My Review - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

So if you read my Brad Pitt blog below then you know that I'm partial to the guy. I had very high expectations for this film, very high. I must say that this indeed looks like Brad's 1st big-time super blockbuster Will Smith-like film. Its an awesome piece of cinema to say the least. Aside from being almost three hours long and Kate Blanchett's thousand-year-old babbling bed ridden character I had no issues. So to make this more to-the-point I'll do this in LIST FORMAT:

The film's backdrop: Early 1900s to 2001's Katrina ravaged New Orleans. I loved the authentic Louisiana plantation houses and beautiful scenery. The old folks home was a compelling setting to raise a child.

Special Effects: Phenomenal. David Fincher took the special effects that would normally be used to blow up planets or interstellar space wars and compressed them into the smallest details like dilating pupils, expressions, skin textures, etc.

Taraji P. Henson: Wonderful performance from this woman. As Benjamin's mother she projected to the audience such an authentic and unyielding love to a surrogate son that no one else wanted. She undoubtedly deserves recognition for another stellar performance.

Brad Pitt: He delivered one of his most subtle, understated performances. This film showcased Brad's range as an actor. We've seen him as the crazy mental patient bouncing off the walls (Seven), the anarchist lunatic bent on destruction (Fight Club), and the cool Agent guy (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) to name a few.

Kate Blanchett: An impressive performance as well. BUT, Kate as the OLD woman in the hospital bed speaking to her daughter got so bothersome I wanted to shoot myself. There were times when I couldn't understand what the hell she was saying. The prosthetics may have been a tad bit over the top there as well. She was only in her early 80s technically--I guess maybe cause she was on her deathbed. Did she have to be on her deathbed actually?

Biggest surprise: The guy who told the stories about being struck by lighting 7 times while minding his own business was absolutely HILARIOUS. Completely unexpected.

I know there are more things I could touch on but overall it was just amazing to watch Benjamin get younger and younger slowly but surly. Watching his life unravel in this series of adventures was reminiscent of Forest Gump and maybe Big Fish--but not too much so. There are people that say its just a punched up Forest Gump. NO WAY! This may be hollywood blasphemy, but The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a BETTER film than Forest Gump.

Overall though, The Curious Case of Benjamin makes you examine your own life and loves. It made me realize just how much I have actually done by the age of 28 years and how much more I'm in for. The movie did give me a melancholy feeling throughout. Maybe because I knew, just as we know in real life, that his good times would come to an end and he would lose everything he loved.



Until next time,

Sirius.

Go see it if you haven't yet. Pack a sack lunch--you're in for a long one. Definitely worth it.

Not so cool Santa. LA is indeed crazy!

Okay the guy above Bruce Jeffrey Pardo apparently opened fire at a suburban LA Christmas party killing three people while DRESSED AS SANTA CLAUS !! Hours later, police found the body of the suspect, Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, 45, at the home of his brother early Thursday in the Sylmar area of Los Angeles. Police said he killed himself but would not say how.

"He was going through some type of marital problems, and we believe that this residence is a relative's residence," Lt. Pat Buchanan said of the house that burned.

Police initally said three people were dead in the shootings and fire late Wednesday. Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office said Thursday that investigators sifting through the ashes of the house found "several" more bodies, but would not say how many.

The bodies were too badly burned to immediately determine whether they died in the shootings or the fire, Winter said. "We have multiple bodies inside," Winter said. "They're extremely charred and burned."

The gunman arrived at the party in Covina late Wednesday and immediately opened fire with a handgun, Buchanan said. Witnesses told police that the man took off the Santa suit and left the scene of the burning house in street clothes.

Welcome to Hollyweird, where even Santa is trippin'. Not cool.

Mexican Ingenuity..don't be jealous.

So we're driving down Laurel Canyon Blvd. in North Hollywood the other day and this is what we see...only in Hollyweird!! This was one of the craziest cultural riggings I have ever seen. Mexican ingenuity at its finest. Well not its finest, the best was a truck with a brick house built on the back of it--door and all. This is not me making fun of anyone either because I have seen white and black people come up with some amazing "inventions" when money is hard to come by. This is just the most current invention of convenience I have witnessed. I just had to take the picture. Try being in a rush to get this car door open.

Barack Obama smoke pic - as Hollywood as it gets!

A few points about this photo:
1. Barack revealed several years ago that he experimented with drugs as a youth and yes he DID inhale. Unlike certain other lying ass Presidents we know of whose best known for such utterances as "I didn't inhale" and "I did not have sex with that woman" and maybe "Put me on Arsenio Hall and all black people will vote for me."
2. Where are the photos of George W. snorting coke? He was notorious for it! I know they're out there.
3. This is a cool ass photo. Wow, I am impressed with the uber coolness of someone who is also able to seek public office and NOT seem like a complete SQUARE. Show me more politicians who can chill like this.
4. I wonder what Michelle's weed pic looks like?
5. This photo was not disclosed by accident. The far right is doing their best to instill a sort of "buyer's remorse" in the American public after electing this Nation's 1st African American President. This one may have back-fired cause everybody I know who supported Barack & Michelle are happier after seeing this photo..lol.
6. This guys Biopic is gonna be one helluva ride--can't wait.

Seven Pounds blog #2 - How can anybody hate on Will Smith?

So this past Sunday the wife and I went to see Seven Pounds. In short, it definitely lived up to the hype. Will brought his A game as usual. But for most, perhaps the film is too dramatic. The story is very compelling. The mystery of who this guy is and what his issue is unravels masterfully using riveting flashbacks. But the last 20-25 years of cinema has shown us pretty convincingly that while soft dramatic tragedies do very well critically, the American viewing audience doesn't truly dig them that much. So what do you get-- an 18 Million dollar opening. This happens to be Will Smith's lowest weekend total ever. One journalist even suggested that the American viewing audience has grown tired of seeing Will in movies pulling at our emotions. Maybe so, but opening at #2 with $18 Million on a bad weather weekend isn't too shabby by everybody else's standards. I think it has more to do with a fickle moviegoing public that could be generally hardened to this type of drama. Or maybe its the ears. It might have little to do with big Willy at all. Besides, he's already arguably the biggest movie star in the world (see the first 7 Pounds blog below), now its time to get a gold statue.

Oh by the way, if you're a certified Will Smith Ph.D (Player hating D&^%head) then you should definitely go and see the film just to see Rosario Dawson look better with a heart condition than the whole cast of Sex and the City in 7 pounds of make-up and stilettos. Check Woody Harrelson out in a few scenes showing some acting chops I haven't seen from him in a while. You think its easy playing blind? Michael Ealy really should have been given a couple more scenes. But overall this was a great film that hoovered the tears out of just about everyone. Sappy I know, but if Seven Pounds had been made in the 80s or 90s Will would have been given the Oscar on set!

Until next time,

-Sirius

The Strangers - Maybe I'm becoming a horror snob like Curt?

I have a good friend who's a pretty serious movie buff - his name is Curt. As a matter of fact, I have a few friends that are pretty serious movie buffs - Packy, Shilo (super serious), a few others. But Curt shares me and my wife's passion for old school and well constructed original horror ideas. The thing is, Curt is a little hard on the films most of the time. The wife and I usually search for the entertainment value instead of doing our best to break the films down structurally even though we are screenwriters. All of us have argued the merits and shortcomings of certain post 2000 horror films  many times over. 

Then comes The Strangers. I loved the premise from seeing the trailer--creepy, suspenseful, okay maybe a classic horror throwback in 2008? Curt loved this movie by the way. While I didn't dislike it, I couldn't help but feel a little robbed of some vital element. Everything was waaaay too easy for the murderers. While its cool to have a couple that is absolutely terrified the whole time, there usually comes a point when that terror turns into anger when the characters' backs are against the wall. The triumph of the human spirit had a very small role in this film. There was no point when the victims actually decided that they were not going out without a fight. These weren't gruesome creatures! These weren't supernatural killers like Jason or Michael Myers! These were two girls and a guy with doll masks and a paper bag over their heads. And for most of the time the two victims were terrified, the killers only had the most basic weapons--- a knife, an axe. Only after the pansy guy in the film gets a shotgun taken from him by a guy with no weapon and a bag on his head do the killers have a firearm. Come on! Seriously? I'm fine with everybody maybe getting killed in the end but the "triumph of the human spirit" factor to create SOME TYPE of difficulty for the killers was noticably absent. Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler were sobbing bags flesh the WHOLE time! Curt I gotta disagree with your assessment of this flick playboy.

Everything else was pretty cool - the masks, the creepy scenes where we see someone in the house early on, the knocking on the door, the summer house in the middle of nowhere, the friend getting his head blown off, the quick build-up to action. But the murderers left the house after re-dressing the victims, tying them up, and stabbing them in the abdomen several times WITHOUT A SINGLE SCRATCH! The film did give you the impression that maybe Liv Tyler's character lived but in my opinion --- she didn't deserve to.

Until next time.

-Sirius

The Curious Case of Brad muther%$&#in Pitt

Whatever you think about the mustache (yes its for a film), I personally gain a little more respect for this guy every time I read his interviews. No this is not a man-crush, but Brad continues to grow into a some sort of philosophical, contemplative, passionate, renaissance creature every year. In this interview the real life "Daddy Daycare" (SIX crumb-snatchers) manages to sound even more humble, intellectual, and empathetic/nurturing as a father. The article covers everything from his choices on past roles to how the new film - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - changed him forever. You know what this article made me realize though? -- That given his SUPERFAME, this guys hasn't starred in any SUPER-successful films. Yet his image is one of the most sought after ever. Interesting...

Until next time.

-Sirius

7 Pounds - - I'm Excited.

So perhaps another Oscar turn for Will Smith. Who cares about an Oscar? Will does. As anyone who follows his films can tell, his choices have changed considerably. He has conquered his 1st Hollywood goal to be the biggest "Movie Star" in the world. Now on to the next one which seems to be to capture the little gold statue. Does that thing weigh Seven Pounds? (Corny I know.) 

Speaking of Will, I can't seem to stop myself from looking at any magazine with him and/or Jada on the front. I think many people find this to be true. Hollywood has built them up so much that I can't help but think the industry will inevitably do its best to bring them down or humble them. There are plenty examples. But thats another post. It happens with a lot of huge actors. Keep your nose clean Smiths---I think they are a revolutionary couple and its gonna be really tough to break them. As a matter of fact I don't think its truly possible. Shout out to Tom & Katie AND Brad & Angie!

-Sirius

First Post. The Introduction to Hollywood.

Now my wife and I have been here in Hollyweird for going on four years. Never did we buy into the hype concerning the movie stars, superstardom, easy success and all that jazz. But the longer you're here--the more this place reveals itself to be the land of smoke and mirrors. Little is what it seems.

That being said, this is also a land of magic--anything you imagine can come to pass. Granted, this is the case for any place in the world but here the environment suggests the seemingly impossible quite often. This blog is my take on many subjects concerning celebrities, fame, movies, and hollywood in general. I will mostly present sober flights back to reality without pessimism, positivity without blind belief, and commentaries on the wild stuff I see here that you might not witness any other place on earth.

Until next time. 

Sirius C

(Sirius C is the star constellation that I'm from adjacent to Sirius B in case you're wondering--look it up people!)