GRADE: B+

Cameron Crowe brought all his regular ingredients to the table with his latest film, We Bought A Zoo. It’s got the traditional Crowe inspirational dialogue, excellent music choices and commercial appeal of most of his work. Put simply, it’s a movie that seems impossible to hate – although cynics will still find a reason. The theaters are full of options this holiday season, but We Bought A Zoo is about as close to a guarantee family-friendly experience as you can get.

I could care less that it’s been a decade since Crowe made anything memorable. If we had to wait this long for a movie as moving and heartfelt as We Bought A Zoo, I think it was worth the wait. It’s a tear-jerker that will leave you smiling at the end – there aren’t many like that.

In short, the movie is about Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) and his family as they attempt to start over after the loss of his wife. In search of a new home, Benjamin is inspired by the feel of a certain house that has an extra special backyard – a zoo desperately in need of new leadership. Of course, Benjamin is the perfect man for the job and he dives in and forces his family to fall in love with it as well.

Matt Damon headlines the film and there are plenty of moments in which he shines all alone in his character’s personal pain and loneliness. While Damon finally reminds us that he can still showcase emotion, the supporting cast really makes this film feel like an ensemble, even though it’s not. Even Scarlett Johansson’s hordes of haters will likely find her character endearing. Angus Macfayden as Peter MacCready is a hilarious drunk with a personal vendetta against the stereotypically villainous zoo inspector Walter Ferris (John Michael Higgins).

Hello, gorgeous.

Unfortunately, Higgins was the film’s weakest point. While I giggled when he turned around, knowing he’s a hilarious character actor, his character was essentially a copy of Steve Buscemi’s Clint Fitzer in I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry. I imagine the hardships of running a zoo would have been just as compelling without a force-fed time sensitive plot device.

Another aspect of We Bought A Zoo that was eye-roll inducing has to be the ridiculous product placement. I understand that real families use real things, but it got a bit absurd at one point. There is a scene in which Matt Damon tries to remember his wife, but it’s too hard hard for him to bear. So he sits there, with his MacBook Air opens and waiting, circling the mouse icon around the iPhoto icon on his desktop. Once he clicks it we get a 5 minute demo of how to use iPhoto. While it’s understandable that this would happen in reality, it wasn’t shot or edited in a way that felt genuine. It took me out of a scene that should have been one of the more compelling in the film. The movie is littered with blatant product moments, including an entire scene in Home Depot and frequent mentions of the store.

But don’t give up on this movie. It’s far too inspirational and moving to skip. It’s what a Christmas movie should be – not anal rape or sex addiction. The family dynamic is genuine and modern. The youngest daughter, Rosie Mee (Maggie Elizabeth Jones), is arguably the cutest living thing to grace the screen all year. She serves as Benjamin’s ray of sunshine and innocence. On the other side is Dylan (Colin Ford), who is fueled with adolescent frustration and a negligence for change. He wants nothing to do with Benjamin’s new adventure until his classic teenage turning point strikes in the form of the quirky zoo girl, Lily (Elle Fanning). Together, they represent the real American family in the shadows of a tragic event searching for a new identity.

While The Descendants dealt with the recovery period after a personal loss with more drama and grief, We Bought A Zoo changes the pace with gusto and authenticity accented by a beautiful score from Jónsi, of whom Cameron Crowe tweeted to me once that he had longed to work with. It was a great collaboration, only rivaled by cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto’s warm and inviting look. The sun shines in nearly every scene and the colors remind you that hope is always on the horizon.

If you want a family drama with enough humor and inspiration to leave you happy, this is your best bet. And frankly, what more do you really want out of a movie? A few tears, a few laughs and a few lovable characters are all it takes to get me in the theater. We Bought A Zoo accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do, even if it may have sold its soul to a few corporations to get there.

What Should You Do? Bring your whole family to the movie. It’s a great way to celebrate life during this holiday season and it may just inspire you all to improve your own lives. Also, if you have anybody in your family that says, “Whatever” a lot, drag them to this movie by any means necessary – you’ll know why.

GRADE: C-

Upon seeing the previews, True Grit looks like a marquee product coming down the stretch working towards “Awards Season.” The Coen Brothers + Jeff Bridges + Matt Damon + Josh Brolin + an inspiring performance by the inexperienced but talented actress named Hailee Steinfeld = success… right? Apparently not. I really did not enjoy much of this movie. The most surprising thing to me are the overwhelming positive reviews for this film on Rotten Tomatoes (it’s certified fresh!) With how much disappointment I felt after seeing True Grit, I cannot believe this film was not at least hated by some.

True Grit is about Mattie Ross, a girl seeking revenge against the man (Brolin) who drunkenly killed her father in cold blood and fled town. She asks around for the best and most ruthless bounty hunter in the territory. She employs the services of the slack-jawed Rooster Cogburn (Bridges). The mission for revenge is a journey through the Southern wilderness with all the hazards that come with hunting down a dangerous man. Along the way Mattie and Rooster come across a Texas Ranger (Damon) that has serious personality issues making him an odd fit into this Western backdrop.

This film was the second cinematic adaptation from the 1968 original novel written by Charles Portis. The first go-round had John Wayne playing Bridges’ character Rooster — consider that a big pair of boots to step into. The Coen Brothers wrote and directed the 2010 True Grit. Ethan Coen stated their adaptation would be truer to the book than the 1969 version. Apparently the novel is laced with humor the original film missed out on. The Coen Brothers tried their hand to interject this humor back into the story. While at times the humor had its bright spots, most of the attempts at laughs missed like Shaq shooting free throws. I could tell the Coens were going for laughs, but I wasn’t even compelled to chuckle. Oftentimes, a raised eyebrow and smart ass smirk was all I could muster.

First up, I would like to talk about the very poor storytelling in this film. There was no creativity in the way this tale was told throughout the film; it’s all exposition via dialogue. I traditionally love dialogue but when this is the only storytelling device used the whole movie, it drags out into long drawling monologues. All the characters talk about years past and feelings felt for love and life lost, but there was nothing there but the characters’ words. Simply put, it all felt empty. While True Grit does feature some of Hollywood’s elite talent, telling an audience a story (usually boring) and showing them a story through more creative means are two different things. Like I said, I love dialogue, and True Grit bored even me.

The characters themselves have no depth to make the audience even care about the success or failure of this mission. Mattie is out to avenge a father we have never seen (except dead on the ground) or met. She never really reminisces about him or gives us a reason to believe why a 14 year-old would go to such great length to finish off her father’s murderer. The audience is left out of the emotion for her plight to kill this man.

Jeff Bridges’ character is like an empty shell. What is his story? Well, we don’t really know because the script doesn’t give Bridges any opportunities to actually show more than the tough cowboy exterior. The Coens wanted the story to be through the eyes of Mattie just like the novel. With the story from this point of view, all the supporting characters are given no development besides the events Mattie personally witnesses. As I touched on earlier, her character was about as deep as a kiddie pool. You can imagine what that means for the supporting characters.

While I didn’t think the character Rooster was well executed from the writing stages, Bridges himself did as much with what he had. I didn’t particularly take to his incoherent rambling at times (the way he talked was very hard to understand), he truly portrayed the whiskey loving, hardened U.S. Marshall from the brim of his cowboy hat to the spurs on his boots.

Matt Damon on the other hand, played a seemingly spineless and at times witless Texas Ranger named La Beouf. This character had far too many awkward scenes and dialogue throughout the movie.  I distanced myself from the oddball instead of latching on because of the way he treated Mattie and Rooster. Late in the film I had no attachment to La Beouf. I wasn’t on the edge of my seat hoping he would live to fight another day.

The most disappointing thing about True Grit was how anti-climatic it was throughout. The movie would build up to certain parts and then payoff similar to The Last Airbender. The building anticipation amounting to almost no redeeming climax was a huge strikeout for this film.

Another thing I really did not expect was a movie that was so cliché at times I was wondering who really made True Grit. The Coen Brothers are known for putting their unique stamp on a film, and this didn’t feel like a product of their work in any regard (the violence was especially missing for a shoot’em up Western). The only way I can describe my feelings without ruining any plot points is to call it cliché. As some of these parts unfolded I was left shaking my head in disgust at the completely predictable turn of events. One part even made me so upset it almost ruined the entire movie for me. If you see it, let’s talk about it sometime. I’d love to vent.

Overall, throughout True Grit I was led to hope the movie would amount to something and finish strong. For all the talent involved in True Grit, it was even more disappointing to come out with this result. My initial feelings after leaving True Grit had me thinking of a grade hovering close to a D. I would grade the movie that low based on how much I disliked the way the story was told. It had potential, but fell flat in the end. The more and more I thought about it, the other positive elements in the film like the sets, costumes, soundtrack, and acting, I was able to bring the film up to a mediocre grade.

What Should You Do? Don’t be fooled by all the critics praise or the big names involved in this project, because True Grit is a dud. Get out and see one of the many other great options currently in the theaters (The Fighter, Black Swan).

GRADE: A

With True Blood and Entourage wrapped, and Mad Men winding down, I’m in desperate need of another Sunday night show to fill that premium cable void to pair alongside Dexter this fall. That show is here. I’ve been anticipating HBO’s new period-set gangster drama, Boardwalk Empire, ever since I saw the show’s trailer at the beginning of the summer. Not only did it look enthralling, gorgeous and badass, but the show’s creators (Sopranos creator Terence Winter and the legendary Martin Scorsese) have such unparalleled pedigrees of quality entertainment, that there was no way the show could be anything less than fantastic. And last night’s series premiere proved it to be just that.

The show is set in 1920 Atlantic City, at the very beginning of prohibition. Alcohol is outlawed and the government has created a federal task force (led by Michael Shannon) to seek out and eradicate bootleggers peddling illegal booze. And they have their sights set on the kingpin: Enoch “Nucky” Thompson (played by Steve Buscemi). Nucky dabbles in pretty much everything: he’s  the city treasurer, a casino owner, a politician, as well as one of the biggest distributors of illegal alcohol in the country. But what makes him a different kind of gangster, and allows him to operate with as much liberty as an organized criminal can, is: everybody LOVES Nucky. He’s like Robin Hood of gangsters. He actually cares for the citizens of Atlantic City: giving them money, campaigning for women’s rights and teaching lessons to wife abusers; while also blowing people’s brain out. He’s a very likable character, and a lot of that has to do with Steve Buscemi’s awesome performance.

The other main storyline in the show follows Nucky’s right hand man who just returned from WWI, Jimmy Darmody (played by Michael Pitt). Jimmy is a young man with a family and he’s conflicted about what he wants to do with his life: go to college or be a gangster. He ultimately chooses the latter and wants to prove to Nucky that he can handle more responsibilities in his “Boardwalk Empire.” Jimmy even teams up with a very young Al Capone (Stephen Graham) for a hijacking that doesn’t end up so well, just to show Nucky how committed he his to the gangster life. Pitt is a very good actor, and I’m excited to see just how deep down the morality rabbit hole he goes. Oh, and if you haven’t seen his chilling performance in Funny Games, do so asap.

The overall look and feel of the show is fantastic. Scorsese directed the pilot episode, throwing in pieces of The Aviator and Casino to create this bright, colorful and gorgeous world of expensive suits, cabaret and bloodshed. You immediately feel immersed in the roaring 20s with the magnificent costumes and set design. Winter’s fast-paced, enthralling script grabs you right from the get go. The dialog between Nucky and his subordinates is razor sharp and makes even some of the “slower” scenes move by like that (finger snap). It’s just a bravo job all the way around. As J.J. Abrams did with Lost, I’ll bet that the pilot will be the only episode that Scorsese with direct, but he will surely be involved as an executive producer/creative influence.

Boardwalk Empire is everything you could want in a TV show: drama, comedy, romance, suspense, violence, sex, great writing and dazzling imagery. It’s one of the best shows HBO has pumped out in a long time and I can’t wait until next Sunday so I can see what type of shenanigans Nucky & Co. get in to.

What Should You Do? Do yourself a favor and get in.

The Book of Eli (C)

This is the latest movie from the always great Denzel Washington. It also stars the talent of Gary Oldman, Michael Gambon, and Mila Kunis. I would like to take a moment to say “Oh how much I love Mila Kunis!” She did a very good job with her character Solara but also looked magnificent while doing it. Even in the very un-glamorous world the story is set in she still looked like a million bucks (Hollywood right?). Mila proved she has some acting chops, and with performances like this she will continue to get lucrative roles with stars like Denzel.

The Book of Eli is set in the distant post apocalyptic future. Almost all life has been destroyed by “the flash” or a nuclear bomb or something along those lines. All the fresh water from rivers and lakes, trees and other plant life, as well as most animals has been obliterated by this unknown destructive force. In societies haste to place blame for the cause of the catastrophic event they destroyed many of the world’s books, almost in an effort to bring culture back to the pre-literate days. These elements are unclear because the script poorly describes most of the background of this story.

The main character Eli (Denzel) is resolute on protecting a leather bound book he is destined to deliver to the west coast. The antagonist is a man named Carnegie (Oldman) who is a book collector and ring leader of a small village. When Carnegie is introduced it is comical to see he is reading the biography of Mussolini; most likely trying to learn the methods of a dictatorship.

Carnegie discovers Eli has a very rare and precious book and decides he must have it for himself, no matter what it takes. After a standoff Eli escapes the village and the chase is on. Eli soon realizes he is not alone. Solara runs away to try and live free of the control of Carnegie and his puppets. The two travelers bond as friends as they attempt to avoid the minions of Carnegie and survive on the treacherous road.

Without the gifted acting from Denzel and Oldman in the two lead roles this movie would have fared far worse. When the two were on screen together and exchanging dialogue the audience could get a real sense for the tension between them. As usual Denzel had a commanding screen presence that draws your eyes like a fight on Jersey Shore.

The direction by the Hughes brothers and their editing in this movie was exceptional. The best part of the entire movie was after a fateful gunshot pierces the anxious atmosphere and plunges into a character’s body. The motion slows down, lightning strikes down from the sky in the background, and the sound is muted except for the resonating blast ringing from the gun. The directors employ the use of gratifying slow motion shots a lot, but sometimes too often. Too much of a good thing sometimes comes out the other end as overkill.

The cinematography circles our hero Eli and uses extreme close ups on characters faces to convey emotions often without even a spoken word. Denzel’s demeanor in this film is quiet and soft spoken; but when faced with danger is an unstoppable adversary. The camera work assists in showing the two sides of this marching warrior and his resolve to complete his arduous journey. The use of strictly gray and dark tones to intensify the desolate landscape plunges the viewers into this world with seemingly no life or hope.

Overall, The Book of Eli was executed well on many levels and missed on many more. The story captures your attention early and the swift killing of roadside thieves pulls you in even farther. The wonder of how the world ended up this way makes the audience crave discussion of events past. As the story evolves you realize the narrative is paper thin and so are most of it’s supporting characters. The script written by first time screen writer Gary Whitta has some great dialogue, but we need some background Gary!

Denzel generates momentum for the story but then the rest of the screenplay grinds his effort to a crawl. If you love Denzel, this is another role where he is the memorizing. Unfortunately the rest of the project does not follow suit.

What Should You Do? Wait for DVD.

GRADE: B+

I will start by saying I am not a huge Star Trek fan, especially of the first series that pre-dates my existence. As a child I did watch some Star Trek: The Next Generation starring Jean-Luc Picard with my mother. From that I have very basic knowledge of the Star Trek universe. With that in mind, before the movie started I said to myself, “Alright, tell me about Star Trek.” Once the film was rolling, I was ecstatic to find the writers (Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman) of Star Trek were indeed taking viewers back to the beginning and providing all necessary background information for new comers.

The film is of course about the first Starship Enterprise. Kurtzman and Oric catapult viewers into a dynamic opening scene featuring James’ father as a Starfleet captain saving his infant son, his wife, and the rest of his crew in the face of certain defeat from a well advanced Romulan enemy. The leader of the cutthroat Romulans is played to par by Eric Bana.

The story creates background for the two main characters, James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto), showing them as they advance through childhood. Even as a child James is adventuresome and fearless. Whether it be driving an old school mustang over 100 mph or getting into bar fights. Spock on the other hand is a refined and excellent student working to overcome his disadvantage of being half human in the pure-blooded Vulcan culture. The duo first meet each other in Starfleet training. Instantly their opposing personalities cause obvious distaste for the other.

The Starship Enterprise sets off into space on a wild adventure against the previously mentioned superior enemy (the Romulan’s you idiot). The film slowly introduces the audience to many of the other staple characters in the Star Trek universe like: Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Hikaru Sulu (John Cho), Nyota Uhura (the stunning Zoe Saldana) and Pavel Chekov (the little known, Anton Yelchin). All these supporting characters contributed wonderfully to the story and many of the more prolific actors brought their star power to the screen (Urban and Pegg).

I will reiterate how well written the story is. The script provided depth to the characters featured so that viewers do not need any knowledge of Star Trek to follow along with this film. The most important and well written part in the film was the drama between the characters of Spock and Kirk. This gave the film an added internal conflict between the shipmates as they take on an outside adversary in the Romulans.

The soundtrack in Star Trek and the constructed sets were off the charts. The music felt similar to what I had heard from the show, but more modern. My adoration for the music comes from each piece helping set the scenes, especially the space sequences. The special effects in the film are some of the best I have seen since Transformers crashed into theaters two summers ago. I was blown back in my seat from the shots shown of the exterior of the ship and the surrounding elements of space. The use of black holes was visually captivating in every scene the space anomaly was featured in. The concept of a black hole itself pushes our brains ability to comprehend outer space. If you are not following my line of thought you need to Google “black holes” and get your mind rocked. Anyway, the Enterprise, the enemy Romulan spaceship, and all other shots from space looked better than a Bar Refaeli photo shoot.

Besides the remarkable scenes shot in space, I thought the rest of the direction was pretty basic. A big weakness in the film was J.J. Abrams failing to use a variety of shots with his scenes. The lighting in the scenes became a problem for me when Abrams was bombarding the screen with close ups on actors’ faces. Especially on the Enterprise, a set constructed with thousands of lights, there is a light flashing directly into the camera (called a lens flare) during almost every interior scene. Granted I know this can be an atheistic choice, but here, in my opinion, it was a bad one (and one that was repeated a hundred times). I consider that poor cinematography.

Another area Star Trek suffers from is too many elements of favorable coincidence for the good guys. Movies that overuse this concept never brew well in my movie mind. Too many parts involving the impossible happening just in the “nick” of time (when you see the scene with Kirk on the planet of ice, you will know what I mean) to save our characters. It is a fictional movie, but realism is never a bad thing in movies like this.

The acting was well done from the entire cast of Star Trek. For his first big main character role, Chris Pine killed as James T. Kirk (killed=awesome). The chemistry between the young Kirk and Spock is dynamite as viewers see the beginning of their long relationship unfold. I loved seeing the original TV series Spock, Leonard Nimoy, play a part in the story. I am just going to put this out there, but he is not a good actor in this film. It is not a stretch to say that the new age Spock played by Quinto was much better in the film than the original Spock.

Overall, Star Trek was a great revamp of a previously dead movie series. It flowed smoothly to the end and did not disappoint once the story got there. Definitely the best film to come out since Watchmen. Trekkies as well as new comers to the series will enjoy this film all the same. The door was obviously left open for sequels in the future; when the film ended, I was left wanting to see more.

What Should You Do? Go to the theater and see Star Trek… please not X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

GRADE: A+

This review was not difficult to write at all. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was a tremendous achievement in cinema history. That’s pretty much all that needs to be said. But in light of writing a movie review, I’ll say a lot more. The film is almost three hours long, but I savored every second of it. There is a reason this David Fincher product was nominated for Best Picture at the 2009 Academy Awards; this is the same observation I made after viewing Frost/Nixon. Both these films are products of experienced top tier filmmakers, and their recognition is well deserved.

Even the opening credits of the film are incredible. A mass of falling buttons cascade down to form the Paramount Pictures and Warner Brothers trademarks while an orchestra of musicians can be heard tuning their instruments prepping for a performance. The chorus of instruments gives the feeling of something incredible to come, like a number from a symphony or a film such as this.

Let me start with one of the very best aspects of this film, the direction by David Fincher (Fight Club, Seven, The Game). He notched a Best Director nomination for this project because his work is that of an experienced artist and leader. There are so many beautiful and oftentimes breathtaking scenes throughout this entire film — it would be a chore to narrow a list of favorites. Fincher has been known for his dark mood and lighting throughout his films, and this masterpiece is no different. The great thing about the directing and editing is how everything the viewer sees has a specific purpose to the story and all three hours are important to tell this remarkable tale. Fincher deserves the Academy Award for his work on this film. The editors on this project were also nominated for Oscars for perfectly piecing this story together.

Eric Roth wrote the screenplay with assistance from Robin Swicord. The two adapted the screenplay off the short story composed by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Roth has brought magic to the screen before with works like: Forrest Gump (which he won an Oscar for), The Insider, and Munich. Roth’s overall body of work is very good. He also has an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Like Forrest Gump, the narrative in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is not only drawn out superbly, but is assisted by the emotion filled narration from the protagonist, Brad Pitt. Roth’s adapted screenplay is one of the best I have seen for years which makes this movie worth watching over and over.

The story surrounding The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is about a baby born with all the problems of a dying elderly person, but miraculously ages backwards to youth. As an infant he is abandon by his father just after his mother dies in childbirth. He is taken in by a young black woman named Queenie who runs a New Orleans retirement home. Queenie becomes the baby’s surrogate mother and names him Benjamin. Taraji P. Henson (Smokin’ Aces) plays Queenie like she was born for the role. The Academy recognized this by nominating her for Best Supporting Actress — I’m starting to see a pattern of Oscar nominations here.

As Benjamin ages, or reverse ages I should say, the audience sees him grow younger. He begins to work on a tugboat, for a man named Captain Mike. He is definitely my favorite supporting character in the movie. He helps Benjamin realize the benefit of earning a steady wage — and shows him how to spend some of it. He is Benjamin’s first real friend outside the retirement home and pushes Benjamin to never hold a grudge in life. After years of growing up in the retirement home, Benjamin decides to leave the familiarity of New Orleans to see the world working with the tugboat crew.

Benjamin Button was played by some no name actor named Brad Pitt. Kidding. He is one of the biggest actors on the planet. Pitt (Snatch) proved once again he is not only man pretty — denotes the ability to marry Angelina Jolie — but that he is truly one of the best actors in the game. Well look at that, he was nominated for Best Actor in this role. Benjamin Button’s best friend Daisy is played by the gorgeous Cate Blanchett (Lord of the Rings). The two meet when Benjamin is very old, and Daisy is very young. As time goes on they age in different directions and go their separate ways. Benjamin off to see the world, Daisy to dance school in New York. The distance between the two makes for some of the better parts of the film. Despite the separation, the audience watches these two remarkable characters rekindle their relationship through different stages of their lives.

This film challenged both of these actors because of the aging aspects to the film. The two actors had to play older and younger versions of themselves, which obviously is a challenge. The producers allowed both actors to be involved in as much of this project as possible. This leads to the wonderful special effects. The process involved a special camera system and special facial prosthetics to make the actors appear to age seamlessly with the characters. The special effects perfectly match the story in excellence. They are so good, the viewer barely knows they are there. The Oscar nominations for Best Makeup and Best Special Effects prove the mastery this film puts on display.

The music was wonderful as well. The reoccurring melodies help set up many of the visually pleasing scenes and also provide emotion to each frame in the film. The score for the film was composed by the great Alexandre Desplat. His music always fit the mood and tone of the pictures and made each scene so much more powerful without a single word spoken. The soundtrack for this movie is one of my personal favorites. Following the trend of the review, Desplat was nominated for Best Score.

The Curious Case Benjamin Button has parallelism and underlying themes that can keep viewers thinking about it for hours. Not to mention Cate Blachett, keeping me thinking about her for hours. The repetition of lines such as “nothing lasts,” or “nobody stays perfect forever,” help tie all parts of the film together. This dialogue is in direct reference to the later stages of the film when Daisy grows older and Benjamin grows younger. Not to mention the funny reoccurring question, “Did I ever tell you I’ve been struck by lightning 7 times??” You’ll understand the humor of that inquiry if you see the movie.

All the characters Benjamin crosses paths within his life are compelling and help him learn something about the meaning of life. These supporting characters are not only interesting to watch, but give Benjamin’s character more depth. The person Benjamin grows up to be is in direct relation to the characters he brushes shoulders with; it is interesting to see the filmmakers bring this to life within Benjamin’s story.

Overall, this film was perfect in so many aspects that I have a hard time wrapping my head around it. The screenplay, the acting, the cinematography, the direction, the lighting, the music, the hardly noticeable computer enhancements, were all products of perfection. There is a reason The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was nominated for Best Picture; it has no flaws in my eyes. Ten out of ten would be a nice way to put it, but the theme of the review is Oscar nominations — thirteen of them to be exact. So I’ll go with thirteen out of thirteen. There is not a moment in this film not worth watching.

What Should You Do? The only viewers that would not enjoy this film would be someone that doesn’t give the story a chance to grow, or because they love mindless cinema like Push… or Meet the Spartans. So if you have a cognitive brain in your head, this film should float your boat like the friggin’ ocean.

Goodnight Benjamin….Goodnight Daisy.