In LA » Benjamin Button

Criterion Edition of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Blu-ray at Amazon for $15

zach — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:58:13 +0000

The title kinda says it all. For some reason Amazon.com is selling the Criterion Edition of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button on Blu-ray for $14.99¹

This particular release includes 2 discs. The first includes the film with audio commentary from director David Fincher. The second disc is all supplementary material, with hours of video and still photo galleries covering all aspects of production. A taste of these extras can be found on Amazon’s page for the film, where one can watch a 6-minute excerpt of the making-of featurette about some of the film’s visual effects.

I don’t know what prompted this price drop, but I’d be happy to see many more Criterion titles fall into such a price range. Criterion discs are known for the quality of their extra materials and featurettes, and they generally cost more than the average disc. I like the idea of lowering the barrier to entry to give more people access to high-quality behind-the-scenes information that can illuminate the filmmaking process.²

Disclaimer: I worked on this film. I’m in the credits and everything. I mean to minimize the gloatiness of this “disclaimer” by making it a footnote, set in small type. Yeah, that oughta do it.
I’m looking forward to receiving my Blu-ray disc, and I am hoping it includes a 2-hour featurette on the Excel spreadsheets and web apps I coded to help track VFX clips in the timeline. (Kidding.) Given how often I end up using Excel on productions, I may have to put together an exciting spreadsheet sequence for my editing reel. (Might be kidding.)

Oscar Update

zach — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:52:38 +0000

I drove past this man tonight, he is standing about as close to the Kodak Theater (site of the Academy Awards) as traffic is allowed to go. I did not take his message to heart –this year I’m both biased and have a stake in the outcome. Tonight I’m rooting for everyone involved with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to become idolaters.

LA Times on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button teaser trailer

zach — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:53:00 +0000

I don’t think the press usually focuses on teaser trailers¹ for films whose release dates are months away, but the teaser for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has gotten some published love from Patrick Goldstein² of the Los Angeles Times:

The film is due in December and has already been touted for Oscarhood. Now that Paramount has put up its first trailer–download it here–I have no quarrel with any grand predictions

The teaser has only been in circulation for a few weeks (it first appeared prepended to prints of the new Indiana Jones film), but it is unusually beautiful and moody. I’m happy that people are now getting a glimpse of the film.

a teaser trailer is a very early advertisement for a film, usually shorter and less expository than the trailers that screen closer to a film’s release date
it’s not just on the net, his screed is printed front and center in the Entertainment section of today’s LA Times