Xfear gives Benjamin Button 5/5, Sam Confused

[Uncle Sam]

Now, I'm as big a David Fincher fan as the next man. Nay, a bigger David Fincher fan than the next man, yet I am confused as to why xfear would award the film such a high score.

A 4/5 I could understand, mayhaps. A 5/5 just has me scratching my head. Tell me, my friend, why did you like about it so much?

 

[Mr. TM]

I have been confused by some of his scores.

please discuss.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

It looked pretty, my guess.

 

[Uncle Sam]

I'll just go ahead and confirm that I'll be moving this to the Bar Room.

You bastards.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

You've been drinking TM's Babycham, Sam.

 

[Mr. TM]

dont drink that, youll thro up

 

[jmt225]

He gave it a 5 out of 5 because the movie's awesome. In fact, it's right up there with Fight Club as my favorite film from Fincher thus far, personally.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Fight Club, Se7en and Zodiac take a shit on it.

Fincher went around spouting all sorts of stuff about how it was unconventional and how the characters could live without each other's love. I then get one of the most conventional love films I've ever seen/Forrest Gump.

Edit: And so much fucking piano! Why must everyone have so much piano in their films. Shane Meadows, Fincher and even Eastwood.

 

[BradTheGreat]

http://www.break.com/usercontent/2009/1/The-Curious-Case-of-Forrest-Gump-649781.html

i liked it 15 years ago when it was called Forrest Gump.

 

[Uncle Sam]

2 late.

Edit: Hoooooly shit.

 

[BradTheGreat]

 

[jmt225]

Fight Club, Se7en and Zodiac take a shit on it.

Se7en's a really great movie, but it's below Benjamin Button. And while Zodiac is really good in its own right, that's nowhere near being on the same level Button is on.

And Brad, that video is shit. The two films might have some simularities, but you could do a mash-up trailer like that with a bunch of legendary films and have them look exactly the same.

 

[BradTheGreat]

*additional sad face*

 

[Uncle Sam]

Se7en's a really great movie, but it's below Benjamin Button. And while Zodiac is really good in its own right, that's nowhere near being on the same level Button is on.

What level is it on? Conventional love stories, only backwards?

And Brad, that video is shit. The two films might have some simularities, but you could do a mash-up trailer like that with a bunch of legendary films and have them look exactly the same.

I think there are much more similarities than between most films.

 

[Loveless]

Fight Club, Se7en and Zodiac take a shit on it.

Fincher went around spouting all sorts of stuff about how it was unconventional and how the characters could live without each other's love. I then get one of the most conventional love films I've ever seen/Forrest Gump.

Oh these fucking Forest Gump comparisons really bloody annoy me. The only similarity is the journey through history, which in Gump is used as a joke of "Hey, look at what the moron can do" and in Button is to show a passage of time. Button is a love story, Gump is a dangerous ode to conformity and subservience.

Now to the point. It's a conventional film but the message is crystallised through the brilliant idea of someone moving backwards through life. Almost everything in Button is relateable, growing up awkwardly, not being accepted, your first love, letting go of them, moving on, watching the people you love die and get older, not being ready for that relationship, sacrificing yourself for your children. Aging backwards is just a framing device to show all these things off. BB could be a normal child, things would happen the same, it just wouldn't have the same effect on the audience.
So in brief, great film, 9/10 but if you're marking of 5 then 5 is justified. The only thing that annoying me was the hummingbird.

 

[jmt225]

What level is it on? Conventional love stories, only backwards?

Before I answer, let me ask you this:

Are there ANY movies you like based on love storys? No action or horror involved, just a love story drama?

I think there are much more similarities than between most films.

That's not true. Why do you think the word "cliché" gets thrown around so much today when people review films?

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I like you but not your opinions, sometimes, JMT.

 

[X]

A) Conventional love story? How is it conventional in ANY way? How many love story's involve one person taking care of the other as an infant? None. Please explain what was "conventional" about the love story.

B) Anyone who compares this film to Forrest Gump is a FUCKING MORON. They are NOTHING alike WHATSOEVER. Literally the ONLY thing similiar is that they both take place over an extended period of time. That's it. Nothing in the story is the same, nothing at all is similiar man, NOTHING. Forrest Gump was a nostalgia piece for the baby boomers, Benjamin Button if anything is a fantasy film.

C) I wasn't sure how much I liked Button Sam, until the last hour or so when it really caught me. The closing monlogue alone was beautiful. What specifically about the film did you not like?

I thought the film was pretty much perfect. The only complaint I have is that there was some serious editing they could have done in the first hour or so, but that's it.

 

[jmt225]

I like you but not your opinions, sometimes, JMT.

The feeling is mutual, Jakey.

And great post, X. Couldn't agree more.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

B) Anyone who compares this film to Forrest Gump is a FUCKING MORON. They are NOTHING alike WHATSOEVER. Literally the ONLY thing similiar is that they both take place over an extended period of time. That's it. Nothing in the story is the same, nothing at all is similiar man, NOTHING. Forrest Gump was a nostalgia piece for the baby boomers, Benjamin Button if anything is a fantasy film.

Both are schmaltzy.

C) I wasn't sure how much I liked Button Sam, until the last hour or so when it really caught me. The closing monlogue alone was beautiful. What specifically about the film did you not like?

The ending, you liked the ending better than the beiginning?

 

[X]

Both are schmaltzy.

Or for sure, but that hardly makes them the same movie. They're really nothing alike, at all.

The ending, you liked the ending better than the beiginning?

I enjoyed the beginning too, I really liked the little story of the clockmaker and how that story symbolically sets up the themes of the rest of the film. But the ending really got to me, it reminded me of the film Big Fish in the way it mixed fantasy and a touching, universal message.

I've yet to see someone give a valid reason for the why the film isn't good. I rarely give out 5 star ratings to movies, so when I do, it's for a damn good reason. Button was 99.9% perfect.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I enjoyed the beginning too, I really liked the little story of the clockmaker and how that story symbolically sets up the themes of the rest of the film. But the ending really got to me, it reminded me of the film Big Fish in the way it mixed fantasy and a touching, universal message.

Him turning into a baby was fucking stupid. He was supposed to be like an old man but without wrinkles dammit.

I've yet to see someone give a valid reason for the why the film isn't good. I rarely give out 5 star ratings to movies, so when I do, it's for a damn good reason.

A five star rating stystem isn't very broad. I'd give lots of films 5/5. But I'd give hardly any 10/10.

Button was 99.9% perfect.

I guess even you though it was too long.

 

[48.7 is Approximately 49 Times Better Than You]

I thought it was boring, but that's just me.

 

[Murfish]

Didn't he turn into a baby in the short story?

 

[X]

Didn't he turn into a baby in the short story?

The film is totally and completely different from the short story. I'm a HUGE Fitzgerald fan but you can't really give him credit for this film. The basic bare-bones of the plot is the same and that's about it. Great story though on it's own merits.

And yeah Jake, it was a bit long, I thought there were a few bits in the first hour or so that could've been edited or cut out all together, but it's a minor complaint in the grand scheme of things. Five stars isn't too limited of a rating I think, it gives plenty of room to rate good and bad films. I used to use 10, maybe I'll go back to it. They're the same thing though. Just take the 10 scale score and divide it by two and you've got my rating system, not very different.