Those who'd like to avert their eyes from economic and political chaos for a moment may wish to take a look at the new trailer for David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. After a handful of interesting-but-flawed features (notably Se7en and Fight Club), Fincher last year directed the extraordinary Zodiac, which likely would have competed for several Academy Awards had anyone had the sense not to release it in early March. Paramount is taking no such chances with Button, which opens on Christmas and is already generating intense Oscar buzz. The first trailer for the film was a masterful, near-wordless summary. The new one, while following a similar arc, gives a clearer but no less intriguing sense of the film. (The YouTube quality is mediocre, but both trailers are also available in clean, high-definition form here. Whatever else they may portend, the film looks gorgeous.)
--Christopher Orr