THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

Visually arresting and wildly ambitious, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a tough film to dislike. But I'm giving it a shot anyway, because while director David Fincher's 165-minute opus is spectacular in lots of small ways, it's frustrating and fundamentally unsatisfying in much, much bigger ones. Given several days to reflect on the experience, I no longer hate the movie the way I initially did, yet I remain convinced that what could have, and should have, been a magical, lyrical piece of work is instead a graceless, obvious, and frequently maddening one.

On Becoming

St. Ambrose University

Tuesday, January 13, through Friday, February 13

Did you know there are Reader readers who don't know that the What's Happenin' pages can also be found online? Just thought I'd mention it.

In other news, January 13 marks the opening of a new art exhibition at St. Ambrose University's Catich Gallery titled On Becoming, showcasing works by Midwestern artists Gillian Brown and Cherie Sampson. Running through February 13, the month-long exhibit will feature selections that employ video projection on sculpture, a technique that gives stationary objects the appearance of movement, and that allows for the presentation of some truly unique imaginings.

"Happy Holidays, Jeff!"

"Happy Holidays to you, Mike."

"Guess what I'm giving you for your gift this year!"

"A moratorium on those annoying Jeff-and-Mike dialogues?"

"Ha ha! Good one, Jeff! No. But I'm going to make your job for the Reader's end-of-year issue so much easier - I'm giving you only one What's Happenin' article to edit instead of five!"

YES MAN

It feels as though the teasers for Yes Man have been running since the first Bush administration, so I'm assuming everyone is aware of the film's 10-word comic premise: Jim Carrey always says "no," then learns to say "yes." If you're thinking the setup sounds an awful lot like the conceit behind 1997's Liar Liar, you're not wrong, and in his one-joke role as a depressed loan officer who decides to embrace life by acting against his natural impulses, Yes Man also requires Carrey to goose the proceedings with the sorts of rubber-faced buffoonery and "spontaneous" madness that the actor can pull off in his sleep. Unfortunately, that's exactly what he appears to be doing here.