Black Swan

As I previously mentioned, I watched Black Swan this week. I wanted to write a separate post as I don't think I'd do it justice in a paragraph.

Before I begin, it's worth mentioning what I knew about the film before I began watching.

1. It's about ballet!

2. It had received Golden Globe nominations.

3. It's stars Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel

That was pretty much it. I was going in blind.

I made a conscious decision recently to stop watching trailers if I already knew I was going to watch a film. What do I have to gain aside from revealing the 1st act. If I'm already going to watch it, then why would I find out more?

Anyway, I'm watching Black Swan. I'm in bed with my girlfriend. I'm thinking the film is pretty good pre-sleep viewing. Visually good, nice soundtrack, nothing too heavy. This should put me in a nice mellow mood before my slumber begins. How wrong was I?

The film just turned on it's head. Surely this isn't right? Sinister, dark, eerie, haunting etc etc. "I am Jack's shock induced palpitating heart". Wow.

Ok, I don't want to narrate the story, if you've seen it, you know it. If you haven't why would I ruin it. I guess once the story had started to twist, I kinda knew where it was going, but enjoyed the journey nonetheless. Mila Kunis was great. Not Oscar great, but she delivered exactly what she was supposed to. Extremely sexy. Rough round the edges, as intended. A stark contract to Natalie Portman's cutesy little Mummy's Princess.

Portman's character was truly floored. A victim of a mother's obsession, ultimately becoming obsessed herself. I couldn't take my eyes off her for the entire film. I believe she got a Golden Globe for this performance and although there are mixed reviews for her in this role, I felt she was back at her Leon-esque best.

What in particular did I like about this movie? The music was haunting and extremely atmospheric. I was interested in the characters from the get go. I was sucked in. I wanted to find out more. The plot developed nicely and like the music, the suspense built up, right to the end. I was captivated, front to back. No lull's.

All in all, one of my favourite movies in a long time. Go see it if you haven't. If you have seen it, then watch it again.

I'm out.

Movie Nights Begin

It's been 4 or 5 days since me and my friends kicked off our movie night season. The first to host was my friend Woody. The film of choice was City Of Lost Children.

I'd hadn't previously heard of the movie so I was slightly dubious. Ron Perlman in a starring roll also had me unsure as to whether or not this would be any good. After a quick nosey on IMDB I saw that there was a great production team behind the film. Due to the film being French, I was particularly interested to see that one of the two directors was of Amelie fame.

So we sit, with our pizza and get set for the main event. My other friend, who we shall refer to as Mainstream Ross, had taken command with the remote control. He presses play.

So I sit, watching and immediately begin to get agitated as I notice the film is set up, by Mainstream Ross, with badly dubbed English. Before the film had started I had said to Mainstream Ross, "check it's on subtitled and not dubbed". From experience I know that he prefers dubbed to subtitles so I let it ride. Woody shortly comes to my rescue by mentioning the laughable Cockney accents. We change to subtitles.

So we're ten minutes in and I'm not enjoying it. I wonder if it will getter better now the dubbing has gone. It doesn't. For the most part, I'm trying my hardest to stay focused on the film. I just don't feel a strong enough plot developing to keep me interested.

The film is certainly interesting to look at. It has a very unique feel. Strangely it feels like an old fashioned future world, masked in a greeny-brown haze. It has a very stage/theatre like feel to it, but it works. So visually, in my opinion, it's done it's job.

In terms of story, to sum up, poor. The plot developed so, so slow. Even after the story gathered momentum, I didn't connect with or care for any of the characters. I didn't buy into anybody emotionally, so the film for me gets a big thumbs down. Am I glad I watched this? Yes. I did take some things from the movie, just left me with a general 'style over substance' vibe.

Now this isn't a film review blog as such. Just my general ramblings on film. So I'm pretty much going to leave it there. As you've probably guessed, I wasn't a fan of this movie, therefore I don't feel like taking too much time to talk about it.

Aside from movie night, it's been a pretty busy week for me, movie-wise. Since my last post I've watch Post Grad, Black Swan, Let The Right One In, Saw 3d, Flight Of The Navigator, Wall-E and Home Alone 3. Not bad for 5 days eh?

Now the last three weren't through choice. I have a 5 year old daughter and my girlfriend has a 5 year old son. So weekends generally consist of this kind of movie. I have to say though, I kind of pushed Flight Of The Navigator on them. I loved this film as a kid, and they both loved it too. If you have kids younger than 10, then this is definitely worth picking up. Slightly dates but still, transports kids to a world where they fly a spaceship with cute aliens on board.

Wall-E, as you may well know, is amazing. But have you checked out the Pixar short 'Presto', located in the extra's. It's only a few minutes long but it never fails to make me and my daughter laugh. Post Grad isn't the greatest. Let the right one in is definitely worth a shot and last but not least, Black Swan.

Now I can't sum up Black Swan in a paragraph and I really need to get back to work now so I guess I'll put up a new blog about this one. In the meantime, check it out. It's worth all the hype. Guys, there's a special treat in there for you too.

Peace out for now.

Tonight? We make soap

So where do I start?

Recently, myself and two of my good friends decided to embark on a silver screen adventure. Long story short, every two weeks, one of us will host 'movie night'. The host picks a movie, we all watch, that's about it really.

So, being a total film nut, I decided I'd capture this journey in the form of a blog. I love talking about film and hearing others share their experience of them, it all seems to make sense. So I guess that sets the scene.

I'm sure as time goes on I'll paint an unwitting picture of my movie taste, but for now, I'll give a snapshot.

One of my all time favourites is Mike Nicholls' London based drama 'Closer'. Not to everybody's taste I'm sure, but somehow the raw emotion and witty dialogue just pulls me in. I'll probably take time out to break the film down in detail at some point.

I love a big budget, popcorn flick. Iron Man, Avatar and The Dark Knight are a few recent-ish examples that spring to mind. At face value, they're easy to watch, not too challenging and visually stunning. The fantasy aspect of these films appeals to me in a big way. They show you something you don't see every day. Places, people and possibilities that don't exist in the real world. Who doesn't wanna see that?

In contrast to these Hollywood monsters, I'm constantly looking out for a hidden gem. From the top of my head I'd say films like Juno, Flakes, Into the Wild and All the Real Girls. Aside from being excellent works, I feel that the Christopher Columbus in me enjoys the discovery aspect. Knowing that I've watched this movie through choice rather than swallowing a massive marketing pill.

Ok, I'll stop there. Brief, but a reasonable starting point. I intend to follow this up in a few days with a look at whatever I end up watching. I tend to watch 5 or so films a week. Some new, and some from my collection. So I guess I'll have plenty of material to work with.

If anybody at all happens to read this, be sure to check back in a few days.

Ciao for now.