The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Review by Mr. Spicy.

Every once in awhile a movie comes along and surprises us. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett did exactly that as I settled in for this 2 hour and 45 minute classic.

What surprised me was the level of cinematic detail and time-period accuracies dating from Button’s birth during World War I, all the way through the end of the 21st century.

To little surprise Pitt does an outstanding job playing an often lonely-soul with a reverse aging disorder. Born in his (equivalent) 80’s he is abandoned at birth at the steps of a Louisiana nursing home. Each day his aging process gets younger, ever so slightly, which the make-up and special effects are outstanding.

Ultimately, this story of his life’s adventures, trials, and travels revolves around the love for Daisy (Blanchett) who he was friends with since early childhood (think very old man/ very young girl). I felt there was a parallel feel and theme from this movie to that of Forest Gump, where Forest had a life-long love for his girl Jenny. Later I learned that the screenplay was by Eric Roth – who also did the screenplay for Forest Gump. The similarities pretty much end there but one could sense the parallels.

Director David Fincher did an excellent job with this movie as the story lines were told through Daisy’s diaries in her ending days. The music score from Alexandre Desplat is timeless yet accurate through the ages. There is much to draw upon from Button’s adventures that I recommend watching this flick now out on DVD.

The director approved “Criterion Collection” provides a second behind-the-scenes disc and reading insert I believe you will enjoy.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON two-disc DVD and two-disc Blu-ray boast over three hours of enthralling special features including interviews with stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett with behind-the-scenes footage of their astonishing on-screen transformations, an in-depth documentary revealing the unusual journey of the film itself including the secrets of its award-winning visual effects and an exploration of the groundbreaking computer wizardry that brought the magical world of Benjamin Button to life.

Street Date: May 5, 2009
Pricing: $29.99 U.S./$36.99 Canada (Single-Disc DVD)
$39.99 U.S./$45.99 Canada (Two-Disc Criterion DVD)
$39.99 U.S./$45.99 Canada (Two-Disc Criterion Blu-ray)
Runtime: 165 minutes
U.S. Rating: PG-13 for brief war violence, sexual content, language and smoking
Canadian Rating: PG for mature theme and coarse language

Related Smacks

• Quantum of Solace DVD – Movie Review
• Marley & Me [Review]
• The Lying, the Bitch and the Wardrobe

Daniel Craig returns as 007 in the multi-million global box office smash ‘Quantum of Solace’, debuting on Blu-ray disc and DVD March 24th.

Yes, that’s today folks.

A worldwide box office phenomenon, Quantum of Solace has broken countless records and scored among the top 20 film openings of all time in 67 international territories. Bond . . James Bond remains one of the world’s largest and most successful film franchises with 22 films to date.

Mr. Spicy wanted to review this one since he is a James Bond connoisseur, having grown up with the films since the 60s. (Yes, he’s older than me.) Heh.

Quantum of Solace DVD Review – by Mr. Spicy

Call me a purist but it’s the new era of Bond that’s not going down like my Vodka martini, ’shaken, not stirred’ of old. James Bond (Daniel Craig) stars in his second Bond flick “Quantum of Solace”, directed by Marc Forster released on DVD March 24th.

Gone are the days of “Q” and his fascinating gadgets and state-of-the-art weapons. No Money-Penny, one-liners, or Bond music… until the very end when credits roll.

To be fair I do like the story line, intense chase scenes, and beautiful settings from remote corners of the earth. The people and streets of Haiti alone takes you to a rarely seen culture – which Bond movies have done so very well over the years.

Mr. Spicy: "Call me a purist but it's the new
era of Bond that's not going down like my Vodka
martini, 'shaken, not stirred' of old."

What this movie lacks in traditional Bond fashion makes up for with a creative story line. Betrayed by the woman he loved, Bond fights the urge to make this a personal vendetta in his quest to find the truth in his next mission. “M” played by Judi Dench is not so sure and concerned Bond will sway between loyalty to her Majesty’s service and his own personal agenda.

A beautiful Bond-babe, Camille (Olga Kurylenko) provides a new level of what this character should be, though not enough ’softer side’ to be as likeable as I prefer.

This movie pivots high-technology, and often distracting rapid scene-to-scene changes. A bit much for me but I’m digging for anything that resembles the Bond of old.

If you enjoyed Casino Royale you will like Quantum of Solace. I will embrace Daniel Craig for his continued run at Bond but will be patient for another decade when Bond returns in a more traditional version of Ian Flemming’s vision of him.

Related Smacks

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Review [DVD]
• Marley & Me [Review]
• The Lying, the Bitch and the Wardrobe

I first heard of the book Marley & Me in 2006 when on a camping trip a friend brought the book and in a moment of boredom I picked it up.

Within minutes I was 30 pages deep. I knew I had to read the book after returning home.

One thing led to another and it was another year and a half before I got around to buying the book. But once I did, I picked it up and read it from cover to cover within three days. So when I heard a movie was coming out I was excited. Although I usually figure the movie is never as good as the book, I still looked forward to seeing it.

Here it is in March and I never did get around to seeing it in the theater. But lucky for me I was given a review copy and finally got to sit down and watch the movie starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson.

I’ll just start by saying I loved it.

As most of you know I am a sucker for animals – dogs in particular. Coming into this film I was a little skeptical if I would like Jennifer and Owen in their roles. And surprisingly I did. Especially Owen. He played John Grogan wonderfully, capturing both his quirkiness and his passion for his family.

The film did a wonderful job transferring the book to the big screen. Of course the book was more in depth and you got to know Marley a lot better, thus being more connected to him, but still, the movie exceeded my expectations.

You know, I am almost glad I didn’t see the movie in the theater because I bawled like a damn baby at the end – even though I already knew how it ended!

Marley & Me will be available in stores on March 31st in a special Two-Disc Special Edition DVD and Three Disc Blu-Ray Disc.

For more about Marlet & Me check out www.marleyandmemovie.com

Related Smacks

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Review [DVD]
• Quantum of Solace DVD – Movie Review
• The Lying, the Bitch and the Wardrobe

So for those of you who are anxiously awaiting your chance to see Sex and the City this weekend, here’s your sneak peek.

This review was published in this morning’s The New Yorker. Of course I’m not sure I agree with it or not, as I haven’t seen the film yet, but it’s well written and super snarky. Just up our alleys, sweethearts.

Article: Anthony Lane/The New Yorker
Illustration: David Hughes

Secrecy has clouded “Sex and the City” since it was first announced. When would the film appear? Who would find a husband? Would one of the main characters die? If so, would she commit suicide by self-pity (a constant threat), or would a crocodile escape from the Bronx Zoo and wreak a flesh-ripping revenge for all those handbags? As the release date neared, the paranoia thickened; at the screening I attended, we were asked not only to surrender our cell phones but to march through a beeping security gate, as if boarding a plane to Tel Aviv. There was even a full-body pat-down, by far the biggest turn-on of the night. Not a drop of the forthcoming plot had been leaked in advance, but I took a wild guess. “Apparently,” I said to the woman behind me in line, “some of the girls have problems with their men, break up for a while, and then get back together again.” “Oh, my God!” she cried. “How do you know?”

What followed was not strictly a movie. It was more like a TV show on steroids. The televised episodes, which ran from 1998 to 2004, lasted for no more than half an hour each. So, spare a thought for the director of the film, Michael Patrick King, who also wrote the screenplay. Faced with the flimsiest of concepts, he had to take it by both ends and pull until he stretched it out to two and a quarter hours. Two and a quarter! When Garbo made “Anna Karenina,” in 1935, she got happy, unhappy, loved, left, and under the train in less than a hundred minutes, so how the hell are her successors supposed to fill the time?

To be fair, there are four of them—banded together, like hormonal hobbits, and all obsessed with a ring. As the story begins, two are married already. First, there is Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), who has a job, a child, and not enough sex with her husband, Steve (David Eigenberg), perhaps because he reminds her of Radar, from “M*A*S*H.” Then comes Charlotte (Kristin Davis), who is blissfully wedded to—well, what is she wedded to, exactly? He goes by the name of Harry (Evan Handler), but he’s a ringer for Dr. Evil, from the “Austin Powers” franchise, with all the evil sucked away; what remains is fey and shiny-headed, smiling sweetly about something known only to himself. For a movie about the need for real men—lusty, loyal, and loaded—this unusual earthling is truly a most peculiar advertisement for the gender.

Next, we have Samantha (Kim Cattrall). Everyone has Samantha, or had her at some point; so she would like us to believe, and this is where the film of “Sex and the City” begins to part company with the original. The TV show was smart enough to trade on both the sentimentality and the shockability of its viewers, encouraging them to sigh at romantic satisfaction while snickering at the dirty talk that gave it spice. Behind it all, one caught a whiff of stale Puritanism: despite the women’s knowing bid for urbanity, there was an old-school, anti-sophisticated wish to put desire in its proper place, or, better still, to disperse it in a shared public giggle, for fear of where it might lead. Now the whiff has become a blast, and Samantha’s efforts to signal her appeal, which might have seemed languorous on the small screen, are blown up here into an embarrassing semaphore: thudding closeups of her slurping through a cocktail straw or swallowing a mouthful of guacamole. No self-respecting maker of soft erotica would countenance such shots, and, as for the matching dialogue (“Something just came up,” Samantha murmurs over the phone, as her boyfriend stands beside her in bulging briefs), it’s a straight lift from flaccid, mid-period James Bond. In a daring plot development, she buys a dog the size of a child’s slipper; the camera keeps cutting away to it, and guess what—the pooch screws, too! Mirth is unconfined.

I was never sure how funny the TV series was meant to be. It kept lapsing into a straight face, even a weepy one, as the characters’ contentment came under serious threat. This uncertainty survives into the movie, which made me laugh precisely once, as a magazine editor let fly with a Diane Arbus gag. It is no coincidence that she is played by Candice Bergen, who gets just the one scene, but who is nonetheless the only bona-fide movie star on show. You cannot simply shift a load of television actors onto a movie screen and expect them to command its greater expanse; only one in a thousand will be able to summon that mysterious confluence of presence and reserve on which stardom relies—the will both to offer oneself to the camera and yet to keep back the hidden, unguessable sources of that self. We should not be surprised, therefore, that Kim Cattrall’s come-ons wilt in the transition; but who would have guessed that Sarah Jessica Parker, a nimble performer who has had a career in movies aside from the TV show, should also seem diminished and ill at ease?

She plays Carrie, the writer whose voice-overs keep us up to speed with the doings of her friends, and with the reckless amassing of what she calls “the two Ls: labels and love.” Whether Carrie is able to acknowledge how tightly the two Ls lock together in her mind is another matter. Early in the film, she receives a proposal of marriage from her long-term boyfriend, Mr. Big (Chris Noth), and this triggers a Babylonian orgy of spending. In a montage of wedding-dress fittings, she honors “new friends like Vera Wang and Carolina Herrera and Christian Lacroix, Lanvin and Dior,” and so on; what I object to is not the name-dropping—think of it as a chick response to “American Psycho”—but the montage itself, which is shot in lazy veils of schmaltz. Compare the quick-change sequence in “Funny Face,” with Audrey Hepburn robed in one Givenchy masterpiece after another, and you sense not merely the greater snap in Stanley Donen’s direction (with more than a hand from Richard Avedon), and the hotter bloom of the coloring, but the way in which Hepburn herself outglows the frocks, with her smile and her imperious shout—“Take the picture, take the picture!” No thoroughbred was ever just a clotheshorse.

The women in “Sex and the City,” by that standard, are little better than also-rans, and their gallops of conspicuous consumption seem oddly joyless, as displacement activities tend to be. “When Samantha couldn’t get off, she got things,” Carrie says. Look at the beam in your own eye, sister. Mr. Big not only buys her a penthouse apartment (“I got it”), he offers to customize the space for her shoes and other fetishes. “I can build you a better closet,” he says, as if that were a binding condition of their sexual harmony: if he builds it, she will come. The creepiest aspect of this sequence was the sound that rose from the audience as he displayed the finished closet: gasps, fluttering moans, and, beside me, two women applauding. The tactic here is basically pornographic—arouse the viewer with image upon image of what lies just beyond her reach—and the film makes feeble attempts to rein it in. When the wedding hits a bump (look out for Kristin Davis screaming “No! No!” at Chris Noth like a ninth grader auditioning for “The Crucible”), and the bridegroom veers away, our heroine’s reaction to the split is typical: “How am I going to get my clothes?” What, honey, even the puffball skirt that you wear to the catwalk show—the one that makes you look like a giant inverted mushroom? That plea gets second prize for the most revealing line in the film, the winner being Miranda’s outburst as she hunts for an apartment in a mainly Chinese district: “White guy with a baby! Let’s follow him.” So that’s what drives these people: Aryan real estate.

At least, you could argue, Miranda has a job, as a lawyer. But the film pays it zero attention, and the other women expect her to drop it and fly to Mexico without demur. (And she does.) Worse still is the sneering cut as the scene shifts from Carrie, carefree and childless in the New York Public Library, to the face of Miranda’s young son, smeared with spaghetti sauce. In short, to anyone facing the quandaries of being a working mother, the movie sends a vicious memo: Don’t be a mother. And don’t work. Is this really where we have ended up—with this superannuated fantasy posing as a slice of modern life? On TV, “Sex and the City” was never as insulting as “Desperate Housewives,” which strikes me as catastrophically retrograde, but, almost sixty years after “All About Eve,” which also featured four major female roles, there is a deep sadness in the sight of Carrie and friends defining themselves not as Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm, and Thelma Ritter did—by their talents, their hats, and the swordplay of their wits—but purely by their ability to snare and keep a man. Believe me, ladies, we’re not worth it. It’s true that Samantha finally disposes of one paramour, but only with a view to landing another, and her parting shot is a beauty: “I love you, but I love me more.” I have a terrible feeling that “Sex and the City” expects us not to disapprove of that line, or even to laugh at it, but to exclaim in unison, “You go, girl.” I walked into the theatre hoping for a nice evening and came out as a hard-line Marxist, my head a whirl of closets, delusions, and blunt-clawed cattiness. All the film lacks is a subtitle: “The Lying, the Bitch, and the Wardrobe.”

Related Smacks

• Sex and the City Sequel Out in 2010
• Kristin Davis Talks ‘Sex & the City’ on The Today Show
• Don’t Let Them Fool Ya
• “The Carrie Diaries” Cover Revealed
• Kim Cattrall & Miley Cyrus “Sex and the City”

Spicy has got two copies of Michael Moore’s new DVD ‘Sicko’ to giveaway on Celebrity Smack!

Own it before it’s released on November 6th!

Sicko takes a much needed look at today’s health care system in America. Moore interviews dozens of people and families who have come forward to speak of their grotesquely unfair treatments by their insurance companies. And the stories speak for themselves. Whether or not you are a fan of Michael Moore’s past work, this movie will open your eyes to one of the biggest problems facing Americans today.

How Can You Win a Copy of ‘Sicko’?

Email Spicy with the subject of your email being ‘SICKO’, and the 19th and 20th emails win the movie. It’s that simple!

Winners to be announced on Celebrity Smack! Good luck!

Congratulations Therese and Hope, you’ve both won a copy of ‘Sicko’!

Contest is closed!

Past Smacks

• Lindsay Lohan Heads For The Clubs
• Jessica Simpson Parties With Ashlee
• More Emmy Hotties
• Who Was It?
• Hayden Panettiere Isn’t Drunk

Rarely do I go into a movie with high expectations and come out of it with them being met or even exceeded. A Mighty Heart is one of the few that went beyond my wildest expectations.

Angelina Jolie in one of her greatest performances plays Mariane Pearl whose husband Daniel, a Wall Street Journal reporter, is captured and finally beheaded by supporters of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Jolie did an amazing job at portraying Mariane’s emotions, personality and her desire to remain strong. This story will defintely touch your heart and unless you have a heat of stone, you will shed tears during this film.

A Might Heart is about Mariane’s struggle to save her husband before it’s too late. The extraordinary attempt to locate her husband has you hoping that she will save her husband even though we all know the outcome.

This film is a MUST for everyone. It’s a bittersweet love story that will move you.

Past Smacks

• Are You a Groupie Slut?
• Nas VS. Fox News
• Paul McCartney Letterman [VIDEO]
• She’s No Monroe!
• Tommy and the Tranny in Toronto

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

I’ll admit I was a skeptic going into this movie.

I’m not one for superheros or overdone special effects so I really didn’t think I was going to like the movie, The Fantastic Four, Rise of the Silver Surfer. But I’ll admit, it wasn’t so bad. I didn’t exactly love it and it probably won’t get worn out like my copies of ‘Goodfella’s’ or ‘Office Space’, but it was enjoyable.

The movie is family friendly which is great for those who have young ones and need a movie on the middle ground. You know, not too cheesy, but not cranked full of adult humor either.

It’s packed full of action and stars gorgeous Jessica Alba and Chris Evans. There’s eye candy for all, which is one of the films strengths. Michael Chiklis‘ character, The Thing, is entertaining as a ladies man…errr..’thing’, and provides lots of laughs throughout the film.

All in all, I’d recommend this movie for families or superhero geek enthusiasts and rate it 2.5 out of 5 stars.
_____________________________________

Out on DVD tomorrow!

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer – The Power Cosmic Edition two-disc DVD release will showcase the added special features including:

• Extended / Deleted Scenes (with optional commentary by director Tim Story)

• Family Bonds: The Making of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer documentary

• Sentinel of the Spaceways: Comic Book Origins of The Silver Surfer featurette

• The FantastiCar: State of the Art featurette

• The Power Cosmic special effects featurette

• Character Design With Spectral Motion featurette

• Scoring the Fantastic featurette

• Interactive FantastiCar concept images gallery

• Theatrical Trailers

• Still Galleries (Behind the Scenes / Characters / Concept Art)

Past Smacks

• Sean Preston Sings About Dad’s Stink Finger
• Pamela Anderson Was Attacked by Leeches as a Kid
• More of that Booty You All Love..
• Nicole Eats!
• The Stork Brought Baby Girls All Around!

Controversial and catty, not everyone loves Sarah Silverman. But for those who can appreciate her twisted humor she is wildly entertaining.

In Season One of The Sarah Silverman Program you learn about Sarah’s character. She’s a juvenile, arrogant, bossy, loud and egotistic. But somehow manages to still have close friends that she meets with daily at a local coffee shop.

Her core of friends begins with her sister, Laura, who’s a nurse and pretty much takes care of Sarah, Laura’s boyfriend, Jay, who’s a cop, and her two ‘orange’ gay friends (who are a couple) Brian and Steve, and are also her neighbors.

In each episode Sarah plays up a different stereotype. She will spontaneously decide to experience something off the wall and at the end of every show she tells her dog, Doug, about what she learned from it.

Whether deciding suddenly that she is a lesbian (episode: The Muffin Man) or that she wants to have a daughter so she can compete in a beauty pageant, Sarah is always up to no good.

The Sarah Silverman Program is available on DVD October 2nd and Season Two starts Wednesday October 3rd at 10:0pm/ 9:30CT.

Past Smacks

• It’s All About the Meat, Baby
• Inside Neverland Ranch! [PHOTOS]
• Lindsay Lohan’s ‘Twat World Tour’
• Locklear’s Tipster is a Celebrity Stalker
• Ashlee Simpson & Fergie, BFF

You will see not only what you saw on VH1, but MORE! Unedited, uncut and totally cat-fight-tastic!

There is a TON of previously not seen footage that you will love, and a lot that will make you laugh.

You see boobs flashing, more on the ‘Somethin‘ mishap, lots of drinking, some secret Flav lovin‘, and all around cattiness that you missed during it’s original airing.

I was a huge fan of The Flavor of Love: Season 2. I absolutely loved the 3-Disc set’s extra features, scenes and footage.

It being uncensored and uncut made watching the entire second season for the second time like a new show.

If you were a fan of Flavor of Love: Seaon 2, you need to have this for your own collection.

It’s a must. And with Christmas coming it also makes a great gift…for yourself!

Spicy gives Flavor of Love: Season 2 (3 DVD Disc Set) Thumbs Up!

Past Smacks

• At Least She Doesn’t Look Like a Horse!
• No Charges Against Kid Rock in VMA Assault
• Stevie Wonder’s On Twitter!
• Amy Winehouse’s Battle Wounds Exposed
• Celebrity Quote of the Day – Ted Nugent