes. Highly Highly Highly recommended. Certainly one of the best of 2007.


Driving Lessons

This little film stars Julia Walters, Laura Linney, and the criminally underrated Rupert Grint. It's typical coming of age story about a teenager, who is a bit weird, that lives with an overly religious mother and a reverend father. The mother uses the pretext of giving her son driving lessons to get up to some...none christian activities. The real heart of this movie comes from the incredible chemistry between Grint and Walters. Walters plays an aging actress whom Grint comes to work for and the two eventually head out on a road trip. If you like small coming of age stories I would really give this a look. It's Rupert Grint's first foray outside of the Harry Potter series and he does great. He's been my favorite part of the HP series so I'm glad to see him doing other things.

Notes on a Scandal

This may be the last on the list for today but that doesn't mean it is a poor movie. Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, and newcomer Andrew Simpson star in this tale of an illicit affair between a teacher and a student as well as the obsession another teacher develops on another. Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench again give us amazing performances. They continue to prove that they are among the best actresses working today. Bill Nighy does brilliantly as well. The movie is a bit melodramatic and you may find yourself annoyed by the constant voice over of Judi Dench but overall it's an entertaining watch. Dench and Blanchett really make these characters real. Give it a look if you like the actors or a good drama.

RAWR(for more)