tagged w/ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
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In the Weekend Peekend Brett & Ellen preview the movies coming out this weekend.
The Rotten Tomatoes Show is a movie review show that airs on Thursday nights at 10:30 e/p on Current TV. From reviews of the newest releases to commentary on cult favorites and movie trends, each episode of The Rotten Tomatoes Show is a fast-paced, comedic journey through the week in cinema.
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For more about movies from Current: http://current.com/moviesIn the Weekend Peekend Brett & Ellen preview the movies coming out this weekend.... more
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In lieu of Crank: High Voltage coming out this Friday, I was reminded of a rather wondrous bit of writing from Patton Oswalt about Jason Statham from a few months ago.
Patton figured out how to make any film instantly better: add Jason Statham.
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I look forward to any new film by Ang Lee, David Gordon Green, Paul Thomas Anderson, The Coen Brothers, Paul Greengrass or Ross McElwee.
And now, Jason Statham. I don't know how much say he has in the films he makes. But I get the impression that he reads the scripts. And if the script doesn't make him want to drive a bulldozer through a cake store, I'll bet he punches the script through a wall.
In fact, my entire stack of Academy screeners would have been vastly improved by the addition of Jason Statham. Here we go:
CHANGELING: Jason Statham plays the kidnapped boy, who immediately beats his kidnappers to death, then fights female assassins on top of a blimp.
CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON: Jason Statham injects the backward-aging man-freak with a Sino/Chilean rage compound, and they fight in lava pit.
DEFIANCE: Jason Statham throws Hitler into a woodchipper, eats the entrails as they fly out the other end, and then shits out Winston Churchill.
DOUBT: Jason Statham drop-kicks the Pope through the core of the Earth, and the Pope's head goes up Meryl Streep's ass and then Motorhead's "The Ace of Spades" plays.
FROST/NIXON: Jason Statham pulls off David Frost's skin, drops him into a tank of sea salt, and then Statham and Nixon rent a limo and drive across country, shotgunning hippies.
GRAN TORINO: Jason Statham glowers at Clint Eastwood, who glowers back, creating a Glower Vortex which destroys the planet.
THE READER: Statham kills the teenage kid with a lawnmower, then fucks Kate Winslet literate.
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD: Jason Statham drives an 18-wheeler full of nitro into the title suburb, blows everything to shit, and then spends 90 minutes hunting down absolutely everyone involved with the making of this film, beating them to death with TV trays.
THE WRESTLER: Jason Statham, Richard Nixon, the 'roided-out Benjamin Button murder-freak, the Churchill feces-baby and Mickey Rourke drive cross country in a limo, with Leo DiCaprio's severed head on the hood, where they crash the Spirit Awards and kill everyone.
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So, what film could be made infinitely better by adding in some Jason Statham?In lieu of Crank: High Voltage coming out this Friday, I was reminded of a rather... more
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"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a film based loosely on an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, stars Brad Pitt as a person who is born old and ages backward. The movie has generated rave reviews and earned 13 Oscar nominations — more than any other film this year — including a nod for special effects and another for best actor.
In the case of Benjamin Button, acting and special effects seem to be related: Pitt couldn't have done the film without the movie's breakthrough technology, and the effects wouldn't be the same without Pitt.
To make Benjamin Button, special effects experts needed to put the head of an aged-looking Pitt on a child's body for the first third of the movie. The results look just like Pitt — only it isn't.
"There's 325 shots — 52 minutes of the film — where there is no actual footage of Brad," says Steve Preeg, a character supervisor at Digital Domain, the studio that did all the special effects for the film. "He's not in any of the shots."
What the audience is actually seeing in the first third of the movie is a computer-generated copy of Pitt's head, which the studio aged digitally. If it acts like Pitt on the screen, that's because Pitt was filmed performing all of the scenes from the first third of the movie — and the special effects gurus then mimicked his movements on the digital head.
But even if it's not Pitt's actual head we're seeing, Digital Domain's executive producer of visual effects, Ed Ulbrich, says the performance is still his. Take the scene where the still-old Benjamin visits a faith healer in a church and gets out of his wheelchair and walks. Ulbrich says Pitt made choices as an actor that no animator would have thought of doing.
"He ends up getting this kind of crazy kind of Popeye look on his face, and he's just thrilled," says Ulbrich. "I don't think that it's something that any of us would have thought of had Brad not done that."""The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a film based loosely on an F. Scott Fitzgerald... more
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Taraji P. Henson thought her first role opposite Brad Pitt might be different than playing his mom. She clearly didn't let it get in the way of her performance though...she's nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."Taraji P. Henson thought her first role opposite Brad Pitt might be different than... more
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Benjamin Button stood out for me because of the amazing make-up job - check out fifteen other radical changes actors have gone through.Benjamin Button stood out for me because of the amazing make-up job - check out... more
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The Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett 'epic' about a man who ages in reverse (i know, I haven't got a clue either) has knocked Danny Boyle's 'Slumdog Millionaire' off the top spot in the UK Box Office despite Slumdog sweeping the BAFTA awards earlier this week.
Serious Oscar contender 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' took £2.2 million in its opening weekend, alongside 'He's Just Not That Into You,' which took £1.9, meaning Boyle's 'Slumdog' dropped down to third.The Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett 'epic' about a man who ages in reverse (i know, I... more
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"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" got a little stranger Friday after an attorney representing an Italian office worker filed legal papers alleging that the screenplay was based on a story she wrote in 1994.
The David Fincher film, nominated for 13 Oscars, features Brad Pitt in the role of Benjamin Button, a man who ages backward. It was inspired by -- but not based on -- a 1921 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Adriana Pichini, a Roman office worker, said the film seems to be based on a story she wrote 15 years ago called "Il ritorno di Arthur all'innocenza" (Arthur's Return to Innocence). The story was officially registered with the proper Italian copyright authorities in 1994 and even sent to publishers in the U.S., but was never published."The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" got a little stranger Friday after an attorney... more
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Many people have noticed the similarities between the 2008 David Fincher/Brad Pitt film "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and the 1994 Robert Zemeckis/Tom Hanks film "Forest Gump." Now, a spoof trailer shows just how similar they really are.Many people have noticed the similarities between the 2008 David Fincher/Brad Pitt... more
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The shortlist for this year's BAFTA awards ceremony has been announced with Kate Winslet picking up two Best Actress nominations for her roles in The Reader and Revolutionary Road.
Danny Boyle's 'Slumdog Millionaire' stole the headlines earlier this week for sweeping the board at the Golden Globes, and with 11 nominations at this year's BAFTAs, it'd be a pretty safe bet to assume it's gonna do pretty well this side of the pond. David Fincher's 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' has also received 11 nominations.
And what would any early-2009 awards ceremony be without a Heath Ledger nomination? Nothing, hence why he's up for a posthumous award for his role as, yup you guessed it, The Joker, one of nine 'The Dark Knight' is up for. Brad Pitt and Meryl Streep also feature amongst the nominations.The shortlist for this year's BAFTA awards ceremony has been announced with Kate... more
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And no, Dark Knight is not #1 ... it's #14
14. The Dark Knight
13. Milk
12. Waltz with Bashir
11. Rachel Getting Married
10. Doubt
9. Gomorrah
8. Revolutionary Road
7. Tropic Thunder
6. WALL-E
5. Man on Wire
4. Frost/Nixon
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2. The Wrestler
1. Slumdog MillionaireAnd no, Dark Knight is not #1 ... it's #14
14. The Dark Knight
13. Milk
12. Waltz... more
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Everyone dresses up for Brad Pitt... but he only has eyes for his Angela!
Hollywood beauties shone on the red carpet in Los Angeles last night for the premiere of Brad Pitt’s new film ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’.
Jennifer Lopez (39), Eva Longoria (33) and his co-star Cate Blanchett (39) were looking particularly glamorous as they met Brad (44), who stars in the film.
But he only had eyes for one woman – his wife and soul mate Angelina Jolie (33). She beamed happily at him, and he smiled back mischievously.
It was perhaps the sweetest Brangelina outing this year. Other actresses including Tilda Swinton (48), Emma Roberts (17) and Julia Ormond (43) had no choice but to pose by themselves!
For photos of the beautiful Hollywood couple head to to BILD.comEveryone dresses up for Brad Pitt... but he only has eyes for his Angela!
Hollywood... more
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I just sat down and watched a load of new movie trailers from studios pictures to indie flicks on “movietrailertalk” and various other youtube channels. Most of them were garbage, but six of them really churned my butter. Check them out.I just sat down and watched a load of new movie trailers from studios pictures to... more
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CATE BLANCHETT is pregnant with her third child! The 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age' star confirmed the news in her native Australia at the premiere of her new movie to The Sydney Morning Herald.
Asked if she knew the sex of the baby, Cate replied, "It's early days yet. It's due in April."
The new addition will join Cate and writer-director hubby ANDREW UPTON's two boys, DASHIELL JOHN, 5, and ROMAN ROBERT, 3.
Cate's plate is quite full -- she'll be seen on the big screen as none other than BOB DYLAN in the biopic 'I'm Not There,' and is also starring opposite 'Babel' co-star BRAD PITT in 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' and HARRISON FORD in the highly anticipated 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.' CATE BLANCHETT is pregnant with her third child! The 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age' star... more
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