BLACK SWAN

Ok. I know; I know. I promised a "G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra" review, but C'MON. Lol "Black Swan" 's been getting crazy buzz, so me and my boyfriend watched it.

Oh. My. Goodness.

Darren Aronofsky's outdone himself. Well, okay. Maybe just followed his typical line, but Jesus this movie was crazy.

Where to begin?

Umm--my question is, What drugs were the writers on when they crafted this piece?!

Honestly, the surreal element to the story really--excuse my Spanish--fucks--with your head. Half the events don't even make sense until you realize that Natalie Portman's Nina Sayers has started down a dark spiral into oblivion and she's lost herself in her schizoid microcosm of paranoia and cannot differentiate between that and the real world.

Enter corrupting forces Mila Kunis' Lily and artistic director (choreographer?) Tomas, played by Vincent Cassel, whom you may recognize from "Eastern Promises" and "Derailed" (or at least, I do). Even Winona Ryder gets a crack at it.

I think at about the halfway point, the movie makes a screeching, churning 180 from the direction it seems to start out from, and for the first time I felt a pang of fear--that chill that runs up and down your spine. I was sunk into my seat. I said to my bf, "Ok, now I'm scared."

Up until then it seems to just delineate Nina's life and her coming out of her über-protected shell...

Until something darker arises.

Take a look at the main poster for the movie. What's so chilling about it?

You can't really pinpoint it, but something seems off.

WELL--watch the film and you'll see what I see now.

Overall score: A/A-

★★★★ 1/2

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REALLY want "Inception" Soundtrack (on a side note).

And I meant to give Tron 3.5 ★'s so that's what I'm amending right now.

For your viewing pleasure...

Also, as a side note--

I've been a ballet aficionado since birth. Well, it's actually been a while since I've been, but I've been having a hankering for "The Nutcracker" ever since I saw SF Ballet's "The Little Mermaid" with my friend. *le sigh* That's past now. However, I did get a chance to watch "The Swan Lake" and I even acquired a book (beautiful illustrations by Van Allsburg) that I recently re-read.

I do not really agree with the interpretation of the story as presented in the movie; however, it fits the plot line and the direction (SPOILER! foreshadowing) of the film.

Not to give too much credit to this adaptation, but go rent "The Swan Princess" (or download; whatever your pleasure) to get a general idea of the storyline.

And listen to Tchaikovsky's beautiful score!! (<- it's been haunting me since last night, and running through my mind)

PEACE!! Much <3

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(from here on out, I will rate movies with "bites." since I am a food aficionado, I'll let you guys know just how much of these movies I'm willing to "take a bit out of" <- Cheese intended)

"The Wall" (1998)

This was a movie I had to watch for a French culture class (of which I am actually cramming at the moment, and am churning out this review ASAP!)...

It is a bit satirical, but since I am really completely ignorant of French/Belgian history/culture/issues (yes, I suppose I am an ethnocentric, pig-headed américaine), I at first thought "The Wall" represented a TRUE wall that was erected à la the Berlin Wall.

"le mur" tells the story of a Walloon (French-speaking person in Belgium) man named Albert (Daniel Hanssens) who runs a fish and chips cart/stand that sits right on the border of Belgian Wallonia and Flanders--two (basically) warring factions within Belgium. The Flemish speak Dutch and the Walloons speak French, and they do not like each other!!

The female lead (Pascale Bal) resembles a Linda Evangelista/Milla Jovovitch-type look. She plays Wendy, a pretty, flirty, confident sort of free spirit.

The meet at a New Year's Eve Party and somehow fall in love.

The following events that transpire make up the reason behind the title.

I do not quite know what to make of the opening sequence between a man and woman that resemble (well, the actors are the same) Albert and Wendy--and they are a Walloon and a Flemish girl.

It seems that much of the movie could realistically be happening in Albert's head.

The military or the special squadron of "round-up" thugs are so power-trippy that they are reminiscent of Draco Malfoy and the Inquisitorial Squad in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. (Perhaps the way the Gestapo were in Nazi Germany)

Like Clive Owen's character says in "Shoot 'Em Up"--"I hate a pussy with a gun." or something along those lines.

Sorry.

Not to go off on a random tangent (And if you haven't seen "Shoot 'Em Up," WATCH IT!).

And that makes me think of WHAT HAS CLIVE OWEN BEEN UP TO LATELY??

More on that later (I'll post once I find out) (o;

BUT--"Le Mur" is interesting and has its comical moments. I think the movie is there as a message, but also there to entertain.

I enjoyed it, but it probably won't make it on my Top 10 List.

Overall, it gets a B/B- from me. (maybe closer to a 78%~81%, if that helps)

Enjoy!

[the following link may not work in a month's time, but I won't know till then... Hopefully it still works by the time somebody reads this!!]

LE MUR scroll down the list

Also listed are "Germinal" and "Michou d'Auber" which star everybody's favorite French actor---Gerard Depardieu.

Well, let's see... Jean Reno and Marion Cotillard are a couple of other names...

Another movie I'd like to check out (and have yet to do so completely) is the Canadian/American movie "Bon Cop, Bad Cop." When I was still taking French classes at De Anza College, we had some projects we had to do and one of the ladies in the class showed us the difference in accent between Canadian French and French French. It looked pretty funny from what we saw in class.

I also urge you to check out "Persepolis," another engaging and delightful French film.

I have yet to check out "The Triplets of Belleville" but will let you all know how that goes...

There are just SO MANY films!!

Le Mur (1998)

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