Time: 1:28

From Talk Show with Spike Feresten.

FUNNYFIXX NOTE: Working in Hollywood as a screenwriter for years, one of the paradoxes I learned about creating film stories was: make it unique but just the same. Studios execs like to play it safe so pitching a new twist on a successful blockbuster concept can get a writer a deal. When I saw this video comparing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (screenplay by Eric Roth; screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald) to Forrest Gump (screenplay by Eric Roth based on the novel by Winston Groom) I laughed. I was a huge fan of Forrest Gump and know it took 10 years for Wendy Finerman and company to get that movie made which premiered in 1994 to rave reviews and huge box office. Buzz has it that Benjamin Button began early development in 1994. Coincidence? I think not.

ALSO…If you see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button you’ll notice Jason Flemyng featured as Benjamin Button’s freaked-out father. Jason starred in the British comedy I wrote, Lighthouse Hill (See the trailer in my 1/29/09 post below.) I had the pleasure of working with the actors and director in rehearsal in England shortly before Lighthouse Hill was shot. One night riding back in the car with Jason from the pub location north of London, Jason got a call from “The Pittman” as he called him. I believe they’d met when they were both in Guy Ritchie’s film, Snatch and had been friends ever since. It could be that Brad Pitt was of help to Jason when producers were casting Benjamin Button. Jason is a excellent actor and underrated in my opinion. If you watch the Lighthouse Hill trailer, you’ll hear Jason’s natural speaking voice. His role in Benjamin Button required a Southern accent which he did spot on.

Both Benjamin Button and Lighthouse Hill are magical realism stories and if you are a fan of that genre, you may consider getting Lighthouse Hill on DVD when it’s released on Amazon.com in March.

Recommended to FunnyFixx.com by: Susan Karasic, a most excellent friend and web designer extraordinaire.