Review: Pitt’s Button Will Rake in the Benjamins

The plot is a one-trick pony,  but The Curious Case of Benjamin Button should make like a pony express and haul in some serious dough over the holidays.

Brad Pitt’s good looks start to emerge through the wrinkles.

At 2 1/2 hours long, Button is full of wonderful detours and quirky characters, but no matter how much it tries to be profound and show us deeper truths, the story is like a chocolate Easter bunny — sweet and pretty on the outside — hollow once you bite into it.

Brad Pitt plays a man who is born old and gets younger as he ages. Somewhere in the middle  he gets to hook up with the love of his life, the glorious Cate Blanchett who he befriended  when they were children, except he was old and wrinkly, and she was — well, just as cute as a button.

Photo: Brad and Cate finally get busy — although she’s probably too old for him at this stage of the game…

Act 3 is the most problematic: Button’s final decision to do the right thing for those he loves isn’t one bit believable. Although one might argue that a fantasy shouldn’t have to be realistic  to work — I don’t subscribe to that notion. Just take a look at another epic tale by Eric Roth, Button’s screenwriter: “Forrest Gump.” No matter how far-fetched, I believed and wanted to believe every second of it.

Forrest works because it depicts a simple man’s  (I won’t say “idiot” because we all know that “stupid is as stupid does”) odyssey through a changing America — and as events unfold around him he becomes a part of them. I haven’t the foggiest notion what’s really going on in Button’s world, but things like racism in the deep south are simply ignored. This is kinda important because Button is loved and nurtured by a black adoptive mother Queenie (great work by Taraji P. Henson.) The duo doesn’t get  flack from anybody really, and so  Button is able to take on the world with confidence. Hey, with a supposed death sentence on his head for being so old, what does he have to lose?

Of course, it helps that once he begins his journeys he just gets better looking and as the wrinkles fall away — face it, no one looks better in a white t-shirt, leather jacket and jeans than Brad Pitt or maybe James Dean back in the day.

Pitt’s performance is simple, but effective — he looks on at the world with a sort of amused detachment, in it but not really of it.  He’s joined by a cast of some of the most interesting actors working today, including Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton, Julia Ormond and Elias Koteas.

Here’s a little note about my bashing the whole deeper truths part of the movie. Although I personally enjoyed Button,  for me it was like a box of popcorn, once it was done I was over it. But two people who are very close to me gave me their observations which I found very interesting.

My older sister said she cried so hard she couldn’t leave the theatre. The themes of life and death — of simply growing older moved her tremendously. She had just spent the holidays with her grandson who is only 2 and our wonderful Aunty Mame-type Aunt who is 86. For her, the movie brought home the reality of her own mortality and her inability to stop time’s passing.

At the other end of the spectrum, my 21-year-old daughter was inspired by Benjamin Button’s ability to simply seize life despite the obstacles that stood in his way. In his first foray into the world, he goes to sea,  the dream of a young man, yet his body is old. She thought about how this could’ve stopped him, how he could have just given up, stayed put, and let others take care of him. I think she related to it because she is young and facing life’s challenges of school, career, love.

It inspired her because he didn’t make excuses – he just lived life.

No matter what you think of this movie, it will certainly make for some good discussions.

Sucked into a True Blood Marathon

It’s true I didn’t get sucked in when True Blood made its debut.

But it’s amazing what a bad cold and the freedom (thanks to U-Verse) to watch the entire first season on demand  in a matter of a few days has done for moi. Yes, it’s taken me way to the dark side.

In a word – True Blood is delicious.

 But don’t  flit in and out of this show trying to get hooked – you have to dig in and take a good, long drink to appreciate its most peculiar flavor. [Okay, sorry too much vampire references for me own good.]

Creator Alan Ball is no stranger to producing compelling and quirky television…but those of you who were big fans of Six Feet Under should not try to compare this series to that one — because ultimately — it’s gonna be an exercise in disappointment. Six Feet Under takes its seat as one of the greatest TV events of all time — Blood isn’t in the same stratosphere.

Taken on its own though — it’s a very creative fun ride and proves once again why HBO has established itself as the place to see great TV.

Based on the Southern Vampire series by writer Charlaine Harris the series chronicles the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional small Louisiana town.  The twitchy Anna Paquin is the lead character Sookie Stackhouse, who falls in love with an extremely sexy and pale vampire — with the unexceptional vanilla name of Ben Compton. (played by Stephen Moyer.)

Old Anna has never been one of my favorite actresses – she tends to be too fidgety and over-the-top for the big screen, but here her odd/pretty looks and style fit in just perfectly as she struggles against her telepathic capabilities and falling for an undead – even if he is trying to pass himself off as just a regular nonbloodsucker in the world of mere mortals.

Season 2 goes into production sometime in January – which means we will all  have to wait until the long, hot days of summer to find out what happens next.

I guess fans of the series can make do with the books to while away the time – a new installment featuring Sookie is due out in May.

Meryl — At 59, She’s a Bankable Star

We already know that Meryl Streep is the best American  film actress today, but now we can all feel extremely satisfied that her movies actually make money. Lots ‘n lots of beautiful money.

 According to Entertainment Weekly, Mamma Mia! is one of the top 50 highest grossing films of all time worldwide – and the only one to be female driven — hey, $560 million is not chump change.

Is the Meryl surprised? Of course not. “I’m not amazed,” she tells EW. “I’ve worked hard so this is what I expect. It doesn’t normally happen but it should.”

Even though the reviews are mixed, I have no doubt that she’ll make some magic happen in the new film Doubt with Phillip Seymour Hoffmann.

But I can’t wait to see director Nancy Meyers’ (Something’s Gotta Give) new vehicle  where our Meryl will be wooed by the hysterically delightful Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.

As the boomers age, it stands to reason that Hollywood will get a clue and recognize the fact that age does NOT translate into box office death.  Oh, who am I kidding… Would any of the suits really care unless there’s mucho $$$$ involved?

No matter how we get there — let’s just get there and stop making movies about video games and comic book characters who aren’t played by Robert Downey Jr. or Christian Bale.

I am looking forward to new movies, better movies, character-driven movies and movies powered by  the Meryl.

Thank goodness, she isn’t the only lady kickin’ some serious box office butt.

EW tallied the polls and it appears Ms. Streep is in good company with  Angelina, Julia and Cate bringing in some serious coinage, too. Check out these Box Office Queens.

 Long live the divas!

Why does ‘Dexter’ make me fall asleep?

If there was ever a show that was tailor-made for me – it’s Dexter. Although I watch it every week, and am caught up on all the action, somehow, I don’t really… connect. And frequently, when I am watching it with hubby, I fall asleep and have to catch up later. Thank the lord for DVR.  But this isn’t about the merits of Dexter – but why I feel so disengaged from a pretty good show.

Whenever I do fall asleep, as Dexter is explaining why he is not like anyone else, and how he has to pretend that he is just like you and me, I feel guilty, as though I have fallen asleep in church, or some genius professor’s class…

Why, I ask hubby, why do I become so…anesthetized?

Hubby says, quite simply, “It’s Dexter’s monotone voice.” Leave it to hubby to get back to basics. Which puts it all in perspective. And then he said, “Remember Six Feet Under?”  (Well, who could forget it?)

But it hits on something crucial here. The reason why, in this tight economy, I will forego a lot of things but not my premium cable channels, is the quality of the programming you’ll find on HBO, Showtime, yada, yada, yada. Plus — no commercials. Yet, even in this land of richness there are shows among shows.

Dexter is good but it isn’t Six Feet Under, nor should it try to be. It just isn’t, and to try and pretend that it is is probably what makes me fall asleep, or again, maybe it’s that I am not overly sympathetic to the fact that Dexter likes snuffing people.

There was a time when I was obsessed — I mean, absolutely obsessed with serial killers. When my sister bought me a book for Christmas that I already had about profiling….I knew I had to stop the madness, and step away from trying to figure out just what made these dudes tick. Not to mention the time I was in the checkout line at the local grocery store and was convinced the average-looking bald guy in front of me was a serial killer. After all, they look like everyone else right?

 So, I don’t obsess over serial killers, and I keep Dexter in perspective now.

Which maybe – when I look at this way – I am glad Dexter is not keeping me up nights.

 

Movie Review: C-c-c-Changeling…

Clint Eastwood is one of our country’s greatest artists – a director so surefooted  you are willing to follow wherever he chooses to lead. His latest effort, Changeling is no exception.

The movie is based on a true story, and Eastwood has the common sense to know which events matter and which don’t in this telling of one women’s fight against a corrupt system in her quest to find her missing son. I went Googling after the movies…It really is one helluva story, and underscores, as the movie No Country for Old Men  does, that evil has and will always be with us — even in what we  think were more innocent times.

Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie) is a single mom raising her nine-year-old son Walter in 1920s Los Angeles. The City of Angels is tarnished by a corrupt police department that appear to be worse than any of the criminals they’ve systematically gunned down. When Walter goes missing, Christine doesn’t get much help from the boys in blue until months later when they insist they’ve found her son. 

The kid who comes rolling into town isn’t Walter –he’s 3 inches shorter which is the most obvious clue – but what the hey, trauma can do that to a person. Not to mention Christine isn’t that far gone that she wouldn’t know at first sight that this kid is an imposter. The LAPD is using the case as a PR strategy to show what a swell upstanding department they are, so they refuse to be swayed by Christine’s insistence that they must continue to search for her real son.

Christine is aided by an unlikely hero — the Reverend Gustav Briegleb played by the ever-more-interesting as-he-ages John Malkovich. Briegleb isn’t your typical movie-style religious fanatic but an activist who uses his radio program to rail against the LAPD and call attention to Christine’s plight. Malkovich hits all the right notes in a performance that could have gone way south in the wrong hands.

When Christine is wrongfully stuck in the looney bin because she dares to oppose the cops, it’s Briegleb that helps get her sprung, aided by a high-powered lawyer who is not afraid of taking the whole department down.

[Spoiler alert -- and I did not see this coming so you may not want to either...]

The real twist to the story is that while all this tormented mom vs. evil cops is going on — there’s a unexpectedly dreadful reason Walter and other young boys have gone missing. A determined and honest detective named Lester Ybarra (Michael Kelly) is assigned to nab Canadian teenager Sanford Clark who’s in the country illegally and get him back to his homeland. When he finds the youth, Clark tells him a horrific story of blood and death that leads to uncovering the buried bodies of 20 young boys – one of them may be Walter.

The maniacial killer is Clark’s older cousin, Gordon Northcott, played by Jason Butler Harner.  

Harner is scary, but not because he goes for the typical psycho route. He’s all fake charm and sweat, a guy who by turns is giddy with the media attention he obtains and full of self-pity because he has been caught. It’s a standout performance.Harner  doesn’t so much “play”  Northcott – he inhabits him. He’s that freaky, scary, icky good.

The two things that really bothered me –  I can’t help it — but when I am staring up at that gi-normous movie screen the unrealistic aspects pop out like big red stray pimples. First, in every scene Jolie is made up to look like a va-va-voom movie star — in fact, the very first scene, when she’s getting out of bed her hair is curled, her eye shadow lusciously dark. It’s distracting because you want to get lost in her character. Let’s face it, Jolie is no slouch in the looks department and it seems overkill here. I am reminded of some of Eastwood’s other leading ladies —  Sondra Lockhart for one, or the washed-out hardness of Carrie Snodgrass in Pale Rider – and wish someone had just kept the overzealous make-up artist away, away, away from Jolie. Her performance is okay, but not for one single solitary second do I forget just who she is.

The other thing is the score. I know Eastwood composed it but I kept thinking to myself – if I hear those same notes over again…I may just…(scream).  I am always reminded when I don’t like a movie soundtrack of how pitch-perfect Scorcese’s music choices always are. He’s the benchmark.

But — I kept telling myself, Eastwood composed the music. What, huh? really? I mean, is there anything Clint can’t do? He just gets better with age.

Review: The Pain of Max Payne

It’s that age-old question revamped for the new millennium – which comes first the chicken or the egg — or when it comes to Max Payne, the video game or the movie?  In this case, it’s the former. Quel surprise (!) I’m not a gamer, but couldn’t help thinking I was living in one during the long  86 minutes I sat in the smelly neighborhood theatre that hubby swore he would never return to. But that’s another story.

Yeah, the movie is interminable, but ambitious — lots of noise, lots of action, lots of film noir cinematography but there are plenty of movies that have done this a million times better, so what’s the point?

This is painful. Max Payneful.

Let’s face it, taking your cues from a video game can be good and bad. Good because there’s usually plenty of action, and good vs. evil elements,  bad because the movie characters can be as robotic as their game counterparts. Seriously, does anyone remember Angelina Jolie’s ahem, distracting physicality in Tomb Raider? Her bra did more acting. It should have received credits as a supporting player.

Such is the case with Max Payne.

Mark Wahlberg shoots up the town to in Max Payne.

Let’s just say this isn’t Mark Wahlberg’s finest moment. When he is good he is very, very good — The Departed, Boogie Nights, I Heart Huckabees  – when he is bad… Planet of the Apes and this movie…ugh. As the witty Dorothy Parker once quipped about Katharine Hepburn, “Her emotions run the gamut from A to B. “, well, that’s about all you can say about not only Marky but most everyone else in this movie.  Except for Beau Bridges as B.B., who should be spanked for his blustery over-the-top plain stupid performance. I’m a big fan of the Bridges brothers – but he tanks here.

The plot: Max Payne is a maverick cop on a mission to solve a series of murders — which includes not only his ex-partner but his beloved wife and infant. Of course, at first we don’t know that all these murders are connected – but being the resourceful dude he is Max dots the i’s for us fairly quickly. He joins forces (sorta — because Max really does his own thing) with another vengeful type, assassin Mona  Sax (Mila Kunis) whose sister Natasha is another victim of this evil wave of winged horror. Okay, the winged part is a spoiler – but as soon as your butt hits the seat you’ll get why it’s not much of one.

I  recently saw a portion of an interview with the great action director Ridley Scott , and I’m completely paraphrasing him here but Scott’s main point was:  When you have a good script, shooting a picture is relatively easy because you have a blueprint to follow. When you don’t have a  good script  — it’s just a terrible ordeal.  Max Payne does not have a solid blueprint — just a series of visuals that string together into a big old murky mess. All the style in the world can’t overcome no substance.

Part of a video game’s appeal is the story the players themselves bring to it. The movie version of Max Payne predictably plods along without any real surprises. It will most surely attract fans, but most likely because there’s not a whole lot out there in movieland right now. And that’s just not worth the price of admission.

Review: The Truth About Body of Lies

Russell Crowe, Leo DiCaprio, oh, and Ridley Scott – need I say more? Action, adventure, absurdity.

Russell and Leo spar aplenty in Body of Lies.

I have not blogged for awhile – and since I am still getting plenty of page hits for a post about Meryl Streep’s birthday I decided to go in an entirely opposite direction and talk about a picture guys will love and chicks might actually enjoy even if there is no Cosmo-swilling or singing involved. Alas, and no Meryl.

Hubby asked me to go see Body of Lies and it was great fun, I have to admit.  Leonardo DiCaprio just gets better with age and Russell Crowe, who packed on 50 lbs. to get into character is a hoot. Funny, I don’t believe the whole weight gain thing was too hard for old Russell – kinda fun doncha think — downing  brewskies and eating plenty of beef on the barbie. Method-schmethod – bulking up for your art can be fun.

Here’s the plot synopis:  Leo plays Roger Ferris, who his boss Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) calls “Buddy” all the time, and the Chief of Jordanian Intelligence, Hani Salaam (Mark Strong) calls “My dear.” Anyway, if you can keep Leo’s name straight you will soon figure out that he is a very smart, resourceful CIA operative who is constantly getting injured but looks great in surgical tape. Anyway, old Ferris uncovers information on an Islamist mastermind Al-Saleem and devises a plan to infiltrate his terrorist network. His boss and Hani Salaam help him get in and out of trouble.

Mark Strong as Hani is a real gem — hubby says he is reminscent of Andy Garcia in hs early days but frankly, subtlety has never been Andy’s long suit so I didn’t like the comparison. Look, anyone who can call Leo my dear and still not seem gay is a fab actor in my book.

Of course, the plot and feats of technology are incredible — Roger Ebert summed it up perfectly when he calls it a James Bond plot inserted into today’s headlines. Ridley Scott is a great director – he makes the most absurd things seem believable — even aerial surveillance that can pinpoint a guy walking down the street in a white beanie.

There is also a love interest for old Leo/Ferris/Buddy/my dear — a  nurse named Aisha (Golshifteh Farahani), who has the biggest most beautiful eyebrows I have ever seen.

I have big eyebrows too but not the exotic features to carry them off. So, anyway, the movie has something for everyone, action, adventure, rabid dogs, technology, subtitles, explosions, etc.

The Tao of Shannen: 90210

Look, I am old enuff to tell you that the original Beverly Hills 90210 was a cultural phenomenon. It was just the worst/best night-time soap opera in the world. And a big reason for that was Shannen Doherty.

By the way, the photo above looks nothing like Brenda Walsh of 90210 fame – I just thought it was cheap, compelling marketing.

Oh, I know, I know, she was a misbehaved youth who messed up her life by marrying young and being a bitch. Yes, we all know that Jennie Garth was the good girl and Shannen , with her mismatched Modigliani face was the bad girl.

We have all heard the  Tori Spelling-fueled rumors about how Jenni and Shannen came to blows on set. Yes, yes, eventually Shannen left – just as she left Charmed. But was any TV show seriously the better for it? I loved that Jenni Garth  as Kelly Taylor went for Dylan — because after all, wasn’t Brenda, at the end of the day, just a big pain  in the ass? But that’s the whole point. Good television isn’t  based on niceness – but conflict. And Shannen does conflict.

Shannen isn’t a great actress or a great beauty. She can kinda rub you the wrong way. But she has that sumpin-sumpin that makes her immensely watchable. And if the new 90210 is gonna be about real issues and the real teenagers today and the real people who make a difference in their lives — then I guess Shannen as the guest director in their school play makes sense. I love her, even if it’s a guilty pleasure.

Review: Thunderous Laffs,Tropic Thunder

To say Tropic Thunder is funny is sorta like saying Angelina Jolie is beautiful. Duh. How about this: it’s so funny.  Too often, if you’ve seen a comedy’s trailer you’ve caught the best laughs, but Tropic is chock full of them. It’s smart comedy giving us a satirical look at a big-budget movie gone horribly wrong. And there’s a real ring of truth to the way it exposes not only the self-indulgence of many actors today but the awful excess that can often sink a movie.

The plot? A troupe of spoiled Hollywood actors shooting a big-budget Vietnam war movie run into a real-life drug cartel when they are taken away from the set to shoot “guerilla-style.” It’s all about capturing their fear when faced with enemies hiding in the jungle and being surprised by big loud explosions to keep them jumping.

Ben Stiller plays Tuggs Speedman, a not-too-bright action star who can’t cry on cue. Robert Downey Jr. is Kirk Lazarus, an Oscar-laden Method type who doesn’t like to break character — and this time he’s undergone quite a transformation to play African-American. This annoys his fellow ”brother” who’s the real deal, rapper/actor Alpha Chino ( Brandon T. Jackson.) And surprise —  Jack Black is his usual hysterical manic movie persona, playing a drug-addicted comic star best known for his farting ability. Black spends a lot of time running around in his underpants — which is a visual you can really never grow weary of.

While it’s nearly impossible to eclipse the irrepressible Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr. does it in this movie. He’s comical in ways that are just plain brilliant as he muses about character, and at times thinks he really is a black man struggling against the world. It’s ridiculous and absurd but you buy it.

Throughout the movie, the only actor who doesn’t realize that they’re no longer shooting a movie is Tuggs. He desperately wants to be a leader and a good actor and sets off on his own to eek out the best performance ever. And while the actors try to get back to civilization and must eventually rescue Tugg, Tugg’s materialist agent  (Matthew McConaughey) and {SPOILER ALERT) a foul-mouthed studio mogul (a cameo by Tom Cruise) are busy negotiating with the drug cartel.

Well, of course, the secret’s out about Tom Cruise’s cameo. And guess what — he’s really funny. It’s a good time for Cruise to get cool again. A very good time indeed.

Bernie Mac: Goodbye to a Solid Man

Death is always sobering. It is particularly sad when someone goes before their time. Today, we say a sad farewell to Bernie Mac.

He died today, Saturday, 8-9-08 at  age 50.

Yes, CNN has done it’s in-depth explanation of what sarcoidosis is – but does that make it easier to process the simple fact that death can come at any time, anywhere?  It seems Bernie had dealt with his illness for years and that makes you admire him even more. He lived his life to the fullest, and achieved wonderous success. And his illness could have stopped someone with lesser character. But Bernie was someone who decided to go the other route - he dared to purse greatness – and made no excuses.

I admit – I wasn’t a fanatical fan of Bernie’s, but I always appreciated and underestimated his presence. He was funny and good. And that’s the art of someone who is extremely talented  - they make it look effortless.

My prayers go out to his family. They must be missing him dreadfully tonight.