MOVIE REVIEWS: BLACK SWAN

IN THEATERS

BLACK SWAN



New York City ballet dancer Nina (Natalie Portman) enters into an intense battle of wills with a talented and ambitious new arrival (Mila Kunis) who seems intent on edging her out of the spotlight in this supernatural-flavored psychological thriller from director Darren Aronofsky. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Cast: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder.

Release Date: Dec 03, 2010

Rated R for strong sexual content, disturbing violent images, language and some drug use

Runtime: 1 hr. 43 min.

Genres: Suspense/Thriller

Review:

Macabre, mystifying and absolutely engrossing, Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan is an operatic dark fair tale. Aronofsky, shooting mostly via handheld camera, creates an impressively arresting tale that has a sense of immediacy and intensity from the first frame of the film. While the actual plot is fairly simplistic, Aronofsky’s ability to take us through the throws of insanity and lunacy by showing the character’s crumbling reality elevates it’s into high art. While it stumbles on a few occasions in particular near the finale, deciding to be overly visual with the extended metaphor which leads into unintended camp. Natalie Portman shines in a meticulously measured performance. Her beautiful but emaciated figure walks and dances through the film in a detached but dedicated haze. Portman and Barbara Hershey share some excellent chemistry with forays into Nina’s disturbing homelife which display the levels of arrested development in play. Vincent Cassel is appropriately sleazy as the lothario dance director. Mila Kunis isn’t asked to do much of depth here and is mostly a one dimensional foil. Aronofsky’s Black Swan is a beautiful film that occasionally borders on high class horror.

A-

Rest in Peace Leslie Nielsen

LOS ANGELES - Leslie Nielsen, who traded in his dramatic persona for inspired bumbling as a hapless doctor in "Airplane!" and the accident-prone detective Frank Drebin in "The Naked Gun" comedies, died on Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was 84.

The Canadian-born actor died from complications from pneumonia at a hospital near his home at 5:34 p.m., surrounded by his wife, Barbaree, and friends, his agent John S. Kelly said in a statement.

"We are saddened by the passing of beloved actor Leslie Nielsen, probably best remembered as Lt. Frank Drebin in 'The Naked Gun' series of pictures, but who enjoyed a more than 60-year career in motion pictures and television," said Kelly.

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.ap.org/leslie-nielsen-naked-gun-fame-dies-age-84-ap


One of my favorite actors ever, he was such a big part of my childhood with Airplane and the Naked Gun movies, he will be sorely missed....

MOVIE REVIEWS: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 1

IN THEATERS

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 1



The first installment of the two-film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows follows Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) as they search for the pieces of Voldemort's (Ralph Fiennes) soul that he extracted from his being and hid in obscure locations both far and wide. If the trio is unable to locate and destroy them all, Voldemort will remain immortal. Despite their long friendship, a combination of dark forces, romantic tensions, and long-held secrets.

Director: David Yates

Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes

Release Date: Nov 19, 2010

Rated: For some sequences of intense action violence and frightening images

Runtime: 2 hr. 27 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure, Family, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Review:

Taking a purely cinematic journey through J.K. Rowling’s now classic tome about the titular boy wizard, mainly because fantasy books have never grabbed my attention in the slightest, has been in interesting if somewhat confounding experience. The first 3 or 4 films really felt closer to standard issue preteen fantasy writing and story telling that while mildly interesting was never thoroughly engaging. Still I trudged forward, mainly because I like to finish whatever I start, and as the child actors grew the storytelling became more layered and detailed, creating a more engaging story and series of events. While I’d hardly ever call myself a diehard I had grown to enjoy the story and its darker far more adult undertones as the finale drew closer. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is an epic start to what’s sure to be a rousing and hopefully fulfilling finish. David Yates again directs and he’s been a wonderful guide for these latter entries. Part 1 has an epic and world weary, at times almost apocalyptic feel to it that been building for the last couple of chapters. It’s a thoughtful film that knows when to insert humor or character moments when needed to break the occasionally oppressive tone of story. There is enough action to keep novice interested while some of mythology mumbo jumbo sinks in. The cast is equally comfortable in their roles, the primary trinity now having spent the majority of their adolescence in these characters. They are all more than capable of handling the characters more intensive story lines. While Radcliffe and Grint have shown a steady improvement as they’ve aged, Emma Watson has become the best of the lot and displays an impressive level of naturalism here. A few dead spots here and there especially in the final act where the film kind of starts to feel like Harry Potter and the Fellowship of the Horcrux as they wander the woods before a hurried finale that simply reinforces the point that this is the end of act 1.

B+

Cowboys & Aliens Trailer

Green Lantern Trailer

MOVIE REVIEWS: 127 HOURS

IN THEATERS

127 HOURS



Filmmaker Danny Boyle adapts the true-life story of Aron Ralston with this Fox Searchlight production detailing the hiker's harrowing quest for survival after losing an arm to a fallen rock and the grueling five-day ordeal that finally ended with his rescue. James Franco steps into the role of the unfortunate climber. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Director: Danny Boyle

Cast: James Franco, Amber Tamblyn, Kate Mara, Clémence Poésy, Lizzy Caplan.

Release Date: Nov 05, 2010

Rated: Language and some disturbing violent content/bloody images

Runtime: 1 hr. 33 min.

Genres: Drama

Review:

Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours is an engaging incredibly impressive cinematic achievement considering the film’s plot concerns a climber being stuck under a boulder for 5 days. Boyle flexes his impressive imagination and uses various cinematic tropes to take us through the experience Aron Ralston suffered in as visceral a manner that when the pivotal scene comes you winch and squirm with each tear and rough cut. It’s an overtly elemental and primal story one that harkens back to a bevy of man vs. nature tomes from the past. James Franco owns the role of Ralston, it’s his show and if either he or Boyle falters it’s a failure of a film. Thankful Franco, like Boyle, deliver the goods. He gives the audience a clear taste of who Ralston is and lets us feel his spirit and emotional states throughout. He’s always interesting and always connects with the audience even though he has nobody to interact with besides himself and occasionally a camera. Once he’s freed, you feel that moment in a personal way. It’s a fitting tribute and testament to Ralston’s real life experience.

A