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Catching up on DVDs - Ben Button and others
Last week’s summer movie preview pre-empted the DVD coverage, but it returns this week, with reviews of an Oscar favorite (numerically, anyway) and an unassuming but touching romance.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Entertainment Weekly recently described the movie as less a compelling drama than “a two and a half hour magic trick,” and that’s about the size of it. Still, it’s a very impressive magic trick. As ever, director David Fincher’s visual sense is astonishing and even lyrical here, producing many memorable scenes about a man who ages backwards - yet somehow the whole ends up as less than the sum of its parts. It’s a film I greatly admired more than I loved. GRADE: B+
Oh and PS - the griping about this film getting a Criterion DVD can stop right now. If Armageddon can get the Criterion treatment, Benjamin Button jolly well can. End of discussion.
Last Chance Harvey: Sometimes what you see in movies is exactly what you get, and what I saw here was a lovely, low-key charmer of two people (Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson) who are down on their luck but find solace in each other. The story unfolded more or less as I expected, and it runs a touch longer than it should, but it was still a pleasure to watch two consummate, well-matched actors sell a story so gracefully. GRADE: B
Also out now
Bride Wars: From all the evidence I saw, Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson were cashing their checks, pulling each other’s hair, and indulging in material beneath them. I don’t take thee.
Hotel for Dogs: And so another kids vehicle with Emma Roberts comes and goes without much notice. Isn’t she supposed to have a real hit at some point? (Addendum: It seems she rather did. See comments below.)
The Uninvited: I heard it actually wasn’t half bad, at least by the admittedly low standards of PG-13 horror. True?
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: On Video/DVD
Comments
By Kim S.
May 5, 2009 11:17 AM | Link to this
“The Uninvited” isn’t half bad - although it’s not really half good either (more like a third).By Sir Critic
May 5, 2009 9:17 AM | Link to this
Well, I stand corrected, Daniel. I was remiss in checking the figures. I guess “Hotel for Dogs” is what you call a “quiet performer.” I don’t recall anyone talking about it much, or that it ever made much news, but it did indeed hang in there. Good catch.By Daniel
May 5, 2009 8:56 AM | Link to this
Hotel Dogs went unnoticed? Since when? Sure, I have no desire to see it, but apparently someone did since it made almost 3 times it’s $25 million budget. I haven’t noticed Emma Roberts as an actress yet (since I haven’t seen any of her main role movies), but since Aquamarine only made $18m, and Nancy Drew only $25m after that, I think she’s doing just fine. I never would have thought Hotel for Dogs had any chance at making that kind of dough, yet it did.