Film Review "Black Swan"

This film is brillant. Everything about this movie is good. Where to begin. First I'll star with the story. *Spoilers to follow* The story is of a girl named Nina (Natalie Portman) who is trying out for the roll of the Swan Queen in Swan Lake. She is a really good dancer, and while she is perfect for the role of the white swan (innocent, pure, almost virginistic) she can not get the feeling of the black swan (powerful, lustful, courauges). While she is practicing for the role, a new girl enters into the show, Lily (Mila Kunis). She is perfect for the role of the black swan, and is Nina's exact opposite in every way. While Nina is kinda shy and passive, Lily is sexual and forceful, things like that. To make a long story short, Nina embraces the role of the black swan, but in doing so, loses her innocence and also her sanity. I like the line that Vinncent Cassel speaks towards the end when he says, "You have to lose yourself in the role." And although he had been saying that throughout the entire film, you don't notice until the very end that that is what Nina is doing, she is losing her self, and becoming the black swan. In doing so, she loses her mind. In esscense this film is a sort of coming of age/loss of innocence story, but with a very dark twist. Nina loses her innocence, yes, but in doing so she goes completly mental, and in the end loses her life because of this insanity. I think the story also has to do with the idea of stress. I don't think it was a main theme, but I got the feeling of stress throughout the entire film, if it's not a theme, it is at least a sort of undertone. Now on to visuals. Darren Aronofsky is at the top of his game in this film. While his previous film, The Wrestler, visually was just your standard, run of the mill film, this is getting back to his Requium For A Dream days. It almost felt like a horror film the way in which it was shot. I jumped acouple of times while watching, and Nina's hallucinations are amazingly done. Sound design was again really good. I again got the sense of a horror film while watching. There are scratching and feather sounds in the film that will make your skin crawl, and that is what a good film will do, make you have an emotional response and really get into it. I believe a great film envokes 2 feelings in the viewer, one that is wanting more and one that is I can't watch because I don't want this to happen. This is the latter, it's almost a cringing feeling, that you don't want to watch, because if makes you feel weird...but you can't look away. The last time I felt this was during The Dark Knight, I didn't want The Joker on screen because I knew he would do something bad, but I also wanted to see what he would do next. That sort of feeling. Natalie Portman is really good in this film. I always say her best role was in Leon The Professional, this performance is right up there with Leon. Her descent into madness is one of the best depictions of downfall I have ever seen. It is right up there with Emil Jannings in The Last Laugh, which is the best performance of a broken down man I have ever seen. Ok, now on to some critasism, and there is not much. Although Natalie Portman is great in her role, I am question weither it is actually her that is great, or the way the film is shot. I almost have a sense that the way the scenes are shot make the downfall more amazing. Also, was Lily real? I think I read somewhere that she is not, and it is sort of like a Fight Club sceneiro, but not all the way like that. All in all, the film is great and everyone should watch it. One last thing I just remembered, kudios to Mr. Aronofsky for the visual dichotmoy of Lily and Nina, with with 2 colors black and white, I thought that was great. Conclusion time, go see this film. 9/10

Film Review "Winter's Bone" and Oscar Picks 2-26

Why is this film nominated for best picture? Of the nominees, this is probably the worst, and one of the weirder films I have seen in my life. Spoilers beyond this point. The film is about a girl named Ree, played by Jennifer Lawrence, who is trying to find her father so a bails bondsman doesn't take her house. This family lives out in the boonies/woods with her younger brother and sister and her catatonic mother. That's the first issue I have with this film. The mother didn't seem catatonic or sick at all in this film, just on the verge of a nervous breakdown. All and all, she just didn't talk, that's it; she wasn't bed ridden or unable to do anything, so I don't get how she was catatonic. Also, what do these people do for money? As far as I know, Ree is the biggest provider, but she doesn't work at all in the film, and we are not given any indication that she does work. Also, what was up with the mafia aspect of this film? That is one of the weirdest concepts I have seen in a film, the "redneck mafia" (that's not what their called, but if you watched this, you would get what I mean). Also, the main character cuts off her dead fathers hands, and puts them in a plastic bag and brings them down to the police station by her self. I can't put my finger on it, but something seems off about this. I don't know what I would do in this situation, but I would not do that. All and all, not the best film. Not a terrible one, but not the best either. Probably the best part of this were both Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes. They were the best performers in the film, and they deserve their actor nominations at the Oscars. See if you want, I'm not recommending it, see it just for the ridiculous redneck mafia and a girl cutting off her dead fathers hands. That's about it. 4/10.

Oscar Picks as of Feb. 26 at 5:00 (What should win, not what will win)
1.Toy Story 3
2.The King's Speech
3.Inception
4.True Grit
5.The Fighter
6.The Social Network
7.127 Hours
8.The Kids Are All Right
9.Winter's Bone

Just have to watch Black Swan, which I am sure will be high on the list. Will have to tune in tomorrow to see the big winners.

1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

I received the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die yesterday. And I have come to the conclusion that I am going to try and watch as many movies in this book as I can in my life time. This is a new life long goal for me, and I am excited. There are some movies in here that I will not watch, mostly I don't want to see a woman's eye get cut in the film An Andalusian Dog, and no offense to John Waters, but Pink Flamingos is not a film I want to see. But besides those selective few that are not on my to do list to watch, I will try to watch as many of these as I can, and maybe even right a review or short blog for each. Let me start with the films I have seen already.

1.(1902) Le Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip To The Moon) - Georges Méliès
2.(1903) The Great Train Robbery - Edwin S. Porter
3.(1919) Das Kabinett Des Doktor Caligari (The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari) - Robert Wiene
4.(1931) M - Fritz Lang
5.(1932) Scarface: The Shame Of A Nation - Howard Hawks
6.(1933) Duck Soup - Leo McCarey
7.(1937) Snow White And The Seven Dwarves - David Hand
8.(1939) The Wizard Of Oz - Victor Fleming
9.(1940) Fantasia - Ben Sharpsteen
10.(1940) Pinocchino - Hamilton Luske, Ben Sharpsteen
11.(1941) Dumbo - Ben Sharpsteen
12.(1942) Casablanca - Michael Curtiz
13.(1947) Out Of The Past - Jacques Tourneur
14.(1948) Rope - Alfred Hitchcock
15.(1953) The Big Heat - Fritz Lang
16.(1954) Shichinin No Samurai (The Seven Samurai) - Akira Kurosawa
17.(1956) The Searchers - John Ford
18.(1957) 12 Angry Men - Sidney Lumet
19.(1960) Psycho - Alfred Hitchcock
20.(1961) West Side Story - Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise
21.(1962) To Kill A Mockingbird - Robert Mulligan
22.(1963) The Birds - Alfred Hitchcock
23.(1965) The Sound Of Music - Robert Wise
24.(1966) Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo (The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly) - Sergio Leone
25.(1967) The Graduate - Mike Nichols
26.(1967) Cool Hand Luke - Stuart Rosenberg
27.(1967) The Jungle Book - Wolfgang Reitherman
28.(1968) Planet Of The Apes - Franklin J. Schaffner
29.(1968) 2001: A Space Odyssey - Stanley Kubrick
30.(1968) Night Of The Living Dead - George A Romero
31.(1971) A Clockwork Orange - Stanley Kubrick
32.(1971) Willy Wanka And The Chocolate Factory - Mel Stuart
33.(1971) Dirty Harry - Don Siegal
34.(1972) The Godfather - Francis Ford Coppola
35.(1973) The Exorcist - William Friedkin
36.(1974) Young Frankenstein - Mel Brooks
37.(1974) Blazing Saddles - Mel Brooks
38.(1974) The Godfather: Part II - Francis Ford Coppola
39.(1975) One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - Milos Forman
40.(1975) The Rocky Horror Picture Show - Jim Sharman
41.(1975) Monty Python And The Holy Grail - Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones
42.(1975) Jaws - Steven Spielberg
43.(1976) The Outlaw Josey Wales - Clint Eastwood
44.(1976) Rocky - John G. Avildsen
45.(1977) Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope - George Lucas
46.(1977) Annie Hall - Woody Allen
47.(1978) Dawn Of The Dead - George A. Romero
48.(1979) Life Of Brian - Terry Jones
49.(1979) The Jerk - Carl Reiner
50.(1979) The Muppet Movie - James Frawley
51.(1980) The Shining - Stanley Kubrick
52.(1980) Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back - George Lucas
53.(1980) The Elephant Man - David Lynch
54.(1980) Airplane! - Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
55.(1981) Raiders Of The Lost Ark - Steven Spielberg
56.(1982) Fast Times At Ridgemont High - Amy Heckerling
57.(1982) E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial - Steven Spielberg
58.(1982) The Thing - John Carpenter
59.(1982) Poltergeist - Tobe Hooper
60.(1982) Blade Runner - Ridley Scott
61.(1982) The Evil Dead - Sam Raimi
62.(1983) A Christmas Story - Bob Clark
63.(1983) Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi - George Lucas
64.(1983) Scarface - Brian De Palma
65.(1984) The Terminator - James Cameron
66.(1984) This Is Spinal Tapp - Rob Reiner
67.(1984) Ghost Busters - Ivan Reitman
68.(1985) The Breakfast Club - John Hughes
69.(1985) Back To The Future - Robert Zemeckis
70.(1985) Brazil - Terry Gilliam
71.(1986) Stand By Me - Rob Reiner
72.(1986) Blue Velvet - David Lynch
73.(1986) Ferris Bueller's Day Off - John Hughes
74.(1986) Platoon - Oliver Stone
75.(1987) Raising Arizona - Joel Coen
76.(1987) Full Metal Jacket - Stanley Kubrick
77.(1987) Good Morning, Vietnam - Barry Levinson
78.(1987) The Princess Bride - Rob Reiner
79.(1988) Akira - Katsuhiro Otomo
80.(1988) The Naked Gun - David Zucker
81.(1988) Who Framed Roger Rabbit - Robert Zemeckis
82.(1988) Rain Man - Barry Levinson
83.(1989) Glory - Edward Zwick
84.(1990) Goodfellas - Martin Scorsese
85.(1990) Edward Scissorhands - Tim Burton
86.(1990) Total Recall - Paul Verhoeven
87.(1991) Boyz 'N The Hood - John Singleton
88.(1991) Terminator 2: Judgment Day - James Cameron
89.(1991) The Silence Of The Lambs - Jonathan Demme
90.(1992) Reservoir Dogs - Quentin Tarantino
91.(1992) Unforgiven - Clint Eastwood
92.(1993) Ba Wang Bie Ji (Farewell My Concubine) - Kaige Chen
93.(1993) Groundhog Day - Harold Ramis
94.(1993) Jurassic Park - Steven Spielberg
95.(1993) Hsi Yen (The Wedding Banquet) - Ang Lee
96.(1994) Forrest Gump - Robert Zemeckis
97.(1994) The Lion King - Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff
98.(1994) Clerks - Kevin Smith
99.(1994) Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarantino
100.(1994) The Shawshank Redemption - Frank Darabont
101.(1995) Babe - Chris Noonan
102.(1995) Toy Story - John Lasseter
103.(1995) Clueless - Amy Heckerling
104.(1995) Se7en - David Fincher
105.(1995) The Usual Suspects - Bryan Singer
106.(1996) Fargo - Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
107.(1997) L.A. Confidential - Curtis Hanson
108.(1998) Saving Private Ryan - Steven Spielberg
109.(1998) Lola Rennt (Run Lola Run) - Tom Tykwer
110.(1998) Pi - Darren Aronofsky
111.(1998) There's Something About Mary - Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly
112.(1999) Fight Club - David Fincher
113.(1999) The Blair Witch Project - Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez
114.(1999) The Matrix - Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski
115.(1999) The Sixth Sense - M. Night Shyamalan
116.(2000) Gladiator - Ridley Scott
117.(2000) Requiem For A Dream - Darren Aronofsky
118.(2000) Meet The Parents - Jay Roach
119.(2000) Traffic - Steven Soderbergh
120.(2000) Memento - Christopher Nolan
121.(2001) Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain (Amélie) - Jean Pierre Jeunet
122.(2001) Sen To Chihiro No Kamikakushi (Spirited Away) - Hayao Miyazaki
123.(2001) The Royal Tennenbaums - Wes Anderson
124.(2001) The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring - Peter Jackson
125.(2002) The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers - Peter Jackson
126.(2003) The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King - Peter Jackson
127.(2003) Kill Bill: Volume 1 - Quentin Tarantino
128.(2004) Crash - Paul Haggis
129.(2004) Sideways - Alexander Payne
130.(2006) Little Miss Sunshine - Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
131.(2006) The Departed - Martin Scorsese
132.(2006) El Laberinto Del Fauno (Pan's Labytinth) - Guillermo del Toro
133.(2006) Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan - Larry Charles
134.(2007) No Country For Old Men - Joel Coen. Ethan Coen

And that's it, 134 movies. Not bad. On the back cover of the book, it says that Roger Ebert has seen 943 of these films. So I have a long road ahead of me. Alright, lets do this.

Why I Like the Film Watchmen

Probably the one film that I get the most guff about liking, and it is my favorite movie of all time, is Watchmen. A lot of people I know do not like this movie at all, either it's too long, or Dr. Manhattan's penis is on screen for too long, whatever. I really enjoy the comic a lot, and I thought Zack Snyder did a really good job adapting it. The one problem I have, and spoilers are to follow, is the change from the original ending of the alien attack to the one with Dr. Manhattan's power attacking everyone and him becoming the enemy. In the sense of the film it makes more sense that Dr. Manhattan would be the fall guy, his power and reason for existing in America is questioned a lot in the narrative, and it seems almost logical for the end to have everyone hate him. But I also really like the comic, and that the world needs to come around and help stop the threat of the alien/dimensional being, while Dr. Manhattan's work is done and he walks off to live his life alone. They are both good endings in their own sense. For the people who don't like how long it is, all I can say is I own the Ultimate Cut of the film, and being 4 and a half hours, it is a very long film. But being a fan of the comic so much, I can sit through it. It grips my attention throughout the entire film, and for some people it didn't. Also to the people that said there was too much Dr. Manhattan's penis, read the comic, he is naked throughout the entire thing. I really enjoy the acting, Jackie Earl Haley was amazing as Rorschach, the set design was great, it look a lot like the comic, and overall it was a great adaptation of one of my favorite comics of all time.

Oscar Picks (As Of 1-28)

1. Toy Story 3
2. The King's Speech
3. Inception
4. True Grit
5. The Fighter
6. The Social Network
7. 127 Hours
8. The Kids Are All Right

(Black Swan and Winter's Bone still left to see)

Now, this is how I think the ratings should go, my official pick for best picture is The Social Network, but I would like to see Toy Story 3 win, because it is probably my favorite film of the year.

Movie Review "127 Hours" "Spoilers"

127 Hours was pretty good. James Franco was great, especially during the amputation scene; you can really feel his pain. And the way it was edited was fantastic, the jerky camera movements and the quick editing was great. I think one of the greater aspects of this film is the music. To me, the music just seemed to fit the scenes very well. Danny Boyle's style of cropping multiple shots at the same time was pretty interesting, but at times seemed a little overused. At points it does work, like the opening title sequences, that was very good, just the last ones were kind of unnecessary. The ending was really great. Even though I knew he survived in the end, I was still on the edge of my seat. Also, I think the scenes where he is imagining his ex girlfriend seemed unnecessary. Now, I know this is all real life and this is actually what happened, and it was a reason for him to keep going and live, but nothing really came from this relationship. I just didn't seem the point. Overall a good film, I would say Slumdog Millionaire is Boyle's better film, but you can't really compare the two. Franco gives a very good performance. I have seen movies where there is basically only one actor in the whole film, and I feel they did it better, the main example being Moon with Sam Rockwell. That's not saying that Franco did a worse job, I just think Moon did it better. It is a good film, just not the best, or my cup of tea, and not my pick for the Oscars, although Franco might get my nod for Best Actor, it is between him and Colin Firth for The King's Speech, which is an excellent film. 6.5/10

Movie Review "Mary and Max"

Just watched an interesting film entitled Mary and Max. It is a claymation film about 2 pen pals, and their relationship through their lives. The animation is amazing in this, and the color and tone of the film is dark and dull, which goes along with the story. There are some weird jokes, and one too many fart jokes, but the overall message I think is summed up well in the end quote, "God gave us family, thank god we can choose our friends." Watch it if you like good animated films, but be cautious, there are very weird moments throughout. 7/10.