The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

And the Oscar goes to...whoops, have I spoken too soon? The Curious Case of Benjamin Button should come as no suprise that it is one of the best movies of 2008. Though it is a polar opposite of the 22 page short story, the 167 minute movie is satistfying. The movie is depressing and is themed with death, therefore many maybe uncomfortable with it.

Benjamin Button is truly a curious case. Played by Brad Pitt, he was born "under unusual circumstances" with the body of an 80 year old. Left on the doorstep of Queenie (Taraji P. Huston), the owner of a retirement home, he is adopted and is raised by her. Even more strange, he is becoming younger as people grow older. At the retirement home, he meets Daisy (Cate Blanchett), the love of his life. The movie chronicles his life adventures.

The movie is butt numbing to say the least. Though it may be well measured in time, it is 167 minutes and it does feel that way. Some parts of the movie aren't really all that necessary. I'm scared to know how long the director's cut is if one exists!

David Fincher's direction is amazing. Some shots are absolutely gorgeous such as the one in which he watches the sunrise with his biological father. Others are not including the war sequence which is filmed very well. Whether or not the movie's length is his fault or not we will never know, but he is forgiven.

Benjamin Button should see shiny statuettes in its future. Though the movie does seem to drag on a bit, it is well worth it. Taraji P. Huston, David Fincher, and the picture itself should be getting awards come February. The movie will captivate all viewers and the end will leave them in tears. As we see Benjamin age (or quite the opposite), we are him and we feel the pain he must be going through.

Eyes Without a Face (1960)

Eyes Without a Face is in French and subtitled in English. It is also called Les Yeux Sans Visage or The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus.

Eyes Without a Face is an odd cult classic. The movie is eerie and distubring and at the same time, amusing to watch. There is great direction and some really good special effects for its time. This little known chiller is surely an eye opener.

The strange story may sound slightly cliche, but that is only now. It is about Christiane, a sweet girl whose face has been horribly disfigured in a car accident and is now forced to wear a creepy mask. Her father, the person responsible for the accident, has concocted a plan with a nurse to give her a new face. The only way to do this is to graft the skin of other women onto hers. The events that follow are not easy to watch.

As I have previously mentioned, the effects in the movie are quite good. The one time we do see Christiane's face without the mask is shocking because it does look quite real. Also, the scene where the doctor cuts off a girl's face looks realistic. It is creepy how often the film feels real.

Unfortunately, the film is not known by very many, but it is a member of the Criterion Collection, therefore it gets the treatment it deserves on DVD. The stark black and white imagery is surreal and beautiful. Many may be scared away from the film by its subject matter, but one shouldn't. It probably may come off as hokey, but to me it is a creepy, very real movie.

Taxi Driver (1976)

One of Martin Scorcese's earliest is also one of his best. Taxi Driver remains a classic because it tells a timeless disturbing story and manages to get into the viewer's mind. Sad and honest, Taxi Driver delivers a great tale of mental deterioration and New York City. Early performances galore in this film.

Robert De Niro stars as Travis Bickle, a Vietnam veteran who returned home recently. He finds himself unable to sleep and, as a result, applies for a job as a cabby. He gets the job working for 6 PM-6 AM. What he sees disturbs him including a teenage prostitute who is beautifully played by Jodie Foster in her debut performance.

If it weren't for the acting, Taxi Driver could have been a film that people had forgot over the 32 years that it has been out. Albert Brooks is perfect as Tom and Cybil Sheperd is Betsy in a really early performance. As I have mentioned before, Jodie Foster does the part of Iris justice in fact so much that she was nominated for an Oscar for it. Harvey Keitel as Iris' pimp is amazing. Last, but surely not least, Robert De Niro is fantastic as the mentally insane Travis.

It is the violence in this film that causes us to remember it. Towards the end, a character's fingers get blown off by a gun. These days, this is nothing, but for the 70's this was really graphic. Still, the scenes with violence are disturbing, but not nearly as much as the used to be. A splatter of blood on a wall is no longer a taboo, it simply is very ordinary.

Taxi Driver is a memorable classic. The mental deterioration theme has been revisited in many films, but this is probably the most memorable case of it. Like many Scorcese films, when Taxi Driver gets into your head, it doesn't come out easily. The great ensemble cast and score by Bernard Herrman are superb. Martin Scorcese really makes the phrase "You talkin' ta me?" a memorable one.

Sin City (2005)

Before Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino teamed up for Grindhouse, they made Sin City. The adaptation of Frank Miller, the other director of this, is faithful and fun. The film is bloody and beautiful. It is hard not to be seduced by the red blood and black and white.

The film revolves around three stories of violence in Basin City, a city overrun by crime. There's Marv (Mickey Rourke), a man whose girlfriend was murdered while he was sleeping and is constantly searching for her killer. Then there is Dwight. Dwight (Clive Owen) is a man who is having an affair with a woman, played by Brittany Murphy, whose boyfriend's name is Jackie Boy (Benicio Del Toro). Jackie Boy and Dwight are determined to kill each other. The final story is Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba), a stripper whose life is once again in danger. Luckily, Hartigan (Bruce Willis), an aging police officer, steps in to save her. Other cast members include Josh Harnett, Alexis Bledel, Rosario Dawson, and Carla Gugino.

Sin City is a cool update on film noir. The old genre is looked at through comic book eyes and taken to the screen in black and white. Blood appears in red (there's a lot of it in this flick) and yellow is seen on the ugly villain The Yellow Bastard. The fact that it is black and white makes the blood even more effective because one can really see it in contrast to the background. It's the graphic, bloody sequences that make this movie memorable.

People are now used to Frank Miller's films, but when this came out it was his first. Either you love it or you hate, but I really love it. Tomorrow marks the release of The Spirit, which I look forward to seeing, but it looks all too similar to this. Intelligent and gory, the seductive color makes Robert Rodriguez's film memorable and thrilling.

More Memorable Movie Moments

1. Sex and the City: The Movie: Mr. Big and Carrie finally get married-It only took 6 seasons and a two and half hour movie for it to happen, but they finally tied the knot. Women were left breathless and men said "Thank god", but even a man can't deny that the movie had its moments.

2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: Indy gets the Crystal Skull-Though the movie may have been criticized for the ultraweird ending, I actually liked it. The series had never ventured into the supernatural, but I thought it was cool when they did. Indy's trip to Area 51 was worth my ten dollars.

3. Vicky Cristina Barcelona: Maria Elena goes crazy-The scene where Maria Elena nearly shoots Vicky and Juan Antonio is both memorable and funny. Penelope Cruz's most memorable role in a long time proved well worth my money as well.

Notable Movies of 2008

Here they all are (in alphabetical order):
Australia
The Bank Job
Blindness
Burn After Reading
Changeling
Cloverfield
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
Gran Torino
Happy Go Lucky
In Bruges
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Iron Man
Let the Right One In
Man on Wire
Milk
Pineapple Express
Quarantine
Rachel Getting Married
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Sex and the City: The Movie
Shoot 'Em Up
Slumdog Millionaire
Synecdoche, New York
Transsiberian
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
The Visitor
WALL-E
Waltz With Bashir
Wanted
The Wrestler

The Best Movie Moments of 2008

As the year comes to a close, we look back on the best movie moments of 2008
1. The Dark Knight: The armored car chase/the pencil trick- You can't pick just one scene from The Dark Knight. The armored car chase is so good because of the amazing effects and some pretty good acting from Heath Ledger. The pencil trick is my favorite part. Why? The Joker says "Let me do a magic trick. I will make this pencil disappear." Then he shoves some guy's head down and sticks it into his eye.

2. WALL-E: The silent first half hour-Daring and cool, the silent first half hour spins new animation on the old genre of the silent movies. It basically says "Look how far we have come in the movie business". Pixar, as per usual, amazes me. In fact, even if it is the worst Pixar film, it is the worst of the best.

3. Wanted-The "goodbye" bullet/the train crash-Again, in Wanted there are way too many cool scenes to pick just one. Aside from the fact that Morgan Freeman utters the lines "Shoot this motherfucker!", the "goodbye" bullet scene is awesome because Angelina Jolie curves a bullet in a circle, killing five men and eventually taking herself as well. The train crash is just another cool rush of adrenaline.

4. Cloverfield-The monster throws the Statue of Liberty's head into a New York street-There isn't really much to say about the scene other than the fact that it is really memorable. Not often do PG-13 movies make such a lasting impression, but this one is a fun, new twist on the genre of the monster movie.

5. Iron Man-Iron Man takes flight-Seeing as Iron Man was such a surprise hit, it seems necessary to include it on the list. When he first lifts off from the ground, it is just so cool. This year was the year in intelligent superhero movies and this was just the beginning to this new genre.

Runners Up:
Australia-Darwin gets bombed
The Bank Job-The events after the bank is robbed
Pineapple Express-The ultraviolent ending