The World Beyond BetterMost > The Culture Tent
Resurrecting the Movies thread...
Aloysius J. Gleek:
--- Quote from: southendmd on December 26, 2008, 11:15:36 pm ---Hi there, cinemaphiles. I just saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button tonight. **Not too spoilerish***
All I can say is WOW! I haven't read any reviews, just the bare outline of the story. It's an epic that holds your attention through the whole 2 3/4 hours--no mean feat. I was on the verge of tears practically throughout the entire film. Spanning eight decades, with not a cliche in sight. Effective use of spare music, unintrusive voice-overs, interesting lighting add to the delight. Not to mention special effects that are used for human purposes, not just to blow up stuff. Hurray!
Brad Pitt is phenomenal. You can't take your eyes off him. I don't think I've ever appreciated him as an actor before this. He makes great use of his eyes and his voice, in this case a quiet, slow, gentle New Orleans lilt. He is gradually transformed from a little old man, eventually to Brad Pitt, to Brad Pitt of twenty years ago!
I always expect great things from Cate Blanchett and she doesn't disappoint. From waif to Martha Graham-esque and beyond, she is a wonder.
I didn't really have much of a sense of David Fincher, except for Zodiac, which I didn't much like. I see he has directed TV commercials, and music videos (Madonna) primarily, along with Fight Club and Se7en, neither of which had I seen.
Based on short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the film was apparently heavily adapted by Eric Roth. Perhaps Brokeback Mountain started a trend of adapting good short stories into films.
I expect this film will haunt me for some time.
To celebrate, my film partner and I went to dinner at the venerable Boston establishment, Locke Ober, for dinner (lobster bisque and crispy sweetbreads, yum) and a Sazerac, featured in the film.
*****
Sazerac, considered the first truly American cocktail, pre-Civil War, born in New Orleans:
coat an old fashioned glass with Pernod and discard
muddle sugar cube and bitters, add ice and bourbon (or whiskey, or rye)
strain into Pernod-coated glass
garnish with lemon peel
Aromatic and gorgeous!
Cheers to Benjamin Button!
--- End quote ---
Paul--I saw it today (Saturday), at the Ziegfeld. Wow indeed.
My film partner is a New York-based New Orleanian (named Charbonnet--how New Orleanian can you get??) whose mother lived in a (real) house just across from the (fictional) nursing home. (And Mr. Button, Sr.'s beautiful house on Esplanade was just up the block from a real house belonging to a friend of mine.)
I mention this to only say in passing that Mr. Charbonnet said that Brad Pitt's New Orleanian accent was perfect. Not 'good,' not 'very good,' but perfect.
And Mr. Pitt's perfect accent is mentioned in passing simply because we were in awe of his acting talent. Flawless is the word on that score.
I would not say the film itself is flawless. There were points at which I could cavil, and there were omissions. But I thought the movie was brilliant. What a love letter to the City of New Orleans itself. And the mood, the pacing--amazingly beautiful. Have you ever seen a movie with this length--and you had wished it had been a half-hour, even an hour longer??
I thought Cate Blanchett was fine. Surprisingly, I thought Tilda Swinton even better. I have always thought her very good, but 'cold'--but in the Russian hotel episode, Ms. Swinton was warm, touching, vulnerable.
Anyway. Yes, I will be seeing Benjamin Button again.
Beautiful film. Beautiful man. (I mean it--what a beautiful man. )
Go. Now.
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: jmmgallagher on December 28, 2008, 03:32:13 am ---My film partner is a New York-based New Orleanian (named Charbonnet--how New Orleanian can you get??) whose mother lived in a (real) house just across from the (fictional) nursing home. (And Mr. Button, Sr.'s beautiful house on Esplanade was just up the block from a real house belonging to a friend of mine.)
--- End quote ---
Well, that does it. I didn't realize how New Orleanian it was. I will see it for sure.
In fact, if not for about five wrong turns on a too-tight schedule and very icy roads and two only semi-committed kids and a new remote-control helicopter that hadn't yet been tried out and a couple of Netflix at home, I would have seen it tonight.
It was not to be. But I'll see it soon.
--- Quote ---I mention this to only say in passing that Mr. Charbonnet said that Brad Pitt's New Orleanian accent was perfect. Not 'good,' not 'very good,' but perfect.
And Mr. Pitt's perfect accent is mentioned in passing, simply because we were in awe of his acting talent. Flawless is the word on that score.
--- End quote ---
Good. I have seen way too many terrible New Orleans accents. For example, Kevin Costner in JFK (shudder).
Actually, what we wound up watching at home was not the Netflix movies but the on-demand Fred Claus. I can't recommend it to anyone but a sappily sentimental Vince Vaughn fan with very low standards ... but apparently around Christmastime that's me, so I enjoyed it.
Aloysius J. Gleek:
--- Quote from: serious crayons on December 28, 2008, 03:56:14 am ---
Well, that does it. I didn't realize how New Orleanian it was. I will see it for sure.
--- End quote ---
Katherine, I must say--it is not only a fictional New Orleans, it is a fantasy. A fable. The train station and the clock at the beginning of the film , for example, is a fantasy. And, as I said, there are cavils. (And kids?--oh, dear. I don't think so. They'll rebel--or go to sleep.) But overall--gorgeous.
Meryl:
--- Quote from: jmmgallagher on December 28, 2008, 03:32:13 am ---I would not say the film itself is flawless. There were points at which I could cavil, and there were omissions. But I thought the movie was brilliant. What a love letter to the City of New Orleans itself. And the mood, the pacing--amazingly beautiful. Have you ever seen a movie with this length--and you had wished it had been a half-hour, even an hour longer??
--- End quote ---
That sounds right up my alley. Long movies with great art direction are like reading a good novel; you can get immersed in another world. "Barry Lyndon" is one of my favorites for that, also "The Last Emperor," "Doctor Zhivago," "Lawrence of Arabia," even "Dances with Wolves" and the "Lord of the Rings" movies. Thanks for the reviews, John and Paul.
southendmd:
So glad you liked it, John. I loved Brad's voice; good to hear that it's authentic as well. (That subtle "oy" for "er" was not overdone.)
I agree with you about Tilda Swinton--she reveals the warmth in British "cold".
As for longish films I wish were longer, I can think of one 2 1/4 hour film.... ::)
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