Yes, Benjamin Button is one of the new releases this week, but is it best? Yes and no, actually. It could easily have been my PICK OF THE WEEK, but I chose to give some spotlight time to a film that never really caught on like it deserved to. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button gets the #2 spot this week, but the crowning title of this week is:Wendy and Lucy
Michelle Williams gave what I felt to be the second best performance by an actress last year in this (second only to Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married) touching and simple film. She's essentialy homeless, with her dog as her only companion. When her dog vanishes, she has to struggle to find her and to find a reason to go on as well. It was a movie that isn't for everyone, but it rewards those who stay with it in a big way. The last scene in particular should bring tears to almost anyone's eyes.
-Coming in right behind this week is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (which actually should be the #1 pick this week, but it doesn't need anyone else to talk about it, so I opted against it, feel free to scold me in the comments section). Brad Pitt plays the title character, though you all know the story by now. It's greatest success is that it never feels like it's trying to manipulate you. Put aside the striking similarities and go pick Benjamin Button up on DVD and admire all the work that went into it.
-Also out this week we have Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson charming it up in the romantic comedy Last Chance Harvey, the first ever Bollywood Kung Fu action comedy called Chandni Chowk to China, which is ok, but nothing special, and finally a second Michelle Williams sighting, with her film Incendiary, which almost completely skipped theaters but gets a second life at home. She's much better in Wendy and Lucy, but she's good here too in an otherwise mediocre film.
-My Vintage pick this week is the double feature of Planet Terror and Death Proof, otherwise known as Grindhouse. Watch them together and relive the experience that too few people saw in the movies on its initial release!
-What will you guys and gals be watching on DVD this week?
Posts
Button all the way
ReplyDeleteseems like a decent week
ReplyDeletethe Grindhouse recreation idea isn't a bad one
ReplyDelete-Matt
more than a decent week, but yea
ReplyDeleteBought Benjamin Button. I never understood the backlash against it. For all the talk of it being overrated, it didn't win many awards. If you ask me, I don;t see how a film can be called overrated if pretty much everyone and their mom goes on to say a film sucks, it sounds more like it's underrated than overrated. If any film this year was overrated, it was Slumdog Millionaire the nomination hog. Sure, Benjamin Button scored 13 nominations, but only won 3. Did Slumdog Millionaire really deserve 8 oscars? I didn't think so.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kevin. Outside of The Dark Knight and The Wrestler I felt that Benjamin Button was one of the best films of 2008. It more than deserved it's nomination and I felt it was better than any of the films it was up against. I also don't understand the hate for the film. If nothing else it was a beautiful piece of work with great performances all around.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Brad Pitt was so out of his element with this character, and the film not only looks gorgeous but is a beautiful story to boot. Like I said, I don't understand the logic of calling something most critics either hated it or though it was so-so, and a lot of people did not like it. How does that make it overrated? Maybe I've been smoking too much weed, but if I understand the concept of something being overrated, there have to be A LOT of people who think it is GREAT. I'm sorry, but again, Slumdog Millionaire, IMO, was the most overrated film of the year, what with critics effectively calling it a masterpiece and the cure for cancer.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you guys, aside from The Dark Knight, Benjamin Button was my favorite film of the year. I also don't understand the backlash. I felt it was perfect, I laughed, I cried (at 3 or 4 different moments), I had a great time. And everybody I saw it with also thought it was amazing. I haven't even spoken to anybody who did not find the movie amazing. It's only on the Internet that everybody seems to have a severe distaste for the film.
ReplyDelete-Robbie