FilmBender: sh*tfaced on movies

"The Talented Mr. Ripley" has surprising skills

 

Matt Damon is The Talented Mr. Ripley, and as he looks, is also a bookish outsider who's gotten a taste of the good life, and he's just not willing to stop without taking a bite, if not, eating the whole enchilada in this suspense thriller.  Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow are the ones who are livin' large (their normal lives of European heir and his hottie) and welcome Matt into their inner circle.  BTW... Gwyneth looks d*mn good in this one... and I thought I'd also note that, although maybe it was a body double, if you've seen her in that scene of Shallow Hal where she's (in her thin version obviously) bent over the kitchen counter.  OMFG!  You should rent that movie and take a mental snapshot.

Anyway, back to other fiendish thoughts... Matt sneaks himself into their lives and slowly reveals himself to be something that's not exactly as expected.  And if you see what a prick Jude is in this film, you end up rooting for the bad guy which becomes a lot of fun.  You'll see what I mean... watch the movie trailer and read on because...

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is a lifetime

Brad Pitt is old.  Wonder if that's why he took the role in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button -- to cover his own wrinkles.  Kind of a joke, but frankly, he plops out as a wrinkly old infant and grows up in this movie (er, grows down).  Look... I'm all for gimmicks, but this one is kinda half baked.  I'm not sure it lends much to the movie besides hogtie Pitt from being able to show any real ability to act his age.  I mean, have you ever seen a four-year-old boy?... come on, they are a f*cking loud, wild handful until they hit adolescence, and then boys just talk about t*ts and *ss and f*rts until they get married and their wives tell 'em to shut the f*ck up.  Here, old and crusty kid Brad is just a calm and quiet bore.

Hey, I dig the epic.  Yo, I dig the love story through the ages.  I'm a sensitive guy.  The movie's great on many levels.  The effects are good (how they screw Pitt's head on that little body is beyond me).  And Cate Blanchett is totally watchable and actually looks hot in this one... not sure if it's because she's a ballerina or if I'm warmin' up to those cheekbones.  I can tell you the latter can't be the case 'cause Tilda Swinton is in this one as well, and queen chisel-cheek still can't warm milk if you ask me.

FilmBender is Funny Movie Reviews.  David Fincher directed this one... he did some of the coolest movies ever -- Seven, The Game, and Fight Club to name a few -- and put just as much care into this one.  Sure I had some issues with it, but give it a try, and let me know what you think.  I liked it.  It's a long one though, and final note... they don't even attempt to put Brad's head on a "younger" version of himself at the end of the film.  Could he be too old for f/x to make that happen?  Curious.