Kinematoscope

Today we reach an entry that I've already written about at some length: 2008's The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button.

It was a dilemma: do I search for more things to say than I had in February, or do I just go ahead and link you to my write-up during Oscar Coverage and my 2008 top ten list (it was #6) and do something a lot less serious than normal?

Aaand just guess which route I took.

So without further ado, today I eschew the regular format once again and present The Curious Case of Benjamin Button In A Nutshell.

This is my second parody attempt, done much in a style that I hope is somewhat distinguishable from Cleolinda Jones' Movies In Fifteen Minutes.

OUR LADY OF PERPETUALLY UNNECESSARY FRAMING DEVICES MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

Hurricane Katrina rages outside the window

CAROLINE: So mom, I know you're about to die, and I really just wanted to say-

OLD DAISY: (In between Darth Vader breaths) There was this guy who built a clock, one time..

CAROLINE: Uh, what?

OLD DAISY: His son died in WWI, so he made the clock run backwards.

CAROLINE: I don't really see how that relates to-

OLD DAISY: Even Roosevelt saw how totally thematically relevant it was.

BLACK NURSE #1: Excuse me white folks, do you mind if I make a call? My son might be underwater right now.

CAROLINE: Sure, go ahead- though why you'd need our permission I'm not sure.. So anyway mom, I was trying to have sort of an emotional moment with you, and-

OLD DAISY: Let's read an old diary from my bag instead.

CAROLINE: I, um.. what?

OLD DAISY: Just the sound of your voice comforts me. But not your feelings and crap.

CAROLINE: Er, all right... this thing is pretty heavily art-designed... Ahem: 'April 4, 1985. New Orleans. This is my last will and testament, though mostly a testament since I have no possessions or heirs...

We transtion to New Orleans on Armistice Day, 1918. The street is full of dramatically-lit revelers, pretty happy that we avenged Franz Ferdinand or whatever. Benjamin takes over the diary reading duties in Voice Over.

BENJAMIN (VO): My name is Benjamin, Benjamin Button, and I was born under unusual circumstances. A war ended, my mother died, my father nearly drowned me in a river: I've been told it was an especially good night to be born.

We see most of that stuff happen at The Button House, culminating with MR. BUTTON leaving the wrinkly little BENJAMIN on the steps at a Nursing Home.


NURSING HOME

QUEENIE: Oh, it sure is a nice night not to need a surname. What's on your mind, Mr. Weathers?

MR. WEATHERS: Well, you know about how we have our own personal lives, outside of these white folks? Your ex-boyfriend's come back from the war, and-

QUEENIE: Look! A wrinkled white baby!

MR. WEATHERS: Lord! We should probably leave that for the po-lice.

QUEENIE: Grotesquery is no match for a southern matron! I will name him Benjamin.

Benjamin, now a young apparent-octogenarian, begins growing up in the old-folks' home.

BENJAMIN (VO): It was a fun place to grow up, among the mentally infirm. Once I met a young girl named Daisy, and I never forgot her blue eyes.

BENJAMIN: Mama, I'm still kinda old and creepified. Am I going to die?

QUEENIE: You already lived longer than that doctor said you would before he fainted at the sight of you. You just remember what I told you.

BENJAMIN: 'You never know what's coming for you'?

QUEENIE: Not even if it's a box of chocolates.


QUEENIE'S CHURCH MEETING

PREACHER: Here in black church meetings we don't just DO NORMAL CHURCH THINGS, we are compelled to SHOUT THEM AND SORT OF SING THEM AS WELL!

CROWD: Hallelujah!

PREACHER: Lord, compel this OLD CRIPPLED MAN to WALK! RISE UP!

Benjamin indeed walks, in a totally not Gumpian way.

CROWD: Hallelujah!

BENJAMIN (VO): Then, his purpose served, the black preacher keeled over and died for comic effect.

CROWD: Halle...lujah?


NURSING HOME, Some time Later

DAISY: Psst, Benjamin! Wake up! Let's go downsairs to my fort!

BENJAMIN: Uh..okay!

DAISY: I've been asking old people to my fort all night, and you're the first taker! You're odd- odder than anyone I've ever met.

BENJAMIN: I'm not as old as I look. But you're a little kid with Cate Blanchett's dubbed-in voice, so we're even.

DAISY's GRANDMOTHER: AMBER ALERT! Back upstairs, the both of you!


THE DOCKS, Later still

LIGHTNING GUY: Did I ever tell you I was struck by lightning seven times? Once when I was just reading a Winston Groom novel.

CAPTAIN MIKE: Is anyone here so starved for life experience that they'll enjoy doing menial labor on a tugboat? There's really no screening process.

BENJAMIN: Ooh! Right here!

BENJAMIN (VO): He was the best crazy-mentor ever: he taught me to scrub poop off things, took me to a brothel, and ranted about his tattoos for a while. One time I ran into a guilt-ridden looking guy at the brothel.

MR. BUTTON: Your condition must be awful to endure.

BENJAMIN: It's not so bad being old, really. What line of work you in, Mr. Button?

MR. BUTTON: Buttons. Our slogan is: 'Button's Buttons: The Buttoniest Buttons that ever Buttoned in Button-town!' You mind if I drop in on you on occasion, even though we're allegedly strangers?

BENJAMIN: Just keep these drinks coming.

BENJAMIN (VO): In 1936, at the age of seventeen, when I still looked mid-sixites old, I left for Russia. I promised to send Daisy post-cards from everywhere I traveled, because whatever we had was less creepy via post.

FRAMING DEVICE HOSPITAL

OLD DAISY: Can you believe it? He really sent me cards from Newfoundland, Glasgow, Liverpool..

CAROLINE: Looking at the actual post-cards You mean...this is all true? Why didn't he go to the doctor? His genetics could have contained the secret to eternal youth!

OLD DAISY: Norway...

CAROLINE: ...

BACK IN RUSSIA

At a bar

CAPTAIN MIKE: I'm telling you, hummingbirds are amazing creatures! They're enduring cinematic images, for one thing, and their wings make the symbol for infinity!

BENJAMIN: What does that have to do with a backwards clock?

CAPTAIN MIKE: What?

BENJAMIN (VO): Then, I had an affair with a classy British woman, mostly because she mistook my youthful sheepishness for aged wisdom (and I looked like an old Brad Pitt). I figured I'd write Daisy about it, no big deal.

DAISY (in New York): HWHAT?!

Back in the Russian bar

CAPTAIN MIKE: Listen up, you! Since I wasn't already enough like Lt. Dan, our tugboat's been conscripted to serve in World War II. All of my crew are free to quit, or each you and and your one notable personality trait better be ready to fight!

Somehow the tugboat pwns a submarine in a doubtlessly very expensive scene, but several are killed and Benjamin finds Captain Mike with approximately seven hundred bullet-wounds in his chest)

CAPTAIN MIKE: You can be as mad as a mad dog at the way things went. You could swear, curse unresolved plot-holes, but when it comes to the end, you have to let go.

BENJAMIN: Wait! How did you ever tattoo your own back, anyway?

CAPTAIN MIKE: ...

Benjamin and one other survivor are rescued- Benajmin poignantly sees a hummingbird at sea, even though he's somewhere in Europe and hummingbirds are native to the Americas.

BENJAMIN (VO): Then, in 1945, I came home, looking kind of like Atticus Finch right after retirement.

NURSING HOME

QUEENIE: Sweet lord you're home! What'd you see while you were away? Sadness? Joy? Things that came for you even though you didn't see them in advance?

BENJAMIN: Pretty much.

LIGHTNING GUY: Did I ever tell you I was struck by lightning seven times? Once I was just sharing a birthday cake with John McCain.

DAISY (now a woman): Benajmin! Wow, you look way age-appropriate these days! It must be fate, us meeting again like this, even though I showed up at the old folks' home long after my grandmother's death. Or kismet. I'm a dancer now! I live in New York. You want to see me dance, just for you?

BENJAMIN: Well, I, uh-

DAISY: I have to go back tomorrow, it's a shame. If only there were something we could do for one night. Well?

BENJAMIN: I'd like to, but not tonight is all.

DAISY: Hmmp.

BENJAMIN: Plus, you're a smoker. Seriously- ashtray.

Daisy leaves- sometime later, MR. BUTTON shows up.

MR. BUTTON: Yep, the war's been pretty good for the button industry- lots of money. Sure is a pretty good time to be a Button...also I'm your dad.

BENJAMIN: WTF!?

MR. BUTTON: I just though you were a monster, is all! Also I'm about to die and again, millionaire.

BENJAMIN: Well, it was past time I got around to having a surname anyway.

LIGHTNING GUY: Did I ever tell you I was struck by lightning seven times? Once I was just golfing on top of the Sears tower during a storm. I think it's god's way of telling me I'm lucky to be alive.

BENJAMIN: I think it might be his way of trying to kill you.

NEW YORK, A Few Years Later

DAISY: Benajamin? What are you doing here? If I'd known you were coming, I would've tidied up this den of sin we call New York.

BENJAMIN: Well, I rejected you, so I thought I'd give you a shot at payback. It's only fair.

DAISY: No way! I happen to be dating some douchebag!

SOME DOUCHEBAG: So, you were a friend of her grandmother's?

FRAMING DEVICE HOSPITAL

OLD DAISY: Then I went all over Europe as a dancer.

CAROLINE: You never told me about any of that!

OLD DAISY: Well, you're kind of a square.

PARIS

BENJAMIN (VO): Now, in a very extreme turn of fate I met Daisy again. A truly monumental set of coincidences contrived to lead to Daisy getting hit by a car, so I rushed to Paris to be by her side. Clearly this was the extreme circumstance that would finally bring us together forever, or I wouldn't spend so much time building up to this moment.

DAISY: Benjamin? Get out before I MELT YOUR FACE OFF WITH RAGE!

Audience: Wait, what?

NEW ORLEANS

BENJAMIN (VO): I went home, posed for some Tommy Hilfiger ads, slept around- the usual. Then, in the spring of 1962, she came back.

DAISY: I'm sorry- I couldn't let you see me that way, before.

BENJAMIN: Well, can I see you...naked?

DAISY: And how!

BENJAMIN (VO): It was everything the life of the beautiful and rich could be. We traveled the world, made love, got an apartment. Queenie died, but life was otherwise pretty great... then we ruined it by having a kid. Typical.

FRAMING DEVICE HOSPITAL

CAROLINE: Hold on for just a minute here.

OLD DAISY: Questions at the end, please!

NEW ORLEANS

BENJAMIN: How I can I be a father when I'm heading in the other direction? I'm gonna get shorter, lose mental faculty, need diapers...

DAISY: How many obvious jokes about that being the same as old age do I have to make before you change your mind?

BENJAMIN (VO): When you were one, Caroline, I pulled the old cigarette routine and left. I traveled the world, but I sent you post-cards, so we're cool, right? Button out!

FRAMING DEVICE HOSPITAL

CAROLINE: Worst. Twist. Ending. Ever!

Awkward pause.

CAROLINE: What ever happened to him, anyway?

OLD DAISY: Well, he showed back up once, you met him and we lied to you some more, then I cheated on your "father" with him.

CAROLINE: ...

OLD DAISY: Then a few years back, he showed up as a little kid with Alzheimer's, and eventually died in my arms as an infant.

CAROLINE: ...

OLD DAISY: That was the same year they took down that backwards-moving clock.

CAROLINE: Who cares about the stupid clock? I'm gonna go get a drink.

Daisy looks to the window in her last moments of life and sees a hummingbird, even though they weigh as much as a nickel and Hurricane Katrina had winds of up to 175 MPH.

END.


Overall:

The Verdict: Slightly Lower.

The more I watch this movie, the more I sour on it a little each time. Sophie pointed out that it's not that it's bad, it's that it could have been so great. I like it for the occasional humor, Lightning Guy especially, and as a massive technical acheivement, but Eric Roth's screenplay just kills me, more and more.

Coming Up...

Thursday, September 24th: Bringing Up Baby

Tuesday, September 29th: The Battle Of Algiers

Part Three of a Five Part series on the Best Picture nominees.

When The Dark Knight was regrettably left out of the Best Picture competition, it left The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as the lone crowd-pleaser among the nominees. As it turns out, Slumdog Millionaire was simply waiting for its nomination to rollout nationwide, and it will cross $100 million as well, but Button will end up with the clear lead at the box office when all is said and done.

But as crowd-pleasers go, it's certainly inspired mixed reactions: critics liked it overall, but they didn't necessarily like it to the tune of Oscar winner, settling at 71% positive on RottenTomatoes.com. Word of mouth is relatively love it or hate it- it's beautiful! It's way too long! The romance is flat! The romance is moving!

I certainly enjoyed it, enough to see it again within a week (making it and The Dark Knight (four times, one in IMAX!) the only two films I saw more than once in theaters in 2008), but certain elements did seem to wear on me a little more the second time through. But they continue to grate more with time, or will Button settle on my shelf as a flawed but grandiose piece of filmmaking?

Click for More...

Let's get my single biggest complaint out of the way- screenwriter Eric Roth, apparently motivated by the recent death of a parent, decided to have the film framed as an elderly woman, on her deathbed in a hospital amidst the chaos of Hurricane Katrina, relating her life story to her daughter by way of a mystery diary among her possessions.

So instead of the film begging in 1918 with the voice-over "My name is Benjamin, Benjamin Button," we get to spend twenty minutes trying vainly to understand a heavily accented, wheezing Cate Blanchett in old age makeup tell a random story about a backwards clock, and then ask her daughter to start reading Benjamin's diary, which transports us back with those words. Over the rest of the film, we occasionally come back to the hospital, usually serving no purpose other than pausing the story, or to hear a motivation from Blanchett that was pretty clear anyway.

Only once does any memorable element arise- (spoilers aplenty from here) the daughter turns out to be Benjamin's, and in the diary are postcards and letters written to her, but never sent. A letter, voice-overed in by Pitt, is set to a montage for a nice moment, cinematically, but the whole thing could've be worked in some other way.

The whole setup leads to plenty of logistics issues by setting a fantastic, era-spanning story in a modern, socially relevant context (not once does the daughter quibble with the whole "aging backwards" thing), plus it puts an exclamation point on the biggest criticism of the film, and my other big complaint:

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button takes place in a fairy-tale, magic New Orleans where there is no racism whatsoever, nor any race-related issues encountered by the African-American matron of an old folks home raising a white (if odd-looking) child she found on a doorstep.

In the film's defense, it would be difficult to address race during the story without it feeling like a callous footnote, though it has plenty of time to do so. But the addition of a framing device consciously set during a disaster which brought a huge focus on racial inequalities in the region, that focuses solely on the plight of two affluent white people- well. That sort of highlights the lack.

Beyond that however, I couldn't find a single thing wrong with the film- in fact, when I'm able to fast forward the framing bits, I'll be witness to a masterpiece. It's easier to write about the flaws of a film than the strengths any day, but there's a wealth of majesty in Button that's more than deserving of 13 Oscar nominations.

Fincher, in a triumphant arrival to the truly mainstream, still lights everything in blue or orange, but works flawless technical mastery in every department, from the digital mapping of Brad Pitt onto smaller actors to the World War One battle between a tugboat and a submarine. The film moves seamlessly in design and costuming from the begginning of the twentieth century to the near-present without having to reference too many specific events to spell out signifiers for us.

I've never been one to complain about a film's length, personally- I think something basic and arithmetical in me logically assumes I got more for my $9.00 that way- and Button certainly didn't overstay its welcome, framing device aside. Journeys should feel like journeys, and we need time for two life stories to unfold.

The central romance is realized well enough for me- plenty of people have pointed out that Roth just wrote Forrest Gump again (simple southern boy meets bohemian dancer girl as a child, later they reunite but she pushes him away, finally they reconnect but it ends tragically), and that Button mirrors that film in general arc, replacing the historical reimaginings with reverse aging wizardry, but so what? Art repeats itself, and if I saw Button first, I'd like it more. In an era of film with so many pointless remakes, I think I can stomach two great films that run parallel to one another.

The melodrama is even well-punctuated by occasional levity- did I ever tell you I was struck by lightning seven times? And the theme "life is what you make it" might've been a bit less than people were expecting, given the supernatural premise, but that doesn't make it less resonant.

All in all, it would be great if Button lost the framing device and engaged with race relations in a meaningful way, but it would be greedy to ask for brilliance to fall left and right into theaters every year (2007 spoiled us, it really did). The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a testament to the cinema of spectacle, of wondrous vision and achievements not possible in other media.

I think it'll demand plenty of repeat viewings- and not just for Lightning Guy. Though he's pretty awesome.

Today, dear readers, we will decide what the Oscar nominations should have been. Who says 6,000 minds are better than one? First up, the 2008 Oscar Nominations Dave would've liked to see.

We decided to stick to official Academy eligibility rules, and we have no basis to predict the three short films, best documentary, or best foreign language. But the other nineteen are right in our wheelhouse.

Best Sound:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Quantum of Solace
Wall-E
Wanted

LOUD NOISES!

Best Sound Editing:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Quantum of Solace
Wall-E
Wanted

I DON’T KNOW WHAT WE’RE YELLING ABOUT!

More...

Best Special Effects:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man

The Dark Knight gets rewarded for it’s amazing practical effects, while Iron Man gets nominated for its clean and crisp CGI designs. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button gets the last spot because of the digital wizardry incorporated on Brad Pitt.

Best Make Up:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

I would call this a category of obvious choices.

Best Art Direction:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Milk
The Reader
Revolutionary Road

Movies that catch my attention here usually have something very unique to them or they have a grand scale. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Milk, and Revolutionary Road fall into the grand scale idea for me. The Dark Knight’s new Batcave and The Reader’s apartments and prison cell are the unique ones here.

Best Costume Design:

Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

Decadence (Australia, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Duchess, and Revolutionary Road) rules this category, but I also have to give credit for ingenuity (The Dark Knight).

Best Animated Feature:

Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E

Thanks for playing, Bolt and Kung Fu Panda.

Best Song:

“Down to Earth” – Wall-E
“Dracula’s Lament” – Forgetting Sarah Marshall
“Gran Torino” – Gran Torino
“Jai Ho” – Slumdog Millionaire
“The Wrestler” – The Wrestler

“Down to Earth” and “Jai Ho” are the perennial favorites. How did Springsteen’s “The Wrestler” not secure a nomination? I have not a single clue in the world. “Gran Torino”’s appearance is primarily on pedigree.
If Jason Segel got the chance to perform “Dracula’s Lament” at the Oscars – with puppets to boot – it would be legendary.

Best Score:

Alexandre Desplat – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Nico Muhly – The Reader
Thomas Newman – Revolutionary Road
Thomas Newman – Wall-E
Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard – The Dark Knight

Desplat’s simple, haunting score echoes throughout the film and is readily accessible listening to it separately. Newman gets rewarded twice for his efforts this year because they were both touching and eloquent.

Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard are rewarded for this brash, innovative score that helps set the tone for the film.

Nico Muhly is to The Reader this year what Jonny Greenwood was to There Will Be Blood last year. Bold statement? Yes. However, a 28 year old who can compose a score like this, having no previous film experience – like Greenwood – and deliver a heartbreaking score gets credit where credit is due.

Best Editing:

Matt Chesse and Richard Pearson – Quantum of Solace
Elliot Graham - Milk
Claire Simpson – The Reader
Lee Smith – The Dark Knight
Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Again, sometimes the scale of the work – Milk, The Dark Knight, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – get you rewarded. Other times, stellar sequences – like in The Reader and Quantum of Solace – get you just desserts. It also surprises how come more action/suspense movies do not receive nominations here because the editing can be those type of film’s best friend.

Best Cinematography:

Roger Deakins – Revolutionary Road
Roger Deakins and Chris Menges – The Reader
Claudio Miranda – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Wally Pfister – The Dark Knight
Harris Savides - Milk

This category and score are my two favorite technical categories. Is it wrong to say that these seem like obvious choices?

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire
David Hare – The Reader
Christopher Nolan, Johnathan Nolan, and David “I’m Just Glad to Be Here” Goyer – The Dark Knight
Eric Roth and the Woman Who Wrote Practical Magic – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley – Doubt

Again, this seems like a pretty obvious category to me.

Best Original Screenplay:

Dustin Lance Black - Milk
Jennifer Lumet – Rachel Getting Married
Martin McDonagh – In Bruges
Robert Siegel – The Wrestler
Andrew Stanton, Peter Docter, and Jim Reardon – Wall-E

Frankly, I was surprised that the Academy overlooked Jennifer Lumet’s script because of the pedigree she has and it was, you know, actually a well-written movie highlighted by a great performance. It just seemed out that it was left out.

Black and McDonagh seem like gimmes here because of their well-crafted and touching – yet funny – scripts.

If Andrew Stanton and company were to win they should thank Brad Bird first because I think the level of story that animated movies are presenting these days is fantastic.

Siegel’s tender script was overlooked and I do not fully understand how it could have been. The Wrestler is touching, deft, and it never gets bogged down with melodramatizations or cliches.

Best Supporting Actress:

Penelope Cruz – Vicky Christina Barcelona
Viola Davis – Doubt
Taraji P. Hanson – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler
Kate Winslet – The Reader

While I am aware that Kate Winlset is currently up for Best Actress for The Reader, I felt that she did deserve the double nomination this year. To remain in accordance with the Academy’s rules of eligibility, she cannot be nominated twice in the same category, which – to me – seems ridiculous. So, that is why Winslet appears here for The Reader.

Marisa Tomei’s nuanced performance in The Wrestler mirrors the fallen glory and times of Mickey Rourke’s fine performance. Taraji P. Hanson does an admirable job as Benjamin Button’s adopted mother, which was also on par with Penelope Cruz’s performance in Vicky Christina Barcelona.

The person that earned her spot her the second most – behind Winslet – is Viola Davis’ confounded mother portrayal in Doubt. I was quite impressed with her performance in the film, while dealing with an obtuse and terrifying subject matter.

Best Supporting Actor:

Ralph Fiennes – In Bruges
Brendan Gleeson – In Bruges
Phillip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
David Kross – The Reader
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight

I have to abide by Academy rules and regulations, therefore, I must have five nominees even though this category is a foregone conclusion.

After Ledger though, Hoffman gives the second best supporting performance of the year, which explains his presence.

So, why Fienees and Gleeson? Fiennes’ profanely insane – or insanely profane – performance was probably one of the better comedic performances of the year, more so than Robert Downey Jr.’s turn in Tropic Thunder. Gleeson’s mentoring role had the appropriateness of an awesome dad without being preachy. That subtly gives him the edge over his competition.

David Kross’ distraught performance in The Reader merits a nomination because he holds his own against Kate Winslet’s performance and under the tutelage of HITLER!

Best Actress:

Cate Blanchett – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
Meryl Streep – Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas – I’ve Loved You So Long
Kate Winlset – Revolutionary Road

Hathaway, Streep, and Winslet are the frontrunners in this category and have been for since award season began. The last two spots here have alternated a bit between Angelina Jolie, Melissa Leo, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Winslet for The Reader.

I give my fourth nomination to Blanchett’s performance in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button because of the second half of the movie. The first half of the film, I found her deplorable, but the second half is where she began to shine for me, making the character respectable and sympathetic through moments of sorrow. I just wish she had declined to be a part of a framing device.

The much forgotten I’ve Loved You So Long gets a nomination for its lead performance. While I have not seen the film, I also have not seen Frozen River or Changeling. I am left with the impression that Thomas’ performance is more moving than the other two’s.

Best Actor:

Leonardo Di Caprio – Revolutionary Road
Clint Eastwood – Gran Torino
Colin Farrell – In Bruges
Sean Penn – Milk
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler

To me, Penn and Rourke seem like locks for this category. Ultimately, they had the finest performances of the year.

Colin Farrell put on a display and a side of himself that audiences had yet to encounter. He was heartfelt and funny, which surprised me because this was new territory for him. I hope that he stays on this path because he will finally tap into the potential that he demonstrated in Minority Report and Tigerland.

Di Caprio’s venereal performance as a jaded suburbanite in 1950’s America was an excellent counterpoint to Kate Winslet’s idealist.

Finally, Clint Eastwood is becoming like a fine wine. The older he gets, the better his work turns out to be. The plot summary of Gran Torino is rather rudimentary, but Eastwood’s earnest performance suits the film quite well and is probably one of his top three performances.

Best Director:

Darren Arnofsky – The Wrestler
Stephen Daldry – The Reader
David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Christopher Nolan – The Dark Knight
Gus Van Sant – Milk

In this category, Arnofsky scores his first nomination for a touching and depressing tale of a wrestler struggling to hold on to the glory days. Arnofsky lets the scenes unfold, but knows when to cut them off before they become too melodramatic or overwrought with cliches.

Stephen Daldry has been nominated for Best Director for every film he has ever made. I did not realize this until last week. His intimate and compelling touch earns him his third nomination in my book.

David Fincher seems to be the most obvious nominee here. He directed an epic film, has a constant track record, has never been nominated, and delivered in every way imaginable on a film that some questioned its ability to even be filmed.

The Dark Knight has Christopher Nolan’s fingerprints all over it. Not only did this much hyped movie meet the hype, it surpassed it. I cannot remember a film in recent memory that had such extraordinary expectations and then proceeded to blow them out of the water like The Dark Knight did.

Van Sant gets my final slot over Sam Mendes for the control and deft handling he displayed in Milk. While Mendes’ job on Revolutionary Road was good, it seemed at times that the actors were given free reign of a scene and he just stood back and admired. While that can also be a sign of a director knowing his actor’s strengths, I think Van Sant did a better job of utilizing those strengths in Milk.

Best Picture:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
In Bruges
The Reader
Wall-E

When the Academy’s nominations came out a few weeks ago, I was certain that The Dark Knight would have its Best Picture nomination. I thought the Academy may overlook Christopher Nolan, but there is no way they can pass us one of the largest box office successes.

And then it happened. No nomination.

I saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was there and was perfectly accepting of that. I thought Fincher’s unusual tale of love, heartbreak, and mysticism was a wonderful film. However, seeing two of the most acclaimed movies of the year – The Dark Knight and Wall-E – get overlooked was stunning.

So, on my list, The Dark Knight and Wall-E get their respected dues.

Another film that made my Best Picture nomination section was In Bruges. Martin McDonaugh’s inaugural effort into full-length features was one of the crowning achievements of the year. It was funny, morally complex, and well executed. More over, who knew Colin Farrell could do comedy?

My final spot came down to two movies: The Reader and Milk. I guess what surprised me was that Milk, while a very good movie, was almost too conventional. However, when the real Academy nominations came out, I was holding The Reader responsible for The Dark Knight not getting in. So, I saw The Reader the weekend following nominations and thought, “Well, Kate Winslet does give a fantastic performance, I don’t see how it secured the nomination.” About a week later, I went and saw it again. I found the movie moving in its little moments, complex, and heartbreaking. While the Weinsteins may get ridiculed for their campaign tactics, I think Daldry’s efforts yielded an excellent movie and I am beginning to wonder if Frost/Nixon was the real culprit in getting The Dark Knight booted from the race. Would the four people who saw Frost/Nixon have that much sway? Only time will tell.

Totals:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – 14
The Dark Knight – 13
The Reader – 9
Wall-E – 7
Milk – 6
Revolutionary Road – 6
In Bruges – 5
The Wrestler – 5
Doubt – 4
Quantum of Solace – 3
Gran Torino – 2
Rachel Getting Married – 2
Slumdog Millionaire – 2
Wanted – 2
Australia – 1
Bolt – 1
The Dutchess – 1
Forgetting Sarah Marshall – 1
Hellboy II: The Golden Army – 1
Iron Man – 1
I’ve Loved You So Long – 1
Kung Fu Panda – 1
Vicky Christina Barcelona – 1

And now my own top ten of 2008!



10. Tropic Thunder

As a lover of films and a writer with the aspiration to be involved in the making of them someday, there’s nothing quite so appealing as a movie about a movie being made. I watched all of Singin’ In The Rain the other day on PBS, and not just for tap dancing.

Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder is a future cult classic rich in caricatures of all of today’s mass-marketed stars and franchises, and a kickass action film to boot. It takes on multiple targets, and doesn’t worry about offending anyone, refreshingly. Plus, I could watch an entire comedy composed of nothing but fake trailers.

9. The Wrestler

I am officially a Darren Anofsky fan, and not only because I also enjoy playfully flipping my friends the bird on national television. As much as I liked Pi and Requiem For A Dream, I had sort of written him off as a limited visionary with a thing for rapid edits and depressing the hell out of people.

But with the imaginatively original The Fountain and the much more personal The Wrestler, he’s proved as flexible as any modern auteur.

8. Let The Right One In

A brilliant, casually frank blending of a coming of age tale and vampire creeper movie. A future Halloween staple for me.

(see my top 250 entry about it for more)

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7. Milk

I figured, if anyone could do away with the standard rise and fall tropes of the biopicture, it’s Gus Van Sant, and he mostly did. The more I think about Milk, the more I like it as the perfect blend of an accessible story and Van Sant’s art nouveau sensibility. The pace is frenetic enough to keep people interested, but there is, on occasion, an entire shot framed on the reflection of a blood-spattered whistle.



6. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

I really want to like this film enough for the top five, I gotta say. You got epic historical events, great effects, a pretty good love story…

But oh.. modern day framing device. Why? Not only is the cloying, overhanded modern day framing device of Benjamin Button unnecessary in most ways to the story, it solidifies the biggest critique of the film: the story itself is set in a completely racism-free New Orleans, and the framing device follows the travails of two affluent white people DURING HURRICANE KATRINA.

So, sorry, solid effort, but not a timeless classic. Plus the use of the Arcade Fire's "My Body Is A Cage" in a tv spot (above) made me expect a much darker, more extreme tale than I got.

5. Rachel Getting Married

Speaking of race relations, Rachel Getting Married got to traffic in a background composed entirely of upper class, multicultural synergy- basking in the glow of Obama-fever essentially. Though the central interracial couple getting hitched is largely a subplot to the travails of Anne Hathaway’s rehab-addled sister and the rest of the family’s dysfunction, there’s still a huge, musical cast all through the edges of Jonathan Demme’s filmscape, making an entire world for the weekend to unfold in.

It’s not that Rachel Getting Married is exceptionally groundbreaking in dramatic terms, but it’s exceptionally well-realized. It’s an experience, and a memorable one.

4. In Bruges

Another film that could give a rat’s ass about fitting in to one particular genre. It’s a buddy comedy, it’s a Ritchie-esque thriller, it’s a stagy drama. The best work I’ve seen from Colin Farrell, and splendid performances from Brendan Gleason and Ralph Fiennes round out a movie that’s hilarious, tragic, and all around outstanding.

(see my top 250 writeup)

3. Wall-E

Things I already thought were awesome before I saw Wall-E: Robots. Pixar. Showtunes. Space travel. Fred Willard. Love.

Case closed.



2. The Fall

Remember how The Cell looked really cool, but was insufferably self-serious and enjoyed playing Buffalo Bill a bit too much? What if you took all of the director’s visual flair and applied it to a game of competing fairy tales between the guy from Pushing Daisies and an adorable little girl?

It’s essentially a companion piece to The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, in many ways, and it definitely helped fill the Gilliam-sized hole in my heart after Tideland offended everybody to the point of revulsion and The Brothers Grimm out and out sucked.

1. The Dark Knight

Where to start? Everything about The Dark Knight took a leap forward from Batman Begins, a film I already have a poster of.

The score is moody, dark, and epic. The Joker is one of the most quotable, memorable villains ever (full disclosure- I dressed as The Joker for Halloween. Yeah. I can do the voice pretty well, thank you.) The action set pieces are remarkable, the use of IMAX cameras was groundbreaking, the magic trick...

I do, I’ll concede, have problems with everything in the third act of the film- it does too good a job convincing us that the world is truly chaos to have us believe in hope. But a lot of people like the bit with the boats and all, so maybe I’m just a cynical, hipster douchebag.

My theory is that if the film ended two thirds of the way through (right after some stuff blows up, and Alfred burns a note, if you’ve seen it), then it would be a truly grim masterpiece that the Academy couldn’t have found a way to ignore. But then there’s no way it breaks $400 million, because people want a little hope at the end.

As it is, neither the picture, Christopher Nolan, or the screenplay are up for statuettes, but I’m okay with it now, you know why? Because The Dark Knight can be the outcast. It can be the movie the country deserves, but not the movie it wants right now. A silent guardian, a watchful protector of shunned masterpieces. A dark knight.

The following lists my friend Dave's top ten films of last year. The cinematic year extends to the Oscars, so it's not too late for our lists at all. Not at all.



10. Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Too often comedy is overlooked on a critic’s top-ten list. I think comedy that is poignant, good, and actually makes you laugh should be rewarded. Jason Siegel’s script makes you laugh out loud, cringe at the awkward moments, and sympathize with the characters. The work is never over-the-top or taking itself too seriously.

Siegel’s everyman character caught up with a woman who is out of his league is something that is very relatable. I hope that he continues to develop scripts and – I know I am not alone on this – I would pay money to see Dracula as a stage musical with puppets.

9. The Wrestler

When I read the premise of Darren Arnofsky’s The Wrestler I was skeptical. I thought the film sounded like too much of a cliché and the hype around Mickey Rourke was being blown out of portion.

However, this movie ended up being one of the better surprises of the year for me. The clichés are kept to a minimum, Rourke’s performance is superb, Marisa Tomei is still showing the world that her My Cousin Vinny Oscar was no fluke, and Springsteen delivers a fantastic song for the film.

I felt the most overlooked element of this film though was Arnofsky’s direction. He deftly handles the dramatic scenes with the action scenes, while throwing in a few sequences of awkward, heartbreaking comedy. The other aspect of this film that I felt was ignored by the Academy was Robert Siegel’s compelling script about what people do to hold onto any semblance of glory they once had.

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8. Milk

Sean Penn’s embodiment of San Francisco politician/trailblazer Harvey Milk was an acute and stirring performance. The praise for James Franco and Josh Brolin are equally deserved in their supporting roles.

Dustin Lance Black’s script is tender and heartfelt with Gus Van Sant steering the ship do a respectable avenue.

I guess the only thing that surprised me about Milk was how conventional the film was. Duncan described the full-length theatrical trailer (above) as being “grand” in scale and I wholly agree with him. However, that audacious nature of the trailer never materialized in the film, which does not make the film a disappointment by any stretch of the imagination, but I was just expecting something a bit more.

7. Revolutionary Road

One of the grimmest movies of the year, yet I found it stirring in the performances that were delivered from Di Caprio, Winslet, and Shannon.

Yates’ tale of the destruction of the Wheeler family in 1950’s America may lack the subtly and subtext the book possessed, but Mendes is comfortable allowing his actors to take control of the scene and script.

Initially, I thought this was Winslet’s better performance – in comparison with The Reader – however, I realized that her performance is strongly tethered to Di Caprio’s converse one. Though the development of the two primary characters is kind of flat, the magic is based in the realism of the characters. People do not necessarily change and lead minute existences.

Even though I laud the performance delivered by Michael Shannon, it detracts from the overall story because his character, although overtly brash, is a more subtle presence in the novel. I know that sly elements of a book cannot be translated to the big screen sometimes, but I felt that Shannon’s character, though fascinating to watch, was a distraction from the plot at points.

6. Iron Man

The most fun at the movies in 2008. Seriously. It was not heavy entertainment, did not require too much of you, and Downey delivers a charismatic performance that was on par with Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow.

5. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I agree with the sentiment that this movie possesses a lot of flaws. I do not like the framing device utilized in the movie. I found that the movie is a bit slow at certain points, but those are my two complaints. Most reviews followed up the flaw statement with the fact the movie was merely “good,” not “great.”

I disagree. I think the movie was great. I think the direction was spot on, the production value is all there on the screen, and the performances from Pitt and Blanchett are excellent.

More over, I think David Fincher deserves a lot of credit for this movie. A movie with a difficult concept, a long script, and an enormous budget that came with enormous expectations was all packaged together by him. Truly a grand effort from Fincher.

I think that when people review the 2009 Academy Awards in ten years and see that Slumdog Millionaire won Best Picture, they will be disturbed. I feel that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button will age better than Slumdog and ten years from now the debate between these two films will replace Titanic vs. L. A. Confidential.

4. In Bruges

Best original script of the year. Easily quotable, highly funny, outstandingly executed by the actors. Martin McDonagh’s first full-length feature film was a great debut that should be considered one of the best and most original debuts ever.

The acting between the three leads – Farrell, Fiennes, and Gleeson – is probably the second best triumvirate on screen this year. Who knew Farrell and Fiennes could be so funny?

3. Wall-E

When will the Academy realize that animated movies can be the best movies of the year? I think too often that people want to classify animated films as merely cartoons and the audience of these films are strictly children. However, films like Wall-E transcend those elements and achieve a higher level of recognition and appreciation because the audience is broader.

The silent robots have one of the better love stories of the year, even though they may just make sound effects at one another. It is tenderer and touching to see the dancing and love between two animated, non-carbon-based life forms than some of the other love stories movie studios expected audiences to buy into.

I think Pixar is one of the best run movie studios today and a studio – yes, a studio – has achieved a level that I tend to reserve for individuals. Pixar, whatever they produce, beyond a doubt, beyond seeing a trailer, I will sign up for and see in theatres because I know what they are going to deliver.



2. The Reader

Sometimes a movie is made by its little moments. Something that a viewer may not pick up on a first or second viewing, but after multiple viewings or recalling the film from one’s memory. The Reader is that type of film for me. It was the subtle nuances that are expressed throughout the film that make it morally confounding and utterly heartbreaking.

The initial time I saw this film, I was more than reluctant to accept it as anything beyond Oscar baiting drama. However, after the first viewing, I found Winslet’s performance as an ex-SS officer completing hypnotizing. The callousness, the coarseness, and heartbreak she exudes from scene-to-scene was astounding.

Then I became fascinated by Nico Muhly’s compelling score. I have no other parallel to draw to him except for Jonny Greenwood’s work on There Will Be Blood. For a debut score, Muhly delivered magnificently and I find it to be compulsively listenable. I went out and purchased the soundtrack and cannot stop listening to it.

I saw it again, about a week after I initial saw it and began to pick up smaller, tendered moments. The slight nods characters share with one another. The subtly of a character being abandoned. The duality of character’s actions in relation to one another. The interplay of the editing. Deakins admirable job with the camera.

I was more stunned that the movie became better for me after a second time. Usually, after I see a movie for the second time I start to take a part the nuances of a film, critique performances and elements harsher, degrade any plot holes. The Reader was only one of two films this year that I enjoyed more the second time I saw it than the first time.

1. The Dark Knight

This was the other movie that I enjoyed more the second time I saw it.

Recently, I was thinking about the term “comic book” movie and how it applied to The Dark Knight. The phrase most associated with the film is that it is being regarded as the “best comic book movie ever made.” Do we refer to The Godfather as the “best adaptation of a novel ever?” No. Do we refer to Schindler’s List as the “best Holocaust movie ever?” No. Do we refer to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly as the “best western ever?” No. Why? Because these movies transcend their respective genres to ascend to the heights reserved for the greatest movies ever.

So, why do we feel the need to continue to refer to The Dark Knight as the “best comic book movie ever?” People should just drop it and refer to it as it should be:
One of the best movies ever.

I will single out that line: One of the best movies ever.

I have seen many films over the course of my life, but I have seen only a handful that are executed so well in every aspect of the film that movie leaves you stunned. The Dark Knight was that to me this year.

To put it another way, Duncan and I were discussing how in 2007 there were a lot of fantastic movies. We each easily thought of four or five movies that we could easily give four stars to and have no qualms about it. This year, we could only think of two that would merit four stars from the both of us: Wall-E and The Dark Knight.
Entertainment Weekly should consider doing amendments to their “100 Greatest Oscar Snubs” article and place The Dark Knight on the list.