FILM REVIEW BRIEFS 12.30.08

 Yep, that's Brad Pitt!

Photo via WENN.com

Saw the Forrest Gumpesque, man aging backwards Oscar bait film, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" the other night.  Probably, not the best film of the year, but has that epic quality that the Academy falls for so easily.  Yet, thoroughly engrossing and entertaining and did not feel like an almost three hour flick!  But those with bladder control issues may want to wait til it is released on DVD, which these days may mean the day after it wins the expected boatload of Oscars!  Brad Pitt and Taraji P.Henson as the woman who finds the young/old baby and raises him are receiving all of the kudos and awards attention, but IMO, Cate Blanchett as the love of Brad (Benjamin's) life gave the best performance by far and deserves more awards notice.  And Brad Pitt's performance was pretty monotone. He is no Tom Hanks!

Other holiday releases that I have seen were, "Milk" with a perfect performance by the always superb Sean Penn as the tragically doomed first gay person elected to public office in the United States, Harvey Milk in seventies San Francisco and I enjoyed, "Cadillac Records" with Adrien Brody which also had solid performances by Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters and Beyonce as Etta James!

Still on my list are, "Doubt" with personal fave, Meryl Streep, Revolutionary Road and The Reader with the always fabulous Kate Winslet, Frost/Nixon and the sleeper hit,"Slumdog Millionaire".

On the DVD front, I know I am in the minority with my take on Batman: The Dark Knight", but I found it to be pretty mediocre and a far cry from the superior prequel from a few years back.  The late Heath Ledger had a few good moments, but a posthumous Oscar is getting a little carried away.  At least, it was better than the highly overrated, "Ironman" which only provided a good performance from the consistently reliable Robert Downey Jr.  No surprise that Terrence Howard was "fired" from participation in the obligatory sequel, he was so not credible as a military commander!  Also, viewed the arthouse hit from last spring, "The Visitor", starring the dead dad from Six Feet Under, Richard Jenkins in a good little film about relationships, but the pro-immigrant or undocumented worker message bordered on propaganda.

What did you guys think about these films and do you have any recommendations for movies not mentioned?