That Was Then. This Is Now.

As a movie watcher, films that appeal to me have dramatically evolved in recent years. There was a time when you couldn’t have paid me to sit down and watch most Oscar-type films. As for independent films, I pretty much stayed away from them. My filmmaker brother would have to twist my arm to get me to watch an independent film in the old days. I was all about the big budget, summer blockbuster films for the most part. While my film tastes had already started transitioning from so many blockbusters, I would say Spider-Man 2 was a pivotal shift in my film viewing experiences.

Spider-Man 2 was a blockbuster film, but it was something different. It actually had a good story and good acting, which was far more interesting to me than the action and special effects. From Spider-Man 2 onward, I started measuring other blockbusters against it. If Spider-Man 2 could deliver an action film that was Oscar-worthy (in my opinion and other film critics), then others could do the same. Is it unfair to hold other blockbusters up to the greatness of Spider-Man 2? Yes, it is. Nevertheless, I started to expect more from blockbusters. When I didn’t get what I wanted, I started viewing fewer blockbusters and checked out the independent/Oscar-type films.

You’re too Predictable.

Over the years, I have become a film fanatic…so much so that my filmmaker brother told me I should have went to film school. When I watch a movie now, it is really hard for me to turn the analytical side of my brain off and just enjoy it. Part of that has to do with the fact that I am a writer. My mind is geared towards plots, as I have to construct them for my own work. As a result, I am plotting ahead of the film to figure out the plot on a subconscious level. Unfortunately, it can ruin the movie experience for me because I often figure out the twist and/or “see” what’s coming next. Of course, my ability to see what’s coming in a movie can be attributed to a bad script and/or directing. Additionally, imaginative scripts are hard to come by in mainstream Hollywood these days. It is rare for me to watch a film these days and not figure out what is coming. When a film manages to genuinely surprise me and keep me in the dark (regarding the plot), that’s a huge plus. Unfortunately, my ability to predict the film’s plot occurs more often than not. The same holds true for movie trailers when I watch them.

Oh Trailers! How I (Mostly) Dislike Thee!

I have a love/hate relationship with movie trailers. Trailers often give away the end of the movie, which annoys me and lessens my enthusiasm (if I want to see the film). I don’t mind watching teaser trailers, but full-length trailers often show more than my liking. Additionally, trailers can be bad or plain misleading on what the film is about (i.e. Adventureland). Since I don’t watch commercials at home, I avoid seeing movie trailers altogether on TV. Yes, I watch some full-length trailers online by choice but not as many as people might think. I have some criteria for determining which full-length trailers I will and will not watch to keep my movie experience “clean.” Unfortunately, my right to avoid trailers is not that simple when I go to the theater. Therefore, I developed a habit of looking down or away when trailers air before a film. I don’t do this for every single screening; however, I do it often enough, especially if I know a trailer for a film I want to see is airing. I plan to watch certain films, and I don’t want to have the experience tainted for me by watching the full-length trailer. I just don’t want to take a chance that the trailer is going to show me too much.

Expectations Are Eeeeevil!

I’m mentioning some of my movie quirks for a reason. I have learned that my expectations for a film often affect my viewing experience when I watch a film. I had expectations (high or low) because I saw the teaser or full-length trailer for films, I was interested in seeing. For example, I had high expectations for Terminator Salvation. With Terminator Salvation, I saw the teaser trailer and at least one version of the full-length trailer in theaters. Where I had excitement for Terminator Salvation, the full-length trailer had me very concerned. I lowered my expectations for Terminator Salvation, but I wanted to believe it wouldn’t be as bad as the negative buzz it generated. It’s a Terminator film – one of my favorite sci-fi movie franchises – so I expected it to be fair to good but not James Cameron great (The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day). Even with lowered expectations, I was severely disappointed by Terminator Salvation. I rated the movie an “F” via my film tweet review earlier this summer. My movie experience and the expectations I had with Terminator Salvation has been echoed in previous films I saw and ones afterwards. I try not to have expectations or to keep them lowered when watching a film; however, it is not always an easy task to accomplish. This is why I am trying out a new experiment – the “blind movie” experience.

What is a “Blind Movie?”

I think of a “blind movie” as a film that falls into these categories: 1) I haven’t seen the trailer for it and 2) I haven’t heard of it, or at the very least, I just know the title. In this instance, many “blind movies” would classify as independent films, but some mainstream films fit the “blind movie” criteria.

The idea of watching a “blind movie” is something my youngest brother thought of recently. He and I are similar in that we believe expectations can affect how good or bad a film is when watching it. Recently, we were discussing movie expectations, which is what prompted him to suggest watching a “blind movie” together. Initially, I wasn’t too crazy about the idea, but he convinced me to try it one weekend. We did exactly that approximately two weeks ago. Of course, we had to establish some criteria/rules for our “blind movie” experience before deciding on a film.

Rule #1

You couldn’t have seen the trailer for the film. If you saw the trailer, it’s an automatic disqualification.

Rule #2

You couldn’t read the description when selecting the film. Additionally, you couldn’t have read any reviews for the film or heard anything about it via film podcasts. However, at the very least, you can do some research to find out if it has subtitles. Subtitles are painful when I’m watching films since I spend more time reading than watching the film.

Rule #3

You cannot look up the film at RottenTomatoes.com to see how many fresh or rotten tomatoes it has. This means I can’t use my “Now Playing” app on my iPhone when selecting a “blind movie.”

Rule #4

If you have an idea what the film could be about based on the title, then you can’t watch it. It’s an automatic disqualification.

Rule #5

If the film has an interesting title that sticks out, add it as a potential “blind movie” experience when going through the selection process.

Rule #6

Once you have a list of potential “blind movie” films, 1) randomly pick out a film title, or 2) pick out the title that intrigues you the most.

When my youngest brother and I conducted our first “blind movie” experience, it was difficult to select something. We both pay attention to what’s going on in the film industry, and there were many films we had to discard. Nevertheless, we managed to go through our list of rules, and we selected Pandorum as our first “blind movie” experience in theaters.

If you follow me on Twitter, then you probably saw my Pandorum film tweet review. In a nutshell, Pandorum was far from original because it borrowed from several popular and not so popular sci-fi/horror films. Yes, I figured out the plot as the film went along; however, I wasn’t annoyed. Why? Because I had no expectations. Through my “blind movie” experiment, I learned that it truly is a freeing experience to have no expectations. I didn’t get mad because Pandorum was a C grade film. Actually, the fact that I enjoyed it better than Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Terminator Salvation speaks volumes. Yes, my expectations for two of 2009’s big blockbusters affected my viewing experience. However, at least Pandorum was enjoyable whereas Terminator Salvation and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen were shiteous.

With a successful “blind movie” experience under my belt, I plan to make this experiment more regular. I really like the feeling of 1) not knowing what I’m seeing, 2) not knowing what the film is about, and especially 3) not having any expectations. I plan to aim for at least one “blind movie” theater experience per month.

A “blind movie” experience is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get. That aspect alone is what makes it fun and interesting.

Note: I will attempt to write a proper movie review about my “blind movie” experiences, but I can’t make any promises. I will try to work something out for my readers that are not on Twitter and post something here on my blog. At the least, you will be able to follow my “blind movie” exploits via Twitter. As usual, I will always post my tweet film reviews on Twitter right after the movie, which I now add as “Favorites” for easy access.

Warning: This review contains spoilers. Since it’s been a number of years since I wrote a movie review, it’s going to take me some practice not to be so spoilerish. Thanks.

Director David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac) is one of my favorite directors. His movies are the epitome of perfection and passion for filmmaking, which seems to be rare in mainstream Hollywood these days. Fincher has the ability to drive the actors in his films to reach down deep and pull out performances that often leave you awed and amazed. He also has the ability to make a good story great with his vision as a director. So, as soon as I saw the teaser trailer (best…trailer…ever) for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and realized that Fincher was attached, I was determined to see this film opening day. I was ready to be awed and amazed again.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The film centers around the story of Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) who is born as an elderly infant (with some of the symptoms of old age) that ages backwards while everyone else ages forward. This theme remains a central plot point throughout the remainder of the film, and it’s relatively easy to figure out the ending. However, it’s all about the journey and life experiences of Benjamin Button, and what an interesting journey it is.

The story of Benjamin Button is told through entries in a diary belonging to Benjamin. As an elderly Daisy (Cate Blanchet) lies in her hospital sickbed, she is near death’s door and asks her daughter Caroline (Julia Ormond) to read Benjamin’s diary. As Caroline reads the diary, Benjamin’s story is shown in flashback mode in the city of New Orleans (1918 to late 20th century). An explanation is presented to the audience as to why Benjamin may have been born elderly in appearance before the film largely centers on the lives Benjamin encounters. As the film trailer shows, Benjamin’s father leaves him on the doorstep of a home, which happens to be a nursing home for the elderly. This is where Fincher introduces audiences to Queenie (Taraji P. Henson) and Tizzy (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali) who nearly step on a bundled Benjamin (along with $18.00) while leaving the nursing home. Although startled by Benjamin’s elderly appearance, Queenie takes him into the home and into her life, vowing to raise him until he dies (according to a doctor that examines him).

As the film progresses and Benjamin’s extended life continues to be a “miracle,” he meets Daisy for the first time, who is visiting her grandmother at the nursing home where Benjamin lives. As expected, it’s love at first sight for Benjamin when he spots Daisy. However, his burgeoning friendship with Daisy is cut short when Daisy’s grandmother forbids them from seeing or playing with each other. Although Queenie and Tizzy are aware that Benjamin is a special child who just appears elderly in appearance, viewers are left with the impression that Daisy’s grandmother may not know this about Benjamin and that he’s actually closer in age to Daisy.

While Benjamin grows younger in appearance and grows up in terms of age, Fincher plays on Benjamin’s elderly appearance by allowing him to have adult experiences at a young age. These experiences include drinking, bedding prostitutes with a randy hunger and readiness that a younger man would have, and landing his first job on a tugboat for Captain Mike (Jared Harris) – all of which occur while Benjamin is roughly a young teen. I know some reviewers reference the tugboat experiences as Forrest Gump redux (while Forrest works the shrimp boat), but I didn’t notice this while watching the film. I was too busy, along with the audience, laughing at Benjamin’s interactions with Captain Mike. During this period, Benjamin’s real father also reconnects with the son he left to strangers and of course, doesn’t reveal who he is to Benjamin until much later in the film. Although Benjamin interacts sparingly with an older Daisy again, his job as a shipmate eventually takes him away from his life in New Orleans and leads him all around the world.

After Benjamin globetrots, experiences his first real adult love affair (with Elizabeth Abbot played by Tilda Swinton), and experiences gun battles in World War II, he finally returns home to New Orleans. While I enjoyed the previous parts of the film, the real meat of the film is his roller coaster relationship with Daisy. Throughout the film, the audience learns that Daisy grows up to become a successful ballet dancer who is busy living the high-life in New York. Even though Benjamin is ready to advance their friendship into a more meaningful romantic relationship, it’s clear that Daisy is not. She’s young, high off of her success, and too immature to accept the love Benjamin clearly has for her until many, many years later – when they “meet in the middle” in terms of age. Despite their happiness together, age eventually becomes an issue, primarily from Daisy’s side as she grows older in appearance and Benjamin grows younger in appearance. A further complication that’s relatively easy to figure out as you watch the film also occurs, and from that moment, the writing is clearly on the wall on what happens with their relationship. However, I did appreciate how Fincher showed that when you have true love, age does not matter in terms of feeling passion for the one you love. This truth was especially important when a much younger Benjamin shows his desire for an elderly Daisy later in the story.

I must say that Fincher’s uncanny ability to draw great performances from the actors in his films does not disappoint in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Everyone from the major roles played by Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett to the supporting roles of Tilda Swinton, Taraji P. Henson, and even Jared Harris are on point. For me, there wasn’t a weak link in terms of acting in this film. I also must give special kudos to Elle Fanning (young Daisy) who shows that her older sister isn’t the only talent in the household. Her ability to nail the Louisiana accent should shame much older actors (mostly American ones) into preparing for films where they must adopt accents. I don’t want to call out any names, but these people know who they are. Standout performances go to Tilda Swinton and Taraji P. Henson. When these two actresses were on screen, they shined, especially Henson (who should get an Academy nod for best supporting actress).

The cinematography, directing, and special effects were also top notch in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I loved the tiny “old projection film” touches to certain scenes, and the use of certain lighting made this film beautiful to look at. The special effects were believable and didn’t come across as “way too CG” in appearance. Sometimes the look of special effects in films snaps me out of believing what I’m seeing, and that didn’t happen with this film.

As perfect as this film was, it had some flaws, albeit minor ones. I felt that the “lightning man” stuff played out several scenes longer than was needed. This was funny the first couple of times but grew a little annoying when the same joke kept being replayed. I also didn’t like the present day setting of Hurricane Katrina and felt this was unnecessary to the movie. I wonder if the Hurricane Katrina references were Brad Pitt’s idea since rebuilding New Orleans is one of his man philanthropic causes. Part of me suspects that it was and that Fincher agreed to set the present day part of the movie in 2005 when Katrina hit. For me, it just didn’t belong, and I could have settled for any generic day and year from the calendar. Additionally, there were a couple of over the top moments (even though this movie is slightly sci-fi in nature). A perfect example is the sinking of a German U-Boat by the tugboat Benjamin served on during the war. Again, these are minor things I didn’t like in an otherwise nearly flawless film.

In a year where I saw more bad movies than good movies in theaters, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was a breath of fresh air. Yes, I guess you could say this film gave you some Forrest Gump upon further thought; however, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button primarily reminded me of Fried Green Tomatoes at times, which is not a bad reminder by any means. This film was an enjoyable journey that was thoroughly entertaining, breathtaking, funny, and emotional. For me, it definitely passed the “butt shifter” test as I didn’t squirm in my theater seat once, get distracted, or check the time. However, I will say that since The Curious Case of Benjamin Button clocks in at 159 minutes, I advise you to take a bathroom break before the film starts. You won’t want to miss a single frame of this film.

My Rating: A+