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.