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December 2008
First look at “Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Through Botox, plastic surgery and obsessive exercise, people are always fighting the ravages of age.
So what happens when things go in reverse?
That’s the crux of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” starring Brad Pitt, a loose adaptation of an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story which is already getting plenty of raves and award nominations from critics.
Here are some notable points from the film (while attempting to keep spoilers to a minimum):
— Clear your bladder before you enter the theater. The film lasts more than two hours and 30 minutes, covering about 85 years, from the end of World War I until Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
— The sweep of the film evokes a bit of “Forrest Gump,” which shouldn’t be a surprise since both films share the same screenwriter, Eric Roth. But “Curious” isn’t quite as interested in placing Pitt’s character Benjamin Button at points in history. The focus is on the love story between Button and ballerina Daisy Fuller (played as an adult by Cate Blanchett).
— There’s a flashback construct similar to that of “Titanic,” with a gravely ill Daisy in a New Orleans hospital while her daughter reads from Benjamin’s diary. Katrina looms.
— In the early scenes, when Pitt is very young but looks very very old, the film makers rely on oodles of CGI tricks to insert Pitt’s wrinkled face onto tiny stunt double bodies.
— It’s mesmerizing to watch Button age backwards as his hair grows thick and dark, wrinkles smooth out and age spots disappear.
— Don’t expect a lot of histrionics. Pitt and Blanchett play their characters with elegant cool and grace.
— Listen for a plethora of heard-it-before commentary about the passage of time. A sampling: “We will all end up in diapers.” “Nothing lasts.” “In the end, you have to let go.”
— This film is also a love letter to New Orleans, with the cameras capturing the warmth, the earthy colors and mystical romanticism of the storied city.
— Watch for Atlanta actress Edith Ivey, who plays a modest but crucial role as Button’s sweet piano teacher at the senior citizen’s home he grows up in.
— In this fictional world, nobody finds Button’s very unusual situation all that unusual. Rather, it’s accepted. In the real world, he would have been a media super-curiosity, scrutinized to the nth degree by scientists, especially near the end of his life as he got ever younger. But alas, that’s why this is a fairy tale.
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First Look at “The Reader”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Two secrets lie hidden at the heart of the new Kate Winslet historical drama “The Reader,” which is scheduled to open in Atlanta on Christmas Day. The movie’s own trailer spoils one of them — an increasingly common problem with trailers — but the movie works better the less you know going in.
Set in Germany in various time periods from 1956 to 1995, “The Reader” is the story of the relationship between Hanna (Winslet) and Michael, who’s played by Ralph Fiennes as an adult and German newcomer David Kross as a youth.
When they meet, he’s 15, she’s about 35, and they begin an all-consuming sexual affair. It’s easy to see Michael’s motivation — he’s a virgin embarking on what he comes to see as the love of his life. Hanna’s motivation is harder to discern, but is connected to her secrets and how they have damaged her. Anyone can tell it won’t end well, but only readers of Bernhard Schlink’s international best-seller will be prepared for the particular trail of devastation that follows.
The obscure title becomes obvious once the movie gets underway. Hanna asks that Michael read aloud to her, in addition to the other services he provides, and he does, everything from Homer to Chekov.The intimacy of one lover reading a book aloud to another is beguiling, but like much in “The Reader,” there are revelations that will unfold.
Here’s some of what people will be talking about when they stagger out of “The Reader” and re-orient themselves.
The nature of guilt, and of how we deal with people who are guilty. Although it takes place after World War II, “The Reader” is very much about the Holocaust, and how Germans behaved. There’s a lot more moral gray area here than in most film treatments of the Holocaust.
The amount of sex and nudity. Winslet and young Kross are utterly fearless in exposing themselves, in every sense. It’s hard to think of another A-list actress in recent years doing so many nude scenes — maybe a dozen or more — in one movie. The sex is not used for titillation, though, but to make some difficult points about Hanna.
The Holocaust in movies. Although there are no scenes set prior to 1956, the Holocaust permeates the second half of “The Reader.” Also opening Christmas Day is “Valkyrie,” Tom Cruise’s thriller about a plot to assassinate Hitler. The two movies are likely to be as different as can be, but “The Reader” is the one that’s going to remind us yet again how large National Socialism still looms as an evil to be reckoned with.
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What’s your favorite Christmas movie?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s that time of year, when we cozy up near the fireplace to watch our favorite holiday movies. I’ve realized over the years, that my favorite Christmas movies are as much about memories and traditions as about the movie themselves. So it’s no surprise then that my top five list has not changed much in the past 15 years except for one movie that came out in 2004.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas. This is a movie that I watch every year. In fact, for years, I didn’t get in the Christmas spirit until I’d seen that little doggie trying to pull that humongous sled of stolen toys up the mountain. But watching the Grinch’s heart grow three times bigger just before he returns the items to Whoville is what Christmas is all about.
The Year Without A Santa Claus. “I’m Mr. Heat Miser, I’m Mr. Sun. I’m Mr. Green Christmas. I’m Mr. Heat Blister. I’m Mr. Hundred and One. They call me Heat Miser. Whatever I touch starts to melt in my clutch. I’m too much.” Okay, I watch just to hear the Snow Miser Heat Miser song….
It’s A Wonderful Life. This is a movie that’s on most people’s list, and how can it not be? An angel comes to earth to save a suicidal man on Christmas Eve. In the end, a husband and father who thought he’d be better off dead realizes just how important the small things he did during his life were to others.
The Polar Express. Several children board a magical steam locomotive for a trip to the North Pole on the night before Christmas. Along the way, they learn about friendship, trusting others and the true spirit of Christmas. My daughter was 6 years old when this movie was released in 2004. For years, the story of the bell helped me to explain why some kids believed in Santa, while others didn’t. “At one time, most of my friends could hear the bell,” says the lead character in the movie. “Though I’ve grown old, the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe.”
The Sound of Music. Okay, this 1965 movie musical about the Von Trapp family really has nothing to do with Christmas except that it seemed to come on television every year during the holidays. In my mind, it was always a Christmas movie for that reason and it’s now a movie that I watch with my family every Christmas. Its theme of love, family and helping others sounds Christmasy to me…
That’s my favorite list, what’s yours? Do you like the classics such as “Christmas Carol” and Miracle on 34th” or prefer the comical ones such as “Bad Santa” and “Home Alone” or horror flicks like “Gremlins” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas?”
For more holiday news and tips. Also take our holiday movie poll
