Review: Black Swan

I've been thinking a lot about Black Swan these past few days. I finally saw the film with boyfriend on Valentine's Day (romantic choice, huh?) and we loved it. The 108 minute running time flew by.

I have to admit that I'm not a fan of Darren Aronofsky or Natalie Portman. It's not that I dislike them, I just don't appreciate their work as much as others do. I've only seen Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream, and while great, it simply made me want to kill myself. None of his other films have appealed to me. Portman, I always felt, peaked in her youth with wonderful performances in Léon and Beautiful Girls. And then made a career of taking things too seriously (except for the Star Wars films). While talented peers Kirsten Dunst and Anna Paquin (already an Academy Award winner) were off doing Bring It On and She's All That during the teen movie craze, Portman did Where the Heart Is, in which she played a pregnant 17-year-old. It makes me wanna tell her to lighten up (which she eventually did with No Strings Attached). But I guess that makes her seemingly perfect for the lead in Black Swan.

Now you might think I'm gonna bash her performance, but that's far from the truth. Portman's performance in Black Swan was, well, it was perfect. For someone as beautiful as she is, she really transformed herself from woman to girl. Her Nina was so fragile, not just her frame (so petite!), but also in her behavior and mental state. It made me forget I was watching Natalie Portman. All the praise and all the awards she's been getting, well, she deserves them. She deserves that Academy Award as well. So if this is the new era of Natalie Portman, then I'm welcoming it with open arms.

Supporting players Vincent Cassel and Barbara Hershey gave great performances as well. While I love Mila Kunis, I didn't think her performance was that special. Of course she was good and all the hard work on the ballet training is admirable, but I felt Hershey, with her complexer role, was more deserving of the Golden Globe nomination that Kunis received.

Black Swan is a beautiful film as a whole. I wasn't too crazy about the camerawork. I understand that it represents Nina's mental state, but especially in the beginning, I found it distracting. And it reminded me of why I gave up on Friday Night Lights and thus taking me out of the film for a moment. But overall, one of the best films of 2010. A 5/5.

Review: Forgetting Sarah Marshall

I was thinking the other day that I still needed to write a review of Getting Over Allison. It's weird, because I never even thought about that movie when I was watching Forgetting Sarah Marshall so how could I have mixed them up? Now that I've thought about it a bit, the movies are somewhat similar. The males leads in both movies (played by Ben Foster and Jason Segel, respectively) are regular, somewhat nerdy guys who are dumped by their popular exes (Melissa Sagemiller and Kristen Bell, respectively). Both girls start dating musicians (Shane West, Russell Brand, respectively) with uhm.. interesting accents. Both movies feature musical sequences and Mila Kunis. However, she is not Ben Foster's love interest in Get Over It (Getting Over Allison was the movie's working title).

It is rather unfair to Jason Segel to compare the two though. While Get Over It is a teen movie and a bit over the top, FSM is a comedy with a heart. I felt Segel's pain, both thanks to his well written script and sensitive performance. If this guy isn't on his way to become a big star, I give up on Hollywood. He deserves a Golden Globe nod for this. However, it was Russell Brand who was the star of this movie. He stole every scene he was in. Supporting roles from Mila Kunis, Bill Hader, Jonah Hill and Paul Rudd were great too. It's interesting to note that Sarah Marshall herself, Kristen Bell, was actually the weakest link here. I've never seen Bell be so bland before. I wonder if she's actually capable of carrying a movie (I've blocked the awful Pulse from my memory, thank you very much).

One thing I really liked about the movie is that it shows two sides of the relationship. While mostly the focus is on Segel's character Peter, you also get to find out why things didn't work out for Sarah and her motivation isn't as shallow as you might expect. Overall, FSM is an enjoyable movie. If you liked Knocked Up, I'm sure you will like this movie as well.

Well played, Mr. Segel! A 4/5.