Black Swan: ehjkfkledsrlif

Wow. Simply wow. This newest offering from The Wrestler director Darren Aronofsky is a sheer dazzling display of filmmaking. Although I saw it in a cinema with an audience that chose to laugh at inappropriate moments in order to alleviate their uncomfortable feelings that the movie drew out in them.

Black Swan is the story a ballerina who is given the lead in Swan Lake by her boundary pushing director. A rivalry soon ensues when new ballerina in the school played by Mila Kunis enters and creates paranoia in Portman's character. This paranoia soon manifests in grotesque visions and hallucinations involving Swan based imagery and ultimately begins to seep into her reality as she metamorphoses form the innocent White Swan into the seductive and destructive Black Swan.

Aronofsky's direction is top-notch: choosing to shoot more than half the movie in claustrophobic close shots, Aronofsky borrows from Polanski's Repulsion to create a severely agonizing look into the psychotic mind of Nina the Ballerina. Aronofsky is not afraid to go places, using the close-ups on grotesque visions of skin ripping and face stabbing drawing gasps from the audience. It would not be too bold to say that this is his masterpiece.

Portman's performance is nothing but an across the board unanimous verdict of the best of the year. She successfully plays both her doppleganger and herself in such a way that you a truly drawn into the madness that is Nina and cannot help but be fascinated with her from the very first frame, through to the end.

The supporting cast is also great: Mila Kunis as the very straight-played rival ballerina who's "not faking it"; Vincent Cassel as the temperamental Ballet director; Barbara Hershey as the neurotic stage mum and a host of others. Cinematographer Matthew Libatique also give us a nice mix of film and digital with sweeping and sometimes jumpy camera which works especially well during the performance scenes.

Black Swan is nothing short of a masterpiece but I find it very difficult to review this movie. I don't think I've quite gotten my head around it and will probably see it again in the near future, but for now it's a film that has me perpetually fascinated.

A taught, dark, sexy and virtuoso achievement. - 10/10

Top 10 of 2010

So here it is: the first one is my favourite of the year, after that they're in no particular order.

1) INCEPTION

The spectacular masterpiece of the year. I saw this three times at the cinema and was blown away every time. Words fail to express how i feel about this movie and it has come to tie as my favourite movie of all time.

2) Kick-Ass

One of the most fun, exciting and well directed films that has now placed director Matthew Vaughn on my top Directors list after Stardust and Layer Cake. With stellar performances form Nicholas Cage, Aaron Johnson and the superb Chloe Moretz as the trash talking ass-kicking Hit Girl.

3) The Social Network

Flawless, Flawless movie, who knew that Facebook could make such an interesting and provocative story, top notch Script, Direction, Script and Performances.

4) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

The best in the series yet with stellar Directing from David Yates (Who i might mention i believed in the whole time!)

5) Buried

When the critics used Hitchcock in the same sentence as this film they weren't lying. Ryan Reynolds outdoes himself and director Rodrigo Cortes make the entire movie set in a box far more thrilling than most high-budget thrillers.

6) Toy Story 3

What a great ending to a saga I started in my childhood, bringing tears of sadness, joy and a wealth of emotions. Lee Unkritch wraps up one of the greatest trilogies ever.

7) Easy A

Such an under-appreciated teen film from the new John Hughes, Will Gluck. Emma stone carries the film superbly with great comic timing and even retired-then-not-retired actress Amanda Bynes has a great turn as a Jesus Freak teen. Hilarious and very well played.

8) The Kings Speech

Technically I saw this in 2011 but... Superb Performances, Unique direction and a great script turn what could have been another dreary stuffy costume drama into one of the most involving films of the year.

9) How to train Your Dragon

I was dragged to this movie not wanting to see it and boy was I surprised, such a pleasant turn for Dreamworks who normally make incredibly childish animations. Great oice cast and brilliant script.

10) Tangled

Again, technically this year but... A superb take on the traditional fairytale and one of the first CGI films that really honors the origins of hand-drawn animation. Great voices, music and witty script.

All these films got 10/10 from me.

I'm Back

Now that i have completed a uni degree, i can now continue my blog, unfortunately i missed reviewing a plethora of fantastic films including INCEPTION (which is now tied for my favourite film) and THE KING'S SPEECH however i will be covering the golden globes and continue my reviews all of this year.