film: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

[MynameisnotDeja]

Just saw this. The way it was shot, the music, the effects, etc were all VERY beautiful.

I thought the acting was good too and I cared about the characters.

This films failing point, as many have said was that it desperately needed to be tightened. A LOT. It kinda is sad because while I still enjoyed it and found it moving, I think it could have been an absolute masterpiece had it been cut down a bit and the storyline tightened up. It dragged on and on and the pace was just painfully slow.

Still, I gave it 4 stars because that was it's main fail, IMO. Blanchette (sp?) was wonderful.

 

[TheDeceased]

It was Brad Pitt and Angelina's bring attention and money to aid in rebuilding New Orleans thing....

Apparently the only reason they shot in New Orleans was because it was cheaper to film there on a daily basis. They then rewrote the entire script around the location...

Ahem...

 

[trash11]

twas a fucking beautiful film.

For all of you F.Scot fans out there, I heard a new Gatsby film is in the work

 

[manic_panic]

not sure if i am even gonna bother with this movie.

 

[The Liberal Media]

Not sure how this managed 13 oscar nods. Its very average.
Pitt is great, but the movie itself feels twice its running time, given that it verges on 3 hours, thats not a good thing.

If theres any justice Slumdog should wipe the floor with this next month.

 

[magnoliafan]

Not sure how this managed 13 oscar nods. Its very average.

Well, look at the competition. This was a crappy year for movies, and so Benjamin Button, which was good-not-great, stands out. Plus, all the effects work gets it nominations for those special categories that don't apply to typical oscar-bait melodramas.

Honestly, I wouldn't be upset if this won best picture, but I'm not really that invested in any of the movies nominated this year (especially after last year). Really, I'll only be pissed if slumdog or the reader wins.

I rated Benjamin Button 4/5. Like I said, good but not great. Some really great storytelling, but ultimately I felt we would get the same story whether he aged normally or in reverse. There is no comment made about being young and seeing the world through old eyes or vice versa. It is only an interesting narrative device that lends itself to some ironic gags.

Also, why is it that in this movie and forrest gump (written by the same dude, btw) that the woman is the one who goes astray while the man remains the righteous hero? I was okay with it in forrest gump, but now it just seems weirdly chauvenistic

 

[Banquo]

I agree with most everything Impacto said. Very beautiful, very moving film.

It's not a perfect movie. On a second viewing, the biggest flaw seems to be that some of the scenes are rushed, which might be difficult to believe since it's a 166-minute film built on a very short story. There is so much going on visually and character-wise that maybe some of the subplots and characters should have been cut so that the remaining ones could have been fleshed out more extensively.

But it is definitely not Forrest Gump.

 

[TheSpade]

A bit too long, very predictable, similar to Forest Gump but not even close to being as good. It wasn't terrible but it's hardly worth of so many award nominations. Very very standard. Not overly impressed and wouldn't recommend it tbh.

 

[Raz]

Just saw it at the cinemas. Great concept, poorly executed. Way too long and slow. Brad Pitt's acting is terrible. Cheesy and contrived in parts.

2 stars.

I almost completely agree with this. I didn't hate Pitt's acting so much....I didn't think it was actively bad, but I don't think it was really great either. Other than that I agree 100% with everything else you said.

The pedo elements were a bit off-putting too....I get that they were crafting a timeless love story between two people which transcends blah blah blah, but it didn't make it any less creepy that a little girl was macking on an old man; from his point of view it didn't really bother me so much, on account of him not yet having learned that people don't necessarily see him as being a child. From her point of view though, it's just weird and unsettling that this otherwise normal young girl would develop such a fixation on this dude, and that would carry through to her adulthood. It really says to me, "this female is in the story for the advancement of the male's character/plot and not for anything else".

Also found it interesting that when they went full-circle....when HE looked like a kid and SHE was an old lady, that they couldn't actually make her look decrepit - it was just Cate Blanchett with a tiny hint of a double-chin and some grey in her hair....again, because the ladies are just there for window dressing, not to carry their own story.

Actually the make-up in places was terrible....I would swear that the woman who raised Benjamin fluctuated in appearance up and down a sliding scale....sometimes she looked older, sometimes younger, then back to looking older again...

meh, didn't really care for this at all.

 

[vegan]

i liked it, though i haven't yet decided exactly how much

but just on a side note, i wouldn't be surprised if most of the people who didn't like it were no more than in their early 20s, hence yet not having had to really reflect much on the passing of time in their own life

 

[TheDeceased]

^I'm 26 and I didn't like it for many reasons. That wasn't one of them.

 

[TheSpade]

but just on a side note, i wouldn't be surprised if most of the people who didn't like it were no more than in their early 20s, hence yet not having had to really reflect much on the passing of time in their own life

8)

Oh that'll be why we found it extremely boring and obvious.

 

[vegan]

what's up with the smilies?
if you're looking for a fight, go out in a pub filled with drunken morons

i'm here to exchange opinions, not to have people get upset by an hypothesis i proposed

if you don't like people having different opinions than yours, get lost on an island


yes
i suggested that people who found it boring may be younger people

what's so incredible about that?
do 6 years olds and their grand parents usually watch the same programs?

at heart, i'm younger than 20
but i have some experience and consider that i've tasted several different lives
and realized that the idea of age i had when i was a kid was absolutely wrong
when i was 15, i thought that being 30 was old
at around 30, i am ageless
my mind is stuck around 16 ; my body does whatever it wants ; my experience seems to be a few times that of some people ; my heart is in another dimension where age doesn't exist ; i see grown ups behaving like spoiled kids everywhere ; etc.

so i did empathize with the character, as i could relate to the body not being in line with the mind, to the openings to new discoveries that came when age should have made them more difficult, and a few more things

i mentioned age but it's rather a question of mentality
maybe you're the same age as i. but if you've always lived in the same place, are still studying and aim for a quiet carrier in your hometown, the film probably didn't give you much food for thought

the failed attempt at sarcasm shows that you haven't actually considered what i was suggesting

 

[TheDeceased]

I thought vegans were supposed to be chill.

Eat a carrot, buddy. Calm down.

You implied that people within a certain age bracket didn't appreciate the film simply because they were too young to be able to do so, which is narrow-minded and generally untrue. Your original post come across as a little arrogant and condescending. Your second post confirmed it.

i'm here to exchange opinions, not to have people get upset by an hypothesis i proposed

I don't see anyone here who is more upset or (ironically) behaving in more of an immature fashion than you.

go out in a pub filled with drunken morons

get lost on an island

If you're here to exchange opinions, then maybe you should do that rather than resorting to schoolyard taunts like the one above.

Despite these flaws in your otherwise brilliant hypothesis, you still come across as arrogant. What are you, like 5 years older than the people you are stereotyping?

I'm 26 and I've been beside many people on their deathbeds. I've worked with people dying of AIDS and Alzheimer's disease. I'm married. I've lived permanently in 3 different countries and travelled to at least 50.

The film should tell you that age is irrelevant, yet (ironically again) you've half missed the point and come out of it labelling people of a certain age group.

Perhaps, in case you're still confused, that's why TheSpade poked his tongue out at you... and by the way I don't recall a smiley ever being the precursor to a fight. It seemed like a pretty innocent response to me...

On second thought, skip the carrot. Have a burger. Maybe that will help.

 

[TheSpade]

Put your dukes up I'm ready to scrap! :D

 

[Bob Loblaw]

I thought the movie was good. Not great, but I'd recommend it.

 

[vegan]

I thought vegans were supposed to be chill.

i am myself
i don't follow a prioris or cliches, although i usually don't react agressively

here, i had a knee-jerk reaction because i was upset to come to innocently propose an idea only to have a childish adult (= the spade, not you. [the deceased, i didn't comment on your post by the way. you only said my hypothesis was not true in your case and i have no problem with that]) posting smilies with the intent of annoying me and without actually commenting on the substance of what i had said

What are you, like 5 years older than the people you are stereotyping?

The film should tell you that age is irrelevant, yet (ironically again) you've half missed the point and come out of it labelling people of a certain age group.

read my post again

i mentioned age but it's rather a question of mentality
maybe you're the same age as i.

also, i didn't get where the message of the film was that "age is irrelevant"
either i missed it, or you misunderstood it
(do think of the wording before replying, as apparently similar sentences can carry different meanings)

you still come across as arrogant

no. you decide to see me as arrogant because you don't agree with what i said. period

i'll say it again : it's totally innocently that i proposed this idea, not trying to put one category above or under the other

if you're not open to others' ideas, why do you read their posts?
only to release some frustration by contradicting them (without arguing, just by negating)

Perhaps, in case you're still confused, that's why TheSpade poked his tongue out at you

i don't remember the other posts by the spade, so i can't guess if he's able of this, but i just got the impression that he wanted to oppose whatever didn't fit his opinion

and by the way I don't recall a smiley ever being the precursor to a fight. It seemed like a pretty innocent response to me...

smilies are meant to carry emotions + i'm not in a welcoming mood = i take them as they are
look at them again. he obviously wasn't trying to be nice to me

On second thought, skip the carrot. Have a burger. Maybe that will help.

did i already use the word childish in my post?
too bad, i don't like to use the same vocabulary over and over again

 

[TheSpade]

don't remember the other posts by the spade, so i can't guess if he's able of this, but i just got the impression that he wanted to oppose whatever didn't fit his opinion

Well if it doesn't fit my opinion I'm going to mention it, we're here to discuss things after all. You proposed a frankly ridicolous theory of why people didn't like this film and I mocked you ever so slightly. I'm sure you'll get over it.

he obviously wasn't trying to be nice to me

Do you often get as upset as you appear to be when an internet random is mean to you on a message board?

Calm down dear.

 

[TheDeceased]

if you're not open to others' ideas, why do you read their posts?
only to release some frustration by contradicting them

I love it when people ask questions and then answer them. Now you're saying that my opinion is invalid again. Not because of my age. This time it's because I'm just releasing frustration and contradicting you for the sake of it.

actually commenting on the substance of what i had said

There was little to no substance to what you said.

also, i didn't get where the message of the film was that "age is irrelevant"
either i missed it, or you misunderstood it

You're being pedantic. You understand my point so I couldn't be bothered clarifying it.

he obviously wasn't trying to be nice to me

No he wasn't. And neither am I. Does everyone have to try and be nice to you all the time?

 

[His Name Is Frank]

You guys are really getting some mileage out of the multi-quote option.