She goes down slow

Like warm honey

An even flow

Into my sea

And everything

Is right this night

But tomorrow

Makes me scream

It’s not a dream.

(Is my body

fading or just

Resilient)?

Fate seems ever

Imminent.

The toxins pierce

Into my skin

From within

And seep the fever

Out into

Another day

Without

Sweetness.

Blah, blah, blog. What a lousy word. What is a blog? Why do people do it? Why do people burp? Burping, or belching, also less frequently known as ructus, or eructation, involves the release of gas from the digestive tract through the mouth, and may be accompanied by a specific sound and sometimes, odor. I think a blog, must be some form of stress of the individual mind through digital hyperspace; perhaps a shared forum of stress, a rant or rave, when talking to oneself just doesn’t cut it. The internet is filled with a seemingly infinite wealth of information, images, melodies and  . . . burps. Well at least it’s odorless.

This sight, you may have noticed isn’t really a blog, or a burp, (with the exception of this drivel you are now reading); it is more a place for my movie reviews. It is far easier to talk about something else, someone else’s hard work and creativity, than come up with anything remotely original on my own. My life is just not that interesting. Movies let you escape from the day to day weight of non-interesting living, and live vicariously in any time in history, or through any character, real or imagined, like Moses or Indiana Jones or Bond. James Bond. And there’s no real accountability with the points of view. I mean, who’s going to argue with me? Am I right, am I wrong? (My God, what have I done! Uh, nevermind).  I am always right, if I wrote it. If it’s on the web or printed anywhere, it must be true. Ha! Life in our modern times! The Grand Illusion eh? Not just a classic film.

Anyway, that’s it – the burp for the day. Sorry for the interruption, we now return to our regularly scheduled programming. Thanks for reading and see you at the movies.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a movie directed by David Fincher, adapted from the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is the story of an unusual and simple man from New Orleans, about his travels and the people he encounters in his life. He is a fatherless character, who spent a lot of time on boats, and the one love of his life was a childhood friend. To me, this had an all too familiar ring to it. "You never know what's coming for you," is one of the pearls of wisdom, repeated often in the film. "Life is like a box of chocolates" - another phrase reapeated often in another film with a very similar plotline. That film was Forrest Gump. The movies are so similar in fact, there is even a "Captain Dan" figure, a surly seaman, wonderfully played by Gary Sinise in the Forest Gump movie.

The main difference between the two films, in my opinion, is the nature of the main character's unique quality. Benjamin Button lives his childhood in the body of an old man, and grows younger through the years. This is what makes him special. Forest Gump was on the slow side to put it politely, (but he remains semi-retarded through his life). Each character is deemed wise, gentle and humble, and has a profound impact on the lives of others.

Without that specific plot device, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is quite an ordinary story of a fictional character. It is a beautifully told, detailed description of one man's life and the people in it. The most curious thing about Benjamin Button is how Hollywood could take a short story and turn it into a nearly three hour film. The story spans nearly eighty years, beginning in 1918. Much detail is given to the setting in the early periods - the furnishing in the homes and the clothes people wore. The latter years are given considerably less attention, when Benjamin comes toward the end of his life and becomes young again. The conclusion almost seems rushed as long segments of time are hastened, as if the editor had a gun to his head and was ordered to end it already.

The movie stars the wonderful Cate Blanchette as Daisy - Bejamin's love interest - and Brad Pitt in the title role. The cinematography and musical score is compelling, perhaps the best part of the movie. And the makeup is done fairly well. It is interesting to imagine Brad Pitt as an old man. It is kind of like a mixture of Henry Fonda and Yoda. All in all, the production values are very good; it is a beautiful film to be sure. The problem is it is too long, a bit uneven and there's very little original about it.

MPAA Rating - PG13

Snow Angels is set in a small town in America during a non-specific time. There are few details that define or accentuate time and place. It could be any small town, USA, and for all we know, it could be the present. All we really know is that it is cold and wintertime. Directed by David Gordon Green, Snow Angels is a somber, affecting meditation on sadness and fate, based on the novel written by Stewart O'Nan. It chronicles two weeks in the life of the central characters, whose lives are all connected in some way.

The movie begins with striking images of winter, barren trees and snow. A high school marching band is rehearsing outdoors for the football game. They are lethargic and out of tune. Their instructor chides them, and we here the sound of what might be gunshots in the distance. Everything stops and the story goes back to two weeks prior, where the characters are introduced. We see Arthur (Michael Angarano) the high school student bussing tables in a Chinese restaurant. He works with his older friend Annie, played by Kate Beckinsale, the newly separated mother who used to baby-sit for Michael when he was young. Annie gives Arthur a ride home when his mother forgets to pick him up. Arthur's parents, played by Jeanette Arnette and Griffin Dunne, are also going through a separation.

Later we meet Annie's estranged husband Glen, played by Sam Rockwell. Early on we learn that he has had problems with drinking and keeping a job and even tried to take his own life as a result of his life apart from Annie and the baby. Somehow, he survived the suicide and has become a born again Christian, but his stability remains uncertain. We also meet the new student Lila, played by Olivia Thirlby, who befriends Arthur. Lila is the outsider who takes photographs as a hobby. She is on the outside literally peering in, like the audience. Early on, she shows Arthur her photographs of the town. Since her family moves around a lot, she likes to take pictures of her first impressions of the new places she moves to. They are beautiful portraits, all black and white, mostly of them empty landscapes and snow. Coldness and alienation is a constant theme that wraps around the characters to a nearly suffocating extent.

Green's direction is deliberate and slowly paced. The camera rests patiently upon the characters, giving them time to grow and breathe. Even in awkward moments, as there are in the life of a teenager, and in the tension rising moments of the adults who are enduring emotional pain, the shots are long and deliberate, with a quiet, gentle soundtrack that does not try to manipulate or force the action. Green allows the dialogue and the performances of the actors drive the story. There is no melodrama, just painfully sad realities.

Snow Angels has the feel of an independent film in its simple story-telling and without bloated production values or faux sentimentality or gimmicky performances. It feels like real life, real people in a real town. The only problem is that it's real, real sad. In fact, it's too sad. Despite the artful direction and nuanced performances, the film itself has little balance, nothing to contrast the heavy weight of angst that smothers the characters as well as the audience. Fargo, (1996), was a similar movie – a tragic tale of human failings, set in a vast, winter of emptiness. And yet, there were many contrasting elements which balanced the mood, such as hilarious dialogue and mannerisms, a riveting, driving musical score and shocking, unexpected violence. Many aspects of that film were recognized for achievement in film-making and I believe it even received Best Picture at the Academy Awards. I would also dare say that this movie energized the careers of several of its little known actors and deservedly so, including Steve Buscemi, William H. Macy and Frances McDormand. But Snow Angels provides no such relief from its oppressive tone. I get the feeling that Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale needed an immediate retreat to a warm, tropic island after making this picture, (or at least a few sessions of therapy), and through no fault of their own. Their performances are great, but the movie, over all, leaves you with the need for immediate cleansing or escape, to anywhere that's warm.

MPAA Rating - R

 There were some very entertaining films this year, a small consolation considering the state of the world and global economies. The following is my Top Ten list of movies for 2008. Please feel free to comment or share your favorites.

1. Milk

2. The Dark Knight

3. In Bruges

4. Frost Nixon

5. Happy Go Lucky

6. The Duchess

7. Slumdog Millionaire

8. Doubt

9. Iron Man

10. The Visitor

And Best Comedy: Forgetting Sarah Marshall