A few months ago, the director of Se7en and Fight Club surprised the viewers with the wonderful and original movie The Curious case of Benjamin Button, which was a real bombshell in his filmography. David Fincher adapted F. Scott Fitzgerald’s quite special short story with a particularly finely-worked aesthetic, reminding us sometimes of Tim Burton. Thus, latecomers should be able to purchase the DVD or Blu-ray from May 5th. In addition to the movie, the American producer of both editions, Criterion, is offering 3 extra hours of bonuses. The major bonus is a documentary called The Curious Birth of Benjamin Button, which relates the development of the movie from its birth to its release, including the secrets of some exceptional special effects!
On the day that Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans, elderly Daisy Williams nee Fuller is on her deathbed in a New Orleans hospital. At her side is her adult daughter, Caroline. Daisy asks Caroline to read to her aloud the diary of Daisy’s lifelong friend, Benjamin Button. Benjamin’s diary recounts his entire extraordinary life, the primary unusual aspect of which was his aging backwards, being born an old man who was diagnosed with several aged diseases at birth and thus given little chance of survival, but who does survive and gets younger with time. Abandoned by his biological father, Thomas Button, after Benjamin’s biological mother died in childbirth, Benjamin was raised by Queenie, a black woman and caregiver at a seniors home. Daisy’s grandmother was a resident at that home, which is where she first met Benjamin. Although separated through the years, Daisy and Benjamin remain in contact throughout their lives, reconnecting in their forties when in age they finally match up. Some of the revelations in Benjamin’s diary are difficult for Caroline to read, especially as it relates to the time past this reconnection between Benjamin and Daisy, when Daisy gets older and Benjamin grows younger into his childhood years.
2012 is no ordinary year. It is the last year to be mentioned in the Maya calendar. This simple fact, together with cataclysmic prophecies common to many beliefs of different civilizations, shows no good sign for humanity such as we know it : on December 21st 2012, following to a worldwide catastrophe, the history of mankind will face a turning point…
Whether we believe it or not doesn’t really matter, the occasion was too good for Hollywood to let go on such a delicious panic scenario. After having teased many spectators and internet users’ curiosity through a clever viral marketing campaign, Roland Emmerich’s 2012 has lately unveiled with a trailer warning us of the worst calamities to come up.
The world is devastated by a cataclysm in the year 2012, leaving survivors to struggle for their lives. The film is inspired by the several hypotheses that state the ancient Mayans predicted a doomsday event will occur sometime around the 2012 winter solstice.
One thing is for sure, as it is to come out on November 13th 2009, we surely will live long enough to uncover this new blockbuster!
Crank is definitely part of these movies, which very surprisingly delight us when we had no expectations at all. Jason Statham stars as Chey Chelios in this highly-charged production relating the story of a hitman, who constantly has to stimulate his heart beat (and the viewers too) to survive to a poison once injected during his sleep. This crazy movie takes us from mind-blowing situations to staggering scenes during more than an hour. 100% adrenaline and absolutely no thinking!
Being great fan of action movies, I could not hide this guilty smile of mine when hearing there would be a second part to it. Crank 2 : High Voltage picks up exactly where it had left us in the first one. Chelios realises -after he miraculously survives to a helicopter fall- that somebody had stolen his heart, which has been replaced by an artificial one in need of regular electricity charges. He is given one hour to find his original heart if he wants to survive. The trailer is very attractive! Beware, not for the faint hearted…
On 14th April, the DVD release of the movie The Spirit was the occasion to go back over this great disappointment. Adapted for a change by Frank Miller, it is based on a comic book written in 1940 by Will Eisner. It relates the story of Denny Colt, a righter of wrongs, who becomes The Spirit when he is masked. Produced by Miller together with Eisner for the scenario, it is moreover starring Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Eva Mendes and Gabriel Macht… Hence, it had the best possible start!
Adapted from Will Eisner’s legendary comic strip, The Spirit, an action-adventure-romance, is the story of a former rookie cop who returns mysteriously from the dead as the Spirit to fight crime from the shadows of Central City. His arch-enemy, the Octopus has a different mission: he’s going to devastate the Spirit’s beloved city as he pursues his own version of immortality. The Spirit tracks this cold-hearted killer from Central City’s rundown warehouses, to the damp catacombs, to the windswept waterfront … all the while facing a bevy of beautiful women who either want to seduce, love or kill our masked crusader.
However, the movie disappointed most of the general public, was badly reviewed and made low profits at the box office. But let’s face it, the only reason for this is the fact that Miller threw the public off balance by going opposite to their expectations. In other words, The Spirit had nothing to do with a “Sin City 2”. Miller dared this by adding a little touch of eccentricity to its work and characters, making it sometimes a little off-putting but definitely taking it off the beaten tracks. Though the movie isn’t the ultimate masterpiece, it is perfect from a technical point of view and Miller shows enough originality to make it entertaining and much enjoyable. Justice has finally been done!
