The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

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2009-03-20T14:27:00.003-07:00

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2009-03-20T14:27:00.001-07:00

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www.Jango.com - Internet Radio

2008-12-28T07:07:00.000-08:00

Last Wonderful International Benjamin Button Trailer

2008-12-28T07:03:00.001-08:00

It was nearly two months ago when we last featured a full trailer for David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Today we have one more final trailer for what looks to be one of the most enchanting films this year. Every time I watch a new trailer for this, I feel like I'm going to cry. It's easy to compare Benjamin Button to Forrest Gump, not only because it was written by the same screenwriter, but because the story has a lot of similarities. Some early reviews have started to trickle in that claim it's a "historic achievement, a masterful piece of cinema, and a moving treatise on death, loss, loneliness and love."

If you love Alexandre Desplat's beautiful score in this trailer as much as I do, then you're in luck. You can listen to the whole soundtrack over on Warner Brothers' BAFTA site (just click on "Score"). Anne Thompson's review on Variety (that we quoted above) goes on to say that "the movie is sadly beautiful, of a piece, as impeccably wrought as its ornate clock that runs counterclockwise." Give this final trailer a quick run through and let us know if Benjamin Button is still on your list of films to see to Oscar season.

Watch the last international trailer for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button:

Watch the last international Benjamin Button trailer in High Definition: 480, 720, 1080

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is directed by visionary filmmaker David Fincher, of Se7en, The Game, Fight Club, and Zodiac previously. The screenplay was penned by Oscar winner Eric Roth, of Forrest Gump, The Horse Whisperer, Spielberg's Munich, and The Good Shepherd. This story was originally adapted from a short story written by legendary writer F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1922. Paramount will debut The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in theaters everywhere on December 25th, Christmas Day.

‘Benjamin Button’ Clips! 9 clips

2008-12-28T07:00:00.000-08:00

Check out this new clip from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button featuring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett.

The name of this clip is called “Meeting In The Middle” because the ages are more or less the same. (Brad’s character is born in his eighties and ages backwards.)

Check out the clip below and eight more new clips inside!!!

“Benjamin Button” - Meeting In The Middle

“Benjamin Button” - Introducing Benjamin

“Benjamin Button” - Still A Child OF God

“Benjamin Button” - I Thought I Was Like Everyone Else

“Benjamin Button” - Daisy Returns

“Benjamin Button” - Never Had A Woman

“Benjamin Button” - I Came Home

“Benjamin Button” - Under The Table

“Benjamin Button” - Tent Revival

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Posters!

2008-12-28T06:58:00.000-08:00

Paramount has finally released two official posters for David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button a mere month before it's set to arrive in theaters. I first heard about what they looked like a few weeks ago and even at that time thought their concept was rather weak. But looking at them in full like this, it definitely seems like Paramount dropped the ball and pulled these designs together very last minute. As excited as I am to see Benjamin Button, these unimpressive posters make me even more skeptical. Is this really Fincher's masterpiece? Or has his fight with the studio result in nothing but a big mess?

Just in case you might be confused by the concept, these posters are meant to be placed side-by-side. Cate Blanchett's has "life" written forward, while Brad Pitt's has "life" written backwards. This is to signify that his life, and time, goes backwards for him - and that is the Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Curious Case of Benjamin Button TV Spot

2008-12-28T06:57:00.000-08:00

Paramount debuted a new full length TV spot for David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button way back during the Olympics that just now made its way online. If you thought the first teaser trailer for Benjamin Button was breathtaking, then just wait until you see this. It presents the film in a whole new light - we finally get some dialogue, and we finally get to see the humorous undertones that Fincher so perfectly works into his films. This also finally shows us a bit more of the story of Benjamin's unusual life and his relationships. Get ready for David Fincher's true masterpiece this Christmas.

I actually saw this TV spot way before I went to the Telluride Film Festival and saw the 20 minute sizzle reel. My opinion on the film has since changed ever so slightly, but I'm still very optimistic. I hope others out there watch this TV spot and still feel like this could be a Fincher masterpiece?

Watch the TV spot for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is directed by visionary filmmaker David Fincher, of Se7en, The Game, Fight Club, and Zodiac previously. The screenplay was penned by Oscar winner Eric Roth, of Forrest Gump, The Horse Whisperer, Spielberg's Munich, and The Good Shepherd. The film was adapted from a short story written by legendary writer F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1922. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button arrives in theaters everywhere on December 25th, Christmas Day.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button trailer

2008-12-28T06:55:00.002-08:00

Watch the first trailer for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button:

You can also watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button trailer in High Definition on Apple

FILM REVIEW: THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

2008-12-28T06:50:00.001-08:00

Benjamin (Brad Pitt) and Daisy (Cate Blanchett) finally converge in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

The Age of Descent

By John Esther

Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1920s short story, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button chronicles, or de-chronicles, the life and, barely, the times of the titular character, a male who was born in his eighties and grew younger -- so young he disappeared into his mother’s womb before becoming spermatozoa.

Okay I wish director David Fincher (Fight Club; Panic Room; Zodiac) would have had the artistic sensitivity to take the narrative that far -- not even close. After a 20th century lifetime, Benjamin vanishes with about as much trace as Fincher gives to the grand events Benjamin lived. No womb and little war.

Abandoned by his father, Thomas (Jason Flemyng), at a home for the elderly the day Benjamin is born and his mother dies, Benjamin (Brad Pitt) starts out an old man. Not expected to live very long, his loving Hollywood-stereotype-of-those-times mammy (Taraji P. Henson) cares after him along with several old people in the home.
As Benjamin grows younger with time, he quickly becomes accustomed to the passing of lives around him. People are on their way out. Benjamin is on his way back. It is the ultimate life for youth without childlike innocence (unless you are in Iraq or Palestine where children are all too familiar with death from an early age).

Unfortunately, as Benjamin grows younger, the film becomes more infantile. Absconding what little there is of Fitzgerald’s commentary and social behavior in the short story, Fincher and screenwriter Eric Roth glide by the times.

Benjamin may have lived through World War II, Vietnam, both JFK and RFK assassinations, the Civil Rights movement and other turbulent events, but, with the exception of Benjamin’s shipping days during WWII -- which are more about manly adventure than inhumanity commentary -- we get a political/historical vacuum.

Filling the void, the movie, in middlebrow style, pits Benjamin against an array of women. Although there must have been many for a guy who is as handsome as Brad Pitt, none really stand out for Benjamin except Elizabeth (Tilda Swinton) and the love of his life, Daisy (Cate Blanchett). Elizabeth and Daisy are the minor and major love stories of Benjamin and the film, respectively. While they are touching at moments, the longing, loving and departing in this 159-minute film eventually wears out its welcome.

Moreover as the film plays out the trope of the eventual passing of a older man/younger woman to a older woman/younger man to its forlorn conclusion, Roth, the screenwriter behind such soft headed endeavors as Forrest Gump, The Postman, The Horse Whisperer and Ali, offers up enough banal platitudes (“I was thinking how nothing lasts, and what a shame that is”; "You can't see what's coming after ya"; “It is what it is”) you may wish for the day you were never born.
Perhaps because the film was so politically vapid, Pitt, a semi-socially conscious guy, who has put his time, money and mouth into the reconstruction of New Orleans post-Katrina, there is another, rather tedious, layer to the story where a daughter (Julia Ormond) reads her dying mother Benjamin’s tale as Hurricane Katrina ventures forth. (This season is filled with storytelling-referential films: Australia, The Tales of Despereaux, Dragon Hunters, Slumdog Millionaire, etc.)
The Katrina catch is too little too late. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button wants to make some Kubrickian comment a la Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, about the human condition vis-à-vis time and, to a lesser degree, space, but Fincher and the company mentality are not up for the task.

For what it is worth, and I will get to that in a moment, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a shockingly tame story in these wild times. As much of the country, including many in New Orleans, moves forward in the hopes of a new political narrative, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a process of technical wonder and aimless wander through the life and times of one particular man. While it may have had its own bourgeois conceits. Gasper Noe’s Irreversible had more to say about time and motion in the age of descent than The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (ontological, violent or otherwise). At least the memorable Irreversible provoked something substantial in the viewer.
However, the one thing this film has going for it is the acting. No, not the typically excellent Blanchett, surprisingly, who is woefully miscast and doubled up in some dancing scenes, nor any of the other female roles in the film (has Fincher ever summoned a good role or performance out of a female actor?), but from Pitt, Flemyng and a few other male roles in the film.

In particular, Pitt manages to sedate himself and portray his character with impressive skill (unlike his main squeeze in Changeling, who almost wrecks the film with her performance). The result is a career-making performance that should pique the curiosity of more skilled directors in the years to come and go.

Brad Pitt and Anlegina Joile on the premiere

2008-12-28T06:47:00.000-08:00

It's rare that you get a perfect storm of stylish celebrities, as seen at the premiere of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Never mind the fact that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie indulged photographers, the event was black tie and so the crowd took it up a notch. The results are in:
Cate Blanchett took a chance on a sculpted metallic Alexander McQueen that managed to render her bell-shaped -- in the most elegant way -- and shinier than a penny in a fountain. I like the cut of the overlay, but the underneath flesh-toned sheath looks suspiciously like Spanx to me.

Angelina Jolie opted for a strapless column of black. Kind of like a long, tall glass of squid ink. She looks stunning, but a bit severe with the lack of color and tight chignon. Her tattoos have become her jewelry.

Clearly, Jennifer Lopez wasn't about to take any chances on being overlooked. She went all out in a va-va-voom white gown by Roberto Cavalli that seemed to taunt, "That's right. I had twins." I suspect that J.Lo is on the prowl for a new movie role because she looks like a movie star in search of a marquee.

Tilda Swinton, never demure, opted for a diaphanous dip-dyed Rodarte dress from the L.A.-based Mulleavy sisters that looked like a Rothko in motion. Swinton should donate herself to LACMA.
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