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Sunday, December 19, 2010
REVIEW: Black Swan
If Black Swan was directed by David Fincher, it would be called 'Ballet Club,' and it would be a thematic sequel to Fight Club. However, it wasn't directed by Fincher, but instead by Darren Aronofsky, which explains why it is probably the most well-directed movie of the year. I can't say that it is the best film of the year, which I believe is The Social Network because it is both good and culturally relevant, but Aronofsky's skill is at its peak in Black Swan, and it sure is something to marvel. Aronofsky has exquisitely directed the most perfectly structured and beautifully narrated film I have seen this year, and while I still give major props to Fincher, as well as David O Russell ('The Fighter') and Christopher Nolan ('Inception') for their work this year, Aronofsky has proven that he is the "best director" of 2010.
Natalie Portman steals the screen for the majority of the film, brilliantly portraying the fragile ballerina Nina Sayers (Oscar buzz shouldn't be a surprise). After winning the role of the Swan Queen in the upcoming show of the popular Swan Lake dance, Nina struggles to move out of the shadow of her nutty, sheltering mother, while rejecting the sexual advances and dark nature of her extremely professional instructor, all the while preparing for a performance she wants to make perfect. Seeing Tron Legacy and The Fighter before this (I saw all three in one day) helped keep me up with this whole perfection fiasco, which is the entire theme of Black Swan.
The most brilliant thing about Black Swan is that it actually adapts the story of 'Swan Lake' into Nina's story that we see in the film. Since I'm a guy, I know very little about 'Swan Lake,' but Aronofsky obviously wasn't targeting only females with this film, so he throws in a summary about halfway in. It is then that you should be able to pick up that everything Nina is going through is a literal translation of the 'Swan Lake' story. This is even easier to notice with the orchestra music that plays throughout the movie during scenes that would not normally have music playing in the background. Most guys won't find this information fascinating at all, but hey, we get to see two hot chicks making out. Or do we?
Aronofsky does a lot more with this film than you'll probably be able to notice after seeing it once. This includes having Natalie Portman always wearing white while Mila Kunis always wears black, to represent Portman as the Swan and Kunis as the dark side, although this symbolism is all in Nina's head. Her reluctance to push everyone else out of her life shows as we continually see her trying to keep her mother out of her room, as well as her attempts to impress her instructor while failing to understand what he wants out of her. Her struggle to impress two perfectionists drives her to the point of insanity, and the balance of the two characters on Nina's shoulders represents the struggle of the "swan" with it's dark side, which we see leads to a surprisingly extravagant conclusion.
I would say that Aronofsky was very Fincher-esque with the psychological mindf**k, Kubrickian with the perfectionist structure of the film (especially with the bombastically loud orchestral soundtrack), or even Tarantinoish with the way he incorporated symbolism every which way (as Inglourious Basterds did), but if you have seen any of this director's past films, you will understand that this is all Aronofsky. While it is indeed perfect, and very symbolic, it is also very dark and never afraid to push the limits, just as his other films are. Black Swan as a whole represents the beauty of Aronofsky's dark natured filmography, although some will not like it since the limits the film pursues to push are not the type fans of Disney's Ice Princess would've expected. It actually thrilled me to see many of the young girls in the theater covering their eyes throughout the film, just so I could assure myself that I wasn't watching some Dear John/Last Song crap.
VERDICT:
Saturday, December 18, 2010
REVIEW: Tron Legacy
I saw this in theaters on the same day I saw The Fighter and Black Swan. It was rough but at least they were all good. But on to Tron Legacy, which I know very little about to begin with. The only way I would say Tron Legacy was my favorite of the three was if I was six, maybe seven years old. So what do I think of Tron Legacy? Come to think of it, there's really nothing to think about it. That is, compared to the original, which we're all trying to get our hands on at this point. All anyone hopes for is it to top the original, and I hear this coming from people who haven't even seen the original! That's all sequels try to do these days, which is top the story and have twice the action. It's never like the Godfather trilogies, where the sequels simply add to the original's story by giving everyone what they want to see. Well, sometimes it is, but not often.
Tron Legacy is one of those rare sequels, although it doesn't really give us a lot of a story to make it all that important to share. It manages to stretch very little information over the course of two hours; don't worry about the runtime though, it doesn't really seem that long. Basically the story is: Sam Flynn, the prodigal son of Kevin Flynn, the creator of Tron, goes into "The Grid," the virtual world from the first Tron, and finds his long-lost-dad (Jeff Bridges). He races bikes and plays a few games of ultimate frisbee with the drone-ish inhabitants of The Grid, and then attempts to get his dad out, while maintaining a serious face throughout, despite the fact that the long-lost-dad frequently acts like "The Dude." Let's not forget, uh whatshername, played by Olivia Wilde. She's the hot chick with the same haircut Natalie Portman had in The Professional. Sam tries to get her out too (I don't blame him), and although she seems like a character of little importance, she's really the most important thing about it. You'll see what I mean, or maybe you'll find the crazy techno mirage of orange and blue more entertaining (I wouldn't blame you for that either).
What Tron Legacy's purpose seems to be is that of reminding us of the original, in that it defines the essence of this fictional world. We aren't fully expected to see the original (trust me, it isn't really necessary), so we share the same perspective of Sam Flynn, who hasn't seen the first movie either. The story of the first one is pretty cool (even though critics complained about that too), so all Tron Legacy does is give us the breath-taking digital world of The Grid that wasn't possible to create in 1982. The story of Tron Legacy is kinda cool in that it makes Kevin Flynn into a metaphorical "God" of The Grid as well as expanding that biblical parable in other areas, although some people might not find that cool. I did. Really, you should only be seeing this for the special effects. Or the Daft Punk soundtrack, you might be seeing it for that (once again, I don't blame you). Plain and simple, the message of the movie is: technology is taking over our lives and Dinsney warned us 28 years ago. Now who's up for a crazy awesome light show?
Tron Legacy is one of those rare sequels, although it doesn't really give us a lot of a story to make it all that important to share. It manages to stretch very little information over the course of two hours; don't worry about the runtime though, it doesn't really seem that long. Basically the story is: Sam Flynn, the prodigal son of Kevin Flynn, the creator of Tron, goes into "The Grid," the virtual world from the first Tron, and finds his long-lost-dad (Jeff Bridges). He races bikes and plays a few games of ultimate frisbee with the drone-ish inhabitants of The Grid, and then attempts to get his dad out, while maintaining a serious face throughout, despite the fact that the long-lost-dad frequently acts like "The Dude." Let's not forget, uh whatshername, played by Olivia Wilde. She's the hot chick with the same haircut Natalie Portman had in The Professional. Sam tries to get her out too (I don't blame him), and although she seems like a character of little importance, she's really the most important thing about it. You'll see what I mean, or maybe you'll find the crazy techno mirage of orange and blue more entertaining (I wouldn't blame you for that either).
What Tron Legacy's purpose seems to be is that of reminding us of the original, in that it defines the essence of this fictional world. We aren't fully expected to see the original (trust me, it isn't really necessary), so we share the same perspective of Sam Flynn, who hasn't seen the first movie either. The story of the first one is pretty cool (even though critics complained about that too), so all Tron Legacy does is give us the breath-taking digital world of The Grid that wasn't possible to create in 1982. The story of Tron Legacy is kinda cool in that it makes Kevin Flynn into a metaphorical "God" of The Grid as well as expanding that biblical parable in other areas, although some people might not find that cool. I did. Really, you should only be seeing this for the special effects. Or the Daft Punk soundtrack, you might be seeing it for that (once again, I don't blame you). Plain and simple, the message of the movie is: technology is taking over our lives and Dinsney warned us 28 years ago. Now who's up for a crazy awesome light show?
VERDICT:
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
OSCAR PREDICTIONS 2011: Best Picture
TOP 20 FILMS OF 2010
THE SOCIAL NETWORK
INCEPTION
BLACK SWAN
BLUE VALENTINE
TRUE GRIT
TOY STORY 3
127 HOURS
THE FIGHTER
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
WINTER'S BONE
THE KING'S SPEECH
THE TOWN
NEVER LET ME GO
BIUTIFUL
GREENBERG
SHUTTER ISLAND
SOMEWHERE
I'M STILL HERE
THE GHOST WRITER
RABBIT HOLE
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