For those of you who are waiting to buy your own copy of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (or perhaps rent it to see it for the first time), don’t forget that it comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray May 5th.

A PR contact at Paramount was kind enough to contact me a few weeks ago to offer me an advance copy of the movie to watch and review. It came last week and I was finally able to devote some time to watching it last night. Since I had been unable to see it in theaters because of where I live (we usually get movies in both languages, but my nearest theater only showed it in dubbed French so I skipped it), I was very happy to get a chance to see it after waiting for so long.

At the risk of stating the obvious, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an absolutely fantastic movie. The filming is beautiful, the story is inspiring and manages to be heart-warming and gut-wrenching at the same time, and the acting on all parts is wonderful. Brad plays Benjamin so convincingly, but he’s not alone. All the major roles were perfectly played. I loved Taraji P. Henson so very much, she was the epitome of a loving mother, and Cate Blanchett as Daisy was one of the best casting decisions ever. Tilda Swinton had a fabulous role as well. He wasn’t talked about very often in all the articles written about the movie, but Jared Harris as Captain Mike was one of my favorite characters.

This is most definitely not an action movie in any way. The only action in it is in a very short two-minute scene during the war. This is the kind of movie that simply tells a beautiful story. It’s a fairly long film, coming in at almost three hours, but in all honesty I never noticed the time. At one point I looked up at the counter on my DVD player and couldn’t believe it was already an hour and a half in because it didn’t even feel like an hour had passed yet.

I love when a movie can bring out different emotions, and this one definitely did. There are moments where I laughed and moments where I cried, and in between I was just in awe of both this wonderful character, Benjamin, and of Brad for playing the role so well.

As far as effects go, everything I’d heard was true. It was flawless. The hints of Brad under all the makeup as an old man (an old man who was really only seven years old) were shocking. When he started to turn into the Brad Pitt we know now, all I could think was how he is such an incredibly beautiful man. While Brad hasn’t aged as much as his character yet, time has definitely been kind to him because he just looks better and better as he gets older. What I wasn’t prepared for was when Benjamin gets older yet looks so much younger than he is. I hadn’t realized that they used makeup and effect to make Brad look younger as well – do you remember the Pringles commercial he did? At one point in the movie he looks like that again and it’s just… well, it’s stunning really to see that in present day

The overall message in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is inspiring. Even when parts of it get sad, it’s still uplifting. The whole moral of the story is that we need to take control of our lives and do whatever it is that we want to do most, be the people we want to be, and that we can do that at any time, no matter where we are age-wise.

When it was over, all I could really do was keep saying, “wow” over and over. It was almost midnight when it finished and I have to get up at 6:30 during the week, so I didn’t have a chance to watch any of the bonus features yet. However, the DVD also comes with the option to watch the movie with David Fincher’s commentary. There’s a second disc too, which contains behind-the-scenes of the visual effects and makeup, a step-by-step look at Brad’s aging process, interviews, still galleries, and the creative process that Fincher uses on set. I love bonus features so I’m eager to watch some of them!

Also, for those who are curious (no pun intended!), the Shiloh scene happens around 2:20.

I can’t recommend this movie strongly enough, I think everyone should see it. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a timeless – literally, in this case – story of love and life. The love story between Benjamin and Daisy is so beautiful that it just might even make the most cynical person believe.

Are you buying the DVD?

Images: Newscom

Post from: Crushable

It’s the end of 2008 with a whole new year on the way and I always like to be corny and take inventory of what happened over the past year. Let’s look at some of the big moments from Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie over the last 12 months.

January 2008 – A sad start to the month as we remembered the anniversary of when Marcheline Bertrand tragically passed away, and meanwhile, the twin rumor mill had already started (little did we know it was to be true!).

February 2008 – Angelina Jolie confirmed her pregnancy, not with words but rather with an obvious belly at the Independent Spirit Awards!

March 2008 – While people like Paris Hilton spend a fortune on partying, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie gave over $8 million to charity via the Jolie-Pitt Foundation

April 2008 – Brad Pitt brought out the screaming, swooning fans when he appeared on American Idol, helping raise money for Make It Right. Later in the month, the whole family settled in France.

May 2008 – On one of my favorite outings of the year, Brad, Angelina, Pax, and Zahara headed to the beach with U2’s “The Edge”. Later, at Cannes, Jack Black accidentally let the cat out of the bag and confirmed that Angelina was carrying twins. Also, May was the month that Angelina wore one of my favorite dresses ever:

June 2008 – Not so much a Jolie-Pitt event, but one of my favorite discussions that we had here on PittWatch, we all talked about the disappointment that Angelina expressed over a lack of black Disney princesses. Brad slipped quietly out of France one evening to go enjoy a Radiohead concert and made us all giggle with his head-bopping dance moves.

July 2008 – Angelina Jolie checked into the hospital and thus began BabyPittWatch 2008! Then of course, the biggest Jolie-Pitt news of the year came when Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline were finally born!

August 2008 – Wee Knox and Vivienne Jolie-Pitt made their world photo debut courtesy of People.com and “awwww” was heard around the globe. Later in the month, a whopping 350 of you entered my Burn After Reading giveaway which made me so very happy! By the end of the month, Brad Pitt made a solo appearance for the Venice Film Festival’s red carpet while Angelina remained home with the kids.

September 2008 – We got to further enjoy the humorous side of Brad as we were entertained by the George Clooney – Brad Pitt “Bromance” and learned the “reason” that George is not the twins’ godfather. Not like Brad and Angelina weren’t busy at all, but they also managed to set up a $2 million health center in Ethiopia.

October 2008 – Angelina made a stunning post-baby red carpet debut for Changeling. Brad had a great month between continuing his success with Make It Right and publishing his personal photos of his family in W.

November 2008 – Brad showed his political preferences by partying it up in Chicago to celebrate Barack Obama being elected the new president. We also had what ended up being the biggest discussion thread here on PittWatch when we talked about the infamous “uncool” comment and later got to see the emotional side of Angelina as she teared up while discussing her mother. As if that weren’t enough for one month, we also saw Brad return to the Oprah Winfrey show. They ended the month by returning to New Orleans, their favorite home.

December 2008 – Brad and Angelina hit the red carpet in New Orleans for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Later, Brad appeared on Ellen and convinced Ellen to send male strippers to George Clooney (that still makes me laugh)! Both Brad and Angelina were nominated for Golden Globes and SAG Awards. Brad ended the month and the year with a great showing at the box office and an interview wherein he talked about his great relationship with Angelina.

And so there ends 2008 for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Right now the couple and their children are all laying low and probably planning their own private New Year’s celebration. What does 2009 hold for the Jolie-Pitt family? If 2008 is any indication, next year can be just as fantastic as this past year has been!

Happy new year to all my wonderful PittWatch readers – see you in 2009!

Image used with permission – Newscom

Post from: Crushable