The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

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Plot form IMDB The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a fairy tale about a man (Brad Pitt) that is born old and grows younger as he ages. It is told as a love story with a girl (Cate Blanchett) who he meets as a child, loves as an adult, and then who cares for him in his infancy when she herself is old.

Review: Benjamin Button is a tear-inducing tragedy about the losses in life. I had been reading about Greek tragedies and how they helped the Greeks come to grips with the toughness of life, so I was mentally prepared for this film. I think that the sadness of the movie: the war, the loss of memory, the loss of beauty, the continuous loss of friends, is in keeping with the dour mood of our country. While this is not the finest movie of the year, and is a bit of melodrama, it is refreshing, serious and different.

The aging of the actors is gimmicky and distracting, but necessary since movie audiences expect images. The story has a grand epic sweep like Forest Gump wrapping in the history of the twentieth century. The movie's plot is substantially different from F. Scott Fitzgerald's original which concerned Benjamin, his father, and his son (not daughter) rather than a love story, however, the movie plot was satisfying and well-adapted to the cinema.

Cast and crew:
Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Julia Ormond; directed by David Flincher; screenplay by Eric Roth; loosely based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Rating
2.5
1/2

More
See the movie next to a row of teary-eyed, teenage girls for the complete experience.

Slumdog Millionaire

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Plot form IMDB Slumdog Millionaire is the story of Salim (Madhur Mittal), a Mumbai orphan street child who grows up to be a contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. There are flashbacks of his childhood, his friendship with a girl, Latika, (Freida Pinto), encounters with gangsters, beggars, and tourists. The movie also has a feel-good love story. The film shows how Salim learns the answers to each question that he is asked through incidents in his childhood -- usually griping, dangerous or gruesome ones.

Review Slumdog Millionaire is about class warfare and discrimination in India, that is told in a fast moving, character oriented style. There are several memorable scenes including blinding children, the scene about rescuing Latika from the brothel, and the police torture. The music is good, the dialog cuts back and forth from English to another language (Is it Urdu?).

So if this movie is so good, then why isn't it Four Stars? Well, it is fun to watch and has interesting characters, but it is not about a big issue. It is genre picture without a universal message. To me, that sacrifices half a star.


Cast and crew:
Madhur Mittal, Freida Pinto, Dev Patel; directed by Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan; based on the novel by novel Q & A by Vikas Swarup

Rating
3.5
1/2

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Memorable, character-driven drama with a feel-good love story. Recommended.

Australia

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Plot form IMDB Australia is the story of Lady Sarah Ashley, an
English Aristocrat (Nicole Kidman) who becomes an Australian cattle rancher, falls in love, fights in World War II, and who loves the Wizard of Oz. Key scenes are the arrival in Australia, the ride out to the ranch in the outback equivalent of a hillbilly truck, the cattle drive, the cattle stampede, the Governor's Ball, the rescue at the mission, and the killing of the bad guy in the final scene.

Review Australia is a big splashy popcorn movie that weaves its way from genre to genre as it crunches its way from Western to Romance to War Movie and occasionally to Comedy. You are best off just lightening up and watching the movie. The soundtrack has some outstanding moments --why haven't they released the album?? Nicole Kidman is a wonderful actress, and Hugh Jackman carries his weight.

Cast and crew:
Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, David Wenham, Brandon Walters; written and directed by Baz Luhrmann

Rating
2.5
1/2

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A big splashy, sloppy, brimming up over the top, popcorn movie

Frank Miller's Sin City

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Plot form IMDB

Review
Sin City is a colorized, live-action comic book; sometimes frame-by-frame from Frank Miller's dramatic graphic novels. There are a few story lines involving Superheroes, struggling cops, and brave hookers. The story is less important than the bold, dramatic art direction and photography. The black and white photography is gripping, and made more so, but a few painted, colorized items in a scene.

The movie is just for fun, and it revels in violence and shocking scenes. Obviously it degrades women; And men and civilization too. Of course it was fun to watch in visceral sort of way. The movie is relentlessly violent. It is of also a visual and cinematic masterpiece.



Cast and crew:
Many stars; directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez

Rating
2.5
1/2

More

What is the opposite of chik-flik? what is the opposite of date-movie?

Transiberian

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Plot
Transiberian: Two couples meet on the Transiberian Railway crossing Asia to Moscow. Roy (Wood Harrelson) and Jesse (Emily Mortimer) are missionaries; Abby (Kate Mara) and Carlos (Eduardo Noriega) are more mysterious and worldwise. As the ride progresses, Roy and Jesse get dragged into flirtation, drug running and murder leading to Russian Mafia thugs and corrupt police.

Review
The train ties the locations and people together, and traps them so they can't leave. The drug smuggling and the surprise killing keep everyone on edge during the latter half of the movie. It is marvelously suspenseful.

Woody Harrleson and Ben Kingsley are excellent and Emily Mortimer is solid. The photography and art direction are solid -- perhaps better in the theater instead of on video.

Cast and crew:
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer, Kate Mara, Eduardo Noriega, Ben Kingsley, directed by Brad Anderson

Rating
3.0


MoreSolid edge-of-the-seat thriller

Changeling

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Plot
Changeling is a complicated story about a missing boy, police corruption, 1930's era mental care, and a mother's love for her kid. A boy goes missing, and the police eventually bring a boy from Illinois who claims to be the missing boy but isn't. A police captain (John Donovan) demands the woman (Angelina Jolie) take the boy home, and then sentence her to an insane asylum when she protests. The woman and her preacher (John Malkovich) get her released, and then there is a twist in the missing boy investigation involving another detective's (John Kelly) investigation of a notorious crime and trial.

Review
The movie is much better than its trailer, which seems like a new Erin Brokovich. Changeling is actually a character-based drama carried by Christine Collins, played by Angelina Jolie. The script and supporting cast are also solid especially, John Donovan, and Michael Kelly. The photography is painterly, and some scenes are like little still life paintings. The movie takes time to get started, but builds momentum. The end of the movie with simultaneous court cases is solid. I generally don't like true stories, because fiction is better than fact generally, but this story ends as well as a novel, so it was fine. The strength of the movie, is that it caused me to ask, what if this happened to me? How can one person struggle against such terrible pressure?

Angelina Jolie and Michael Kelly should get Oscar nominations.

Cast and crew:
Starring: Angelina Jolie, John Donovan; directed by Clint Eastwood

Rating
3.5
1/2

MoreA good satisfying cinematic experience. Not a feel-good flick.

Quantum of Solace

Links
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Plot
Quantum of Solace has Bond (Danial Craig) chasing down his girlfriend's (Vesper's) killer from the end of Casino Royale. It starts with a fast car chase with Quantum agents, and we soon learn that Quantum is tied up in Vesper's death. Bond chases down Quantum perhaps to help the British government and perhaps just for revenge. Along the way he meets Camile (Olga Kurylenko), who has a vengence scheme of her own. Camile and James go to Boliva, and save the government.

Review
This is a fresh new take on the Bond formula, and I like it. The action is faster, and the action is intercut with other scenes to tighten the emotion. The plot is harder to follow, and the audience needs to pay attention to catch all the plot twists.

I liked the entire movie, and half way though I was saying that I want to see it again.

The campy Bond gadgets are gone, along with Moneypenny, Q, and there was only one flirty floosie in the film.

Cast and crew:
Starring: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Judy Dench; directed by Marc Forster

Rating
3.5
1/2

More
The United States is shown as unprincipled and corrupt. This is the poorest depiction of the American Government in the series. No doubt this is a reflection on the Bush Administration.


Even More
Bond's "Vesper" Martini is in the movie:
3 oz gin
1 oz vodka
1/2 oz Lillet® Blanc wine
Twist of lemon peel
But I don't think I'd like it.

Zack and Miri Make A Porno

Zack and Miri Make A Porno

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Plot
Producer: "No red-blooded guy wants to see a ChickFlick romantic-comedy."

Writer: "I know! Let's make a rom-com about pornography and fill it with locker-room talk."

Producer: "Great idea. Yeah, put in just enough skin for the horny kids -- so it'll still play on HBO. Then the guys will think it is cool, and the girls will get their love story. "

Writer: "And let's rake in the nerdy guys with perverted Star Wars characters."

Producer: "Great! Here is your check! Let's make this!"

Zack and Miri is a boy-friendly romantic comedy. Two platonic friends Zack and Miri decide to film a homemade porn movie in order to pay their utility bills. The enlist some friends and oddballs to film the movie. The actors talk about sex a lot and film sex a little. Being a romantic comedy, all this sex awakes Zack (Seth Rogan) and Miri's (Elizabeth Banks) true feelings and the story leads us to romantic-comedy utopia. The best scenes are the relationship scenes between Zack and Miri.

The buzz about this movie is that, despite its weak premise, it has some very funny parts. It has a few funny parts: probably not enough.

Cast and crew:
Starring: Seth Rogan, Elizabeth Banks; written and directed by Kevin Smith.

Rating
2.0
(Almost 1.5)

More
Seth Rogan is a good bumbling, loveable loser, but not a good romantic lead.

Ratatouille

Watching a movie in the theater is much more fun than watching it at home. Perhaps at the theater I would have liked this more.
Pixar has a long track record of good movies, but this is the weakest. I thought the rats were unloveable, and never really got past that.

The story is about a rat, Remy, that wants to be a chef, and how he manipulates a helpless boy to take over a restaurant. Of course the movie's writers probably thought the rat was cute and likeable, but I thought he was pushy and selfish. For example, when the boy, Linguini, kind-heartedly takes in the rat, and carries him in the restaurant. The rat crawls around inside his shirt and bites him all over his body. Later that rat takes control of his body like a puppeteer. I don't see what is entertaining about this.

Cast
Written and directed by Brad Bird, Jan Pankava

More

I liked was how they made visual images of how good food tasted. That was creative.

Rating
1.5
1/2

Religulous

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Plot
Religulous is a personal statement and exploration of faith from comedian Bill Maher. It is a straight-up documentary, and not a satire or comedy. Maher discusses his childhood religious beliefs, and then moves to a survey of world religions as presented in interviews with adherents.

Review
The film is amusing, but not as funny as a Michael Moore film; not as clever either. I was disappointed because I expected something irreverent, clever and funny. This was OK, and I don't mind watching a documentary on religion occasionally, but this is not Borat or even Fahrenheit 911.

I most appreciated the personal statements of doubt and belief from Maher personally. I thought that the interviews with religious people were unfair because Maher could make fun of anyone. Seriously, a cynical intellectual can tear up just about anyone's personal beliefs.

More serious comments on my other blog.


Cast and crew:
Starring: Bill Maher; written by Bill Maher; directed by Larry Charles

Rating
2.0


More
The movie is worthwhile, but it was a waste of money to see it at the theater --it would have been just as good at home. .

Body of Lies

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Plot
Body of Lies is the story of a CIA agent, Roger Ferris (Leonardo Di Caprio) working in Amman Jordan fighting a local Al Qaeda terrorist. Roger's boss in Washington, Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) is a micromanaging cut-throat veteran, who puts Roger and his local associates in danger with his self-interested operations. There is a plot twist in the middle in which Roger sets up a fake terrorist cell that is clever and entertaining.

Review
Body of Lies is a spy movie with a post-911 terrorist as the enemy. I think the enemy is well-drawn, and the balance between American interests and the plight of the local people. The movie starts slowly, but is carried by the well-written and well-acted dialog between Di Caprio and Crowe. Di Caprio gives his best performance in recent movies, and Crowe is run to watch. Golshifteh Farahani, who plays the nurse Roger flirts with, is cute and likable.

There are some good action scenes, especially the helicopter battle at the beginning. Still the movie is not an adventure movie or 007-style movie, and those who expect that will be disappointed.


Cast and crew:
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe; directed by Ridley Scott based on a book by David Ignatius.

Rating
2.5
1/2

More
DiCaprio's beard, while disgusting, is less disgusting that it is in most of his movies. Will he every play a clean-shaven character?

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

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Plot
Nick (Michael Cera) meets Norah (Kat Dennings) as he is breaking up with Tris (Alexis Dziena), a friend of Norah's, at a concert Nick is playing in. They flirt, and they spend the night chasing around New York looking for a concert and Norah's drunken girlfriend. By sunrise, they learn... well you know.

Review
The movie revolves around Norah; her character is detailed and interesting; Kat Dennings' performance elevates the movie. Michael Cera's Nick is a likable Charlie Brown character to whom interesting things happen. I found his performance passable, but he did not create the chemistry with Norah that would have elevated this movie to excellence. I know the ladies find Cera puppy-dog cute, but I think he needs a makeover.

The story is a nice balance between melancholy and humorous. The dialog is strong, but not up to Juno standards. 

It is a worthwhile movie -- better quality than Afterschool Special fare -- though it has an Afterschool Special plot. 

Starring: Kat Dennings, Michael Cera, Alexis Dzienna; directed by Peter Sollett, based on the book by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Rating
2.5


More
Kat Dennings' Norah and Michael Cera's Nick are just so likable.

Burn After Reading

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Plot
The plot is complicated, but that does not matter. This is a spy comedy, and the story twists are supposed to roller-coaster. A CIA officer gets fired, his wife is playing around, and he is getting blackmailed some fitness instructors. This is against a web of interconnected romantic relationships.

Review
The movie builds from reasonable drama to ridiculous farce gradually. The characters are bigger than life, and give the actors a chance to show off. Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, and George Clooney are very good and fun to watch. Don't get worried about the plot -- farces are not supposed to make sense. The movie has an basic absurdity and blackness that rises above most comedies, and while this is comedy for the fun of it, it is a little more mindful than most.


Cast and crew:
Starring: Frances McDormand,George Clooney, John Malkovich, Brad Pitt; written and directed by Ethan and Joel Coen

Rating
3.0


More
The closing credit song is worth staying for.