Black Swan

Darren Aronofsky is no stranger to the Academy Awards. Last year, his gritty adaptation of a man past his prime as a wrestler attracted Oscar nods for Mickey Rourke as well as Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler. Rourke was given a role that was seemingly created just for him, and he nailed it. The Wrestler was a triumph of redemption and self-recognition. But Black Swan seems to tell the story before it all fell apart. It shows the downfall, not the climb back to the top.

Aronofsky begins the film with Nina, played by Natalie Portman, an extremely talented, but aging ballerina facing her last chance to prove her full potential. Nina's ballet company is headed by the handsome and extremely knowledgeable Thomas, played by Vincent Cassel. As the company is warming up, Thomas walks in, explaining that the first show of the season will be the overdone Swan Lake, but with a whole new twist, and he is looking for the girl to play both the white and black swan. At the same time, Lily (Mila Kunis) enters, and Thomas introduces her, explaining she is in from San Francisco and will be a replacement.

Immediately, a tension can be felt between Nina and Lily. Lily is carefree, she has black wings tattooed on her back and seems to get along with everyone, while Nina sits in the back and keeps to herself. The relationship that buds between Nina and Lily forms quickly and implodes with disdain, sexual impulses, and the joint desire to play the swan queen.

As I try to think of memorable quotes and dialogues, I realize there never was more than the occasional conversation and quick banter between ballerinas. Aronofsky had the intent to make Black Swan heavy on the visuals, and he succeeded. Every turn of the head, every fouetté, and every creak in the wood is closely watched by the camera. We can see the vigor in Nina's eyes as she pushes herself to make every spin perfect, yearning for Thomas' approval. We feel her pain when her big toe's nail breaks and she sits on the floor nursing it. This is what I expected from Aronofsky.

My favorite film of his, and quite possibly one of my favorite films of all time, is Requiem for a Dream. It tells the intertwining stories of four people all affected by drugs in different ways. Every time heroin was sent into their system, the camera would change to their eyeballs, scrutinizing the dilation of their pupils, and the sound of their breathing would shorten and deepen. The viewer felt almost as though he were also taking the heroin too. Aronofsky certainly has found his niche.

Black Swan is a story of not only beautiful decay, but what dedication and obsession can do to a person when they are forced to "let go" and let their primal instincts take control. Nina is meek and and a pushover at the beginning, but as the film progresses, we see the beast that lies inside her, pushing her to become the best dancer. Was it her overbearing mom, played by Barbara Hershey, that pushed her over the edge? Or possibly it was Thomas, her perfectionist teacher; or maybe it was Lily, with her natural grace and talent causing jealousy.

When we think of the world of ballet, we picture perfect girls, effortlessly gracing the stage with beautiful music. But Aronofsky takes cameras behind the scenes, where backstabbing and trash-talking are just another thing to put up with. We see the sweat, the constant desire to keep a perfect shape, and the even more constant fear of making one wrong move, ultimately ending one's career.

Black Swan could be categorized under Thriller or Mystery, and either way it would satisfy people looking for either movie. Portman's performance screams Oscars and so does the cinematography; and there is a possibility Kunis could get a supporting actress nod. Darren Aronofosky is a perfectionist and his films speak for themselves. I don't expect him or this movie to leave the Academy Awards empty-handed this year.

In the words on Nina, "I was perfect."

A+

Inception

As far as the quality of movies released during the summer go, most fall short of our high expectations, while, oddly, at the same time meeting their own. We read of producers, directors, and movie studios collectively throwing hundreds of millions of dollars into a movie ultimately doomed with the same summer-cursed fate: raking in ungodly sums of money while simultaneously making every person walking out of the theater, "Why the hell did I just pay twelve bucks to see that abomination?" But year after year, without avail, those same wonderful folks in Hollyweird churn out painful excuses for film.

This summer has been called the "summer of sequels", with studios riding the coattails of already mediocre films and debauching them into such mangled wrecks that they abandon ship and start over altogether (a la the Spider-Man trilogy). We had movies like Iron Man 2, Sex & the City 2, and Shrek 4 and quite frankly, it gets old.

I realize this seems incredibly off-topic and an unnecessary rant, but I want to bring focus to how substantial the movie event, Inception is. Amidst a summer riddled with sequels and 80s reboots, we have the brainchild of writer/director Christopher Nolan, the genius behind the likes of Memento, The Prestige, and The Dark Knight. After being given the green light 8 years ago, Nolan began to experiment with an entirely novel idea for a movie. He wanted to place the viewer in the dreams of another person, and see how vast the possibilities could be.

With that, we begin our journey into Inception. The movie beings with Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) face down on a beach, waves crashing upon him. He turns and sees two children playing in the sand but suddenly a gun is put to his head. Beaten, frazzled, and confused, Cobb is brought into a mansion and sat down across a long table from an old and wrinkled Saito (Ken Watanabe). A few lines are exchanged between the two men before the scene cuts to a younger Saito and Cobb now in tuxedos. Following an intricate, James Bond-esque gunfight, Arthur (Joseph-Gordon Levitt), who is Cobb's partner, is killed and wakes up in a house with his team, including Cobb, still asleep and hooked up to a machine. It becomes clear this was just a dream.

Inception has set a new bar for summer flicks, regardless of genre. It was a chair-gripping experience from beginning to end as well as managing to funnel the two very different types of moviegoers into a single creation that will be looked at as the blueprint for summer flicks here on out. There are the casual fans, just looking for an escape for a couple hours, and then the people who seek out quality films that are stimulating and well acted, and Inception effortlessly bridges that gap.

The quality of the acting from the ensemble is top-notch. Inception is supplied with numerous Academy Award winners as well as nominees. Ariadne (Ellen Paige) is an incredibly matured woman craving an outlet for her creative genius, as well a compassionate sidekick to Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio). Marion Cotillard, who plays "Mal", Cobb's wife, is in my opinion the stand-out acting job of the movie. She is able to evoke a mixture of pain, fright, and empathy from every viewer.

It's hard for me to review this film without revealing spoilers or other mysteries about the film. As much as I adore Inception, it is certainly not without its faults. For me, the sore thumb is the ending. I felt it was almost a cop out by Christopher Nolan. The movie raises enough questions as it is. My second problem was that as a mysterious, sci-fi, action-thriller that makes us question our very lives, Inception is immediately placed on the same level as The Matrix. I have read numerous articles on how people believe Inception to actually be better. In all fairness, The Matrix is the original scientific mind thriller. It not only questioned our lives, but it had incredible philosophical undertones, and that is where Inception lacks.

Quite frankly this movie is a mindf*ck, but don't dare let that stop you. Bottom line, if you want an incredibly action-packed journey then go see Inception. It is not one to be missed and will be remembered for years to come.

B+

Get Him to the Greek

First, let me say that as a discerning film votary, this shatters no preconceived notions of the Judd Apatow comedy paradigm or rises above and beyond to contend in the 2011 Oscars. "Get Him to the Greek", directed by Nicholas Stoller, stays steady on the road we've come to know from the Apatow crowd and it does so with the utmost excellence.

This movie is not here to win awards, it's here to make every single person in the crowd laugh their asses off, and it did just that. Maybe it was the fact that the tickets were free, or it was an advanced screening, or possibly because Aziz Ansari (who makes a minuscule appearance) is in it and is a local hero after his stand up last semester, but it seemed more like a show than a movie. Hell, the kid in front of us was so excited for the movie he showed up drunk and started ranting that a castle should be built on campus. College...

Anywho, Jonah Hill plays the same nerdy, indie, giddy to be touching a female character that is as commonplace as Will Ferrel stripping for no apparent reason in well, every movie of his. Regardless, Hill's character, Aaron Green, fits in with perfection. He must wrangle the super rock star, Aldous Snow, played by Russell Brand, from his home in London all the way to the Greek Theatre in LA for a reunion concert after splitting from the love of his life as well as falling off the wagon. And guess what? There's a deadline! 72 hours. *gasp*

Cliché story arc's aside, Greek is chock-full of wonderful cameos. Sergio, played by P-Diddy, Diddy, Puff Daddy, whatever, was the surprise hit on the movie. He is Aaron's (Hill) boss and is a walking quote machine. I found his lines forced and rigid at the start, but with time he easily becomes the best part of Greek, screaming obscenities and orders that were perfect. The entire Vegas scene (you'll see) would have been mediocre at best without Sergio (Diddy) doing his thing. There's a cameo by the kid who plays Draco in Harry Potter and my friend with me, a die-hard Potter fan was hyperventilating so loud I was sure she was going to need CPR.

Bottom line, if you can handle a barrage of profanities, a plethora of nudity, and some aching ribs from laughing, then I say go for it. The expected heartwarming ending is a tacky cherry on top of an above-average comedy sundae - almost as tacky as that analogy.

So here goes my first official grade of a film on my brand new blog! Drum roll please...

B-

The first of many to come

Tomorrow I will be attending the advanced screening of "Get Him to the Greek" at the JMU campus movie theater. While I know the idea of my first official film review consisting of a comedy led by Jonah Hill is a....questionable choice, you gotta start somewhere!

This is also an advanced screening, so I'll have a little edge over the rest of the blogosphere and intrawebs commentators giving their two cents.

Most importantly though, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" was one of the best comedies I have seen in a very long time, and the same director and writer are reprising their roles for Greek.
So prepare for my review to come some time tomorrow!