Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down: Initial Assignment

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Gran Torino

Directed by Clint Eastwood

Gran Torino is a new film by director and star Clint Eastwood which seeks to examine an age old theme. Eastwood, who is pushing 80 but still remains a intimidating and powerful screen presence, plays Walt Kowalski, a retired Ford auto worker and Korean War veteren who lives in a now primarily Hmong neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan. The film focuses on the issue of wither or not Walt will put aside his racial prejudices when he is forced to help educate and protect his young Hmong neighbors.

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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Directed by David Fincher

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button features a backwards ticking clock as a symbolic image of the main character's predicament and hits you over the head with the theme of time rushing on with individuals being powerless to stop it. However, during my viewing of the film I was also way to preoccupied with the issue of time than I should have been. I found myself perodically looking down at my watch and wondering just how long Fincher was going to draw this one out. This was especially annoying because the story that was transpiring on screen did not just justify its nearly three hour running time. Fincher has often been critized for being a tad cold and emotionally uninvolving, and sacrificing the heart of the film for technical wizardry. I have been an avid fan of this director for some time now and have passionately enjoyed all of his previous films, except for Alien III which was an absolute stinkbomb. With Button Fincher proves his critics right and he gives the audiences a film that features a lot to admire, (beautiful cinematography, costumes, make-up, and CGI effects), but not a great deal to love or invest yourself in. The film also gives us a strangely blank performance from Brad Pitt in a role that could of had the potential to define his career. What a waste.