THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

***
(Good but Overwhelmingly Bleak)

DIRECTOR

David Fincher

Writer:
Eric Roth

This is the most overwhelmingly sad film I have seen since "GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES" and that was a freaking cartoon! This is not the best film of 2008, but it certainly is the saddest, most heart-wrenching film of the decade. I'm manly enough to admit that after watching it, my wife and I were in tears for an hour, holding each other tightly. Maybe its because we have a little baby and the premise hit us really hard, or we felt exteremly sorry for Benjamin, but this film fucked us up worse than any other movie this year or any year for that matter.

The story is about a man named Benjamin Button (see, the title makes sense) that is born old. As a baby he is wrinkled and saggy, but more so than any newborn should look. His mother dies in childbirth and he is abandoned by his father. He grows up young in an old folks home and falls in love with a young girl named daisy. The rest of the two hours is all about Benjamin and Daisy's love story, chronicling every time their paths cross. In the mean time, Benjamin becomes a sailor and goes to war, and then returns to the old folks home to tend it with his foster mom.

The film has been likened to "FOREST GUMP", because they had the same screenwriter, but even though I thought "FOREST GUMP" was bittersweet, it still had a wonderful ending and to me is superior to this film. Forest took on the world, but Benjamin just sits around and grows younger and younger, not doing much with his life, which makes the film kind of boring. There are some incredibly beautiful and touching moments in this film, but in the end, there are a lot of loose ends left untied and Benjamin's death is so unbelieveable sad, you'll be wondering why you sat through this film anyway. The best part about the whole works is the lovely soundtrack which captures the maudlin tone wonderfully.

VERDICT:
Sad and depressing to an incredible degree, this film floored me with its terribly unsatisfying ending. It's a beautiful film, but so devastatingly hopeless that I never want to watch it again. Buy the soundtrack, though, it's beautiful.

CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA

**
(Long and uneven, but entertaining)

DIRECTOR:
Nikhil Advani

WRITERS:
Rajat Arora
Kailash Kher

I have never seen an honest-to-goodness Bollywood film before, and I don't know that "CHANDNI" is your typical Bollywood film as we Westerners imagine them. In any case, this was definitely a case of culture shock, even if the filmmakers were trying to produce your typical, average, everyday martial arts spectacle.

This is not Jacie Chan. What this is, in fact, is the longest movie I have ever sat through. The running time is only 154 mins, but it feels like it goes on forever! The plot is simple. A dimwitted, annoying moron is mistaken as the reincarnation of the great Chinese warrior Liu Shengh, who defended the Great Wall of China to his valiant death. Based on that premise, the film unspools stunning fight after stunning fight mixed with incredibly depressing drama and slapstick humor.

I enjoyed the film, regardless of the uneven storytelling and the incredibly annoying lead actor. The fighting was wire-work and CG heavy, but it was still impressive and fun to watch. The dance numbers (this is a Bollywood movie after all) were actually quite fun and I wanted more of them. The title track dance number is the best and was really the highlight of the film, unfortunately it comes in at around the 30 minute mark. The best part of the film, however was the incredibly hot Deepika Padukone, who plays dual roles as a spokesmodel and an ass-kicking assassin. Her presence made the boring parts bareable.

VERDICT:

An incredibly fun film that does get a little to serious at times and outstays its welcome. Still, martial arts fans should get a kick out of action and surprisingly the singing and dancing
were the best parts!

THE 400 BLOWS

*****

Director
&
Writer:
Francois Truffaut

25 years ago, the world of Cinema lost a major talent. Mr. Truffaut's untimely passing at the young age of 52 due to cancer, left a void in world cinema, but his films remain behind to speak for him and are still cherished as treasured examples of what cinema and storytelling are all about. In honor of the sad anniversary, I bring to you a new appraisal of his first and most-classic film.

Odds are, you've at least heard of the film before. It is basically an autobiographical look at Truffaut's childhood through the lens of nostalgia and regret. Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud, who's young face has almost become a trademark for French New Wave Films) is your average trouble making student. He lives in a cramped little apartment with his uncaring mother and stepfather, and the film sets us up early for the fact that whenever Antoine steps out of line, he is punished.

He and his friend Rene decide to steal a typewriter from the office of Antoine's stepfather in order to pawn it for spending money, but the plan backfires and they are arrested. After this last of many serious indiscretions, his parents hand him willingly over to the state and basically wash their hands of him. He is put in a juvinile prison of sorts and later shipped out to a work camp by the sea for hopeless cases. We later find out that Antoine's mother was planning an abortion when she found out she was pregnant but had him anyway. Maybe the fact that he knows that forces him to act out to get her attention; maybe even get her to love him like he's always hoped she would.

The last shot of the film is the most famous one. Antoine makes a break from the prison camp, searching for freedon, yearning to be his own man and make his own way in life. But, sadly, he reaches the shore of the ocean and realizes he is trapped. He is not only trapped physically, but spiritually as well. To truly escape this prison of other people's rules, he must conform and thus give himself up to the uncaring world from which he tried to escape.

Antoine comes off as not only a young Truffaut, but as all young people. We are all searching for the same basic thing he was in the film: acceptance. To me, the film is very powerful because of that blunt, cold ending. It seems like the end (or "fin" in this case), but it never really is an end until the person dies. So you will be forced to interpret the ending as more of a change in Antoine's tactics, and an obvious sign to the fact that he must now grow up. This is Truffaut's most precious message to his filmic alter-ego (Antoine appears in 3 more films, which continue the adventures of his growing up, plus a short). Swallowing the realities of an unfeeling society can be tough, but we all have to grow up eventually.

VERDICT:

Surprisingly accessible for a French New Wave film, this delicate and quiet movie is not only a must-see, but a must-study for film lovers. Not over-long and never boring, this is one classic of world cinema you simply must add to your memory bank.

FROST/NIXON

Rated:
Good but not great
**

Director:
Ron Howard

Writer:
Peter Morgan
from his
play

Ron Howard is a good director. He's not great, but he's good. He can point a camera the right way and get what he needs. Unfortunately, that makes most of his films flat and very by-the-book. I don't think every director should break the film making rules, but even Spielberg can blow your mind with an amazing shot. Howard's not about that. He just wants to tell the story as simplistically as possible, which is why this movie fell short of my expectations.

I was born three years after the Frost interview of Nixon was taped and aired, so I had no idea that it existed until the film was released. The film begins the day that Nixon resigns office after the Watergate scandal (if you don't know what that is, go look it up, because I won't go into it here) and David Frost, world-renowned TV personality, gets the brilliant idea to have a sit-down chat with Nixon and find out all there is to know. We never really understand why Frost, a Jay Leno-type of guy, would want to interview Nixon beyond an ego-boost.

First they have to convince Nixon, who is fielding other offers, to allow Frost to do the interview, and after $600,000 paycheck Nixon realizes that only Frost can do the interview justice. Frost's pre-production team consisting of Oliver Platt and Sam Rockwell go into research mode, digging up every piece of dirt in Nixon's past. Frost, however, is more interested in the limelight and everyone is afraid he will soft-pedal the former President, which is exactly what happens for the first three of the four planned interviews. Nixon's team have coached him how to act and he's playing Frost like a dime-store ukelele.

Frost feels like a fool and realizes that Nixon is stringing him along, so he decides to spent the remaining days before the final interview on Watergate to bone up on everything Nixon. On the day of the interview, Frost takes Tricky Dick to task and we finally see the real, hurting Nixon shine through the wrinkled, stoic facade. He isn't a doddering old fool, he's just a lonely old man man who feels he has made some mistakes and knows he has to live with it for the rest of his life. The world finally gets to hear Nixon speak and Frost reaps the rewards by sprining back into the spotlight that so many denied him.

You can't help but feel sorry for Nixon, but then you think about all the terrible decisions and double-dealing that went on during his administration and that pity fades. The film, a very standard, by-the-numbers affair, will also fade, but from our memories. The acting is wonderful, but Howard is not up to the task to make the film really pop. This film will leave you disappointed if you expect something great, but if you expect a Lifetime movie, then you'll have an okay two hours. At the end, I found myself in a curious position, I had no feelings for the film. Usually, after I finish a film I know how I'm going to review it. But with this one I had a tough time coming up with any thoughts. It's a weird thing when a film is so "meh" that I have zero response to it. That goes to show you how much of a blank this film felt to me.

VERDICT:

This film could have been a masterpiece in the hands of Oliver Stone, or even Martin Scorsese, but in Ron Howard's hands its basically a movie-of-the-week with some good actors. It's worth a watch, but don't expect to be floored, because there's nothing very earth-shattering here. Expect this one to be forgotten by next year. Anyone remember "THE MISSING" or "ED TV"? 'Nuff said.

THE WRESTLER

Rated:
Depressing but worthwhile
****

Director:
Darren Aronofsky

Writer:
Robert D. Siegel

Second on the list of my 2008 awards season recap is the interesting but depressing as hell bio-pic of a wrestler, directed rather simply by Darren "Pi" Aronofsky. This isn't really a bio-pic of any particular wrestler, but I call it a bio-pic because this underdog story and its downbeat ending can fit pretty much anyone who's tried and failed and tried again. Before I go any further, I promise not to ruin the ending. You can read on and expect only the highlights. However, whatever you as the reader infer is your fault.

Randy "The Ram" Robinson (played excellently by Golden Globe winner Mickey Rourke) is an aging wrestler who still throws down a couple of matches on the weekend while making ends meet at the local grocery store. He has a daughter, but they are severely estranged. His only form of human contact is a stripper named Cassidy (played very well by Marisa Tomei, who should be given credit for flaunting her assets without restraint). She likes him, but is hestitant of forming a relationship with a "customer".

After a brutal, knock-down, drag-out, bloody match, our hero suffers a massive heart attack due to the amount of performance enhancing drugs he pumps into his system and the wear and tear his body takes on a regular basis. The doctor advises him to quit wrestling and now Ram is faced with a new life, one he can't quite handle. But this new change allows him to build a relationship with Cassidy and forces him to find his daughter and try his best to repair the burned bridges.

The film is simple...almost too simple, to be great. The acting is wonderful, for course, but the story in the end is so unsatisfying that I hasten to call the film a masterpiece. I liked it, though, don't get me wrong, its just so very true to life that it becomes painful to watch. I think the film is definitely worth watching, however. My only complaint is that the story ultimately goes nowhere and the last ten minutes pretty much make the entire film pointless. We end up where we began, and yes Mickey does a phenomenal job of becoming a real, hurting individual (the story was probably too close to his real life), but in the end the journey was shorter and much more bitter than we as the audience hoped it would be.

VERDICT:

The almost opposite of a "ROCKY" movie, this film is a solid, powerful motion picture, but ultimately Aronofsky and company leave you feeling cold and alone. This isn't the most action-packed film, either, so don't watch this one tired.

GUMMO

Rated:
Extremely Dangerous
*

Director
&
Writer:

Harmony Korine

Some movies are lazy. Some movies exist just to take up space. This atrociously boring and directionless film falls right into that category. This is a shame because experimental auteur Korine is a pretty good writer. The dialogue smacks of reality, even if the situations are so far out, but words are not enough to save this turgid, bizarre film.

The plot, or what can be considered a plot, is about a whole bunch of fucked up hicks in a boring ass town doing crazy shit like: a dorky kid eating spaghetti and drinking milk while taking a bath and having his mom wash his hair. Or kids killing cats (or collecting roadkilled ones) to sell to the local supermarket for a dollar a cat. Or a skinny-as-sticks kid walking around in little shorts and big, pink bunny ears for some reason. Or three sisters taping up their boobs and looking for their missing cat, Foot-Foot. Or a kid pounding away at his bicep with a barbell made of cutlery taped together. Or kids sniffing glue and making out in a pool in the rain. I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture.

There is a narrartor present, and it seems as if he is trying to make sense of the senselessness around him, but soon you realize that his musings are just as empty as the images. The listlessness of the film perhaps tries to make us better appreciate the sadness of these kids lives, and that would have been a good concept if it had been handled better. But Korine is more in love with weird characters and abstract reality. Film is an art form, and this type of film would be the equivalent of plopping a dollop of black paint on a canvass and calling it midnight...it's bullshit.

VERDICT:

This is about as random and pointless and movies get, but every once and a while a bit of hard truth about the disenfranchised youth of middle American sneaks in. Even these moments do not save this limp, and aimless movie about nothing. Stay away at all costs, unless you're into cinematic bullshit.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

RATED: Extraordinarily Satisfying
*****
Director:

Danny Boyle
Writer:
Simon Beaufoy
from a
Vikas Swarup novel

This is without a doubt the most joyous film of 2008. Director Danny Boyle tries his hand at essentially a Bollywood film which is equal parts coming-of-age epic, love story, crime thriller, feel-good comedy, and gripping drama. The best part about it is how well Boyle keep it all together and never allows the film to collapse in on itself.

Using probably the most ingenious storytelling device I have seen in a while, Boyle's film begins with our hero Jamal Malik (played very well by Dev Patel) being tortured by the local police. He has just won 10 million Rupees on India's 'WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE?' and they think he's cheated, so they decide to beat and electricute the fact out of him. He tells them plainly that he "knew the answers". They let him down and then sit through his episode of Millionaire so he can explain just how he knew the answers.

Malik begins to tell us his life story and how the answers to the questions came from the tumultous events in his life. We see Malik and his brother Salim grow up as orphans and beggers and rise to become mini-entreprenuers. We meet Latika, Malik's first and only true love. We runs into gangsters and Indian movie stars (which, by the way, was one of the best scenes in the whole film...you'll know it when you see it). I'll leave the rest of the story for you to enjoy, and believe me it is quite a wonderful adventure. I found myself crying one moment, then laughing, then gasping from shock.

The film, exisiting in three different time frames, is so well-crafted and plotted that it just might be the most perfect film of the year. The last fifteen minutes are definitely pitch perfect and flawless. Nothing is wasted. Boyle's visual flair is on display, infusing the film with an eccstatic energy. Almost every shot is canted, which may speak to how the brave and lost trio of heros, our Three Musketeers, see the crazy, turbulent world around them. I would wager to say that this is Boyle's masterpiece, but I'll bet he's got a few more in him.

VERDICT:
This complicated and beautiful film is a definite must see by all. Laid out flawlessly and plotted like the crime of the century, this exuberant piece of art is more an experience than just a mere movie. There is a power to this film which will bewitch you, and have you dancing in the streets Bollywood-style by the end.