Black swan
Review by the Jamster

Back Swan is a Phychological rollercoaster of a film set around ballet in New York Directed by Darren Aronofsky famous for Requiem for a Dream and the not so well know film the fountain.
It’s worth mentioning before I went into the cinema to watch this film my girlfriend and I were obstructed by a older women protesting publically how disgusted about the film. So of course this gave me the entertaining challenge I like to call ‘Walk out moment,’ where I try decide at which point during the film the disgusted women walked out of the cinema, but more on that lady.
The story of Black Swan is fairly basic and if you’re familiar with Aronofskys work you will probably know from the start how this story is going to progress and even finish. Natalie Portman plays Nina Sayers a young ballet dancer going for the lead role in Swan Lake, she is young and innocent with loads of talent, trains very hard and im betting she hasn’t even smoked she really comes across as a sweet innocent girl.
Nina still lives with her mother who treats like she is still 5 years old by tucking her in bed, making her cakes and giving constant encouragement. Her mother played by Barbara Hershey is front the offset the best actor in this film. She is so supportive of her daughter it actually has a massive effect on Natalie Portmans character shes basically a child trying to compete in an adult world. She’s a five year old girl in a adults body.
Adding to the stress from her mother, Nina is trying to get the lead role in the upcoming ballet presentation Swan Lake. The director however, is looking for a girl to play both the white swan role and the black swan role both essentially different and challenging roles. The director like most evil directors adds extra pressure to Nina by giving her advice and unique homework assignments to get into the roles.
Adding to this Nina has the pressure from her competition Lily played by Mila Kunis. Who unlike Nina plays the bad girl renegade dancer (noticing the link to the Black Swan yet).

So with all these stresses in Ninas life it’s no wonder she is a little messed up and fighting a difficult internal battle.


From this first paragraph you may be thinking hey this film doesn’t sound half bad. Well thats just it, it’s a interesting idea just turned into a somewhat wasted opportunity. The film just comes across as mostly dull and boring while. The main focus of the film of Ninas internal torment seems somewhat only mildly explored until the last twenty minutes of the film. The film just comes across as so boring.
And then we come to the part most people have heard about in the film, the L word, yes the lesbian scene. It really isn’t a big part of the film so if your gonna see this film to see Naltalie Portman and Mila Kunis make out you may as well wait till you can see it on you tube, it really plays that small a role.

What I was surprised about was for a film about ballet the soundtrack was not very inspiring. It has the typical melodies and piano based around Swan Lake, however, it really did not leave much of an impression. For a film focused around ballet the soundtrack could have been a lot more engaging.
Overall, Black Swan is watchable but that’s about it. No doubt it will do well in award season but it’s a shame the director did not really take it to the next level. After all Aronofsky has proven in his previous films he can go the extra mile. Everything just seems to have been played very safe here.
Rating: Rent it.
You may be asking when did that women walk out, well my prediction was it must have been the multiple references to masturbation in the film. Its unlikely she got far enough to even see the lesbian scene.

best films of 2010

Its been a surprisingly good year for films with plenty to see. Though I did not get around to seeing all the top blockbusters out there what follows is some of the best films I saw this year.

Kick - Ass - probably the biggest shocker for me, I was heading into this film expecting a predictable superhero film, in a market that has become incredibly saturated with superheros there seemed little space for another orgins story film. However, Kick - Ass was a all round awesome superhero film which even surpassed the graphic novel its based on. The main cast all provide top performances even Nicholas Cage which is odd. Hit Girl of course steals the show. This is a all round film that dare I say it Kicks ASS!

Monsters - Released fairly recently I would actually say this was a higlight of the year. Why?well because its different I went into this film expecting some Cloverfield esq knock off instead what I saw was a film very character driven and incredibly beatiful to watch. Seriously Monsters has some of the best photography I have even seen on film. Its not a great film, but the director took a risk with this film and it payed off. If your expecting a Godzilla film here your in the wrong place my friend, though its not a excuse why you should pass up this hidden gem.

Predators - A sequel made really for the fans. I'm probably one of the few people that thinks Predator 2 was not that bad, but it doesn't matter as Predators is a sequel to the first film, hell why do you think its Predators and not Predator 3. Though again this is not a great film, you can tell a lot of thought has gone into it to please its target audience and thats why this film makes the list. Its for the fans, and its nice to see some directors still going out there way to please the fans and not just everybody to earn as much money as possible. Predators is entertaining from start to finish and if you like this genre and hated the AVP spin offs well my friend your gonna love this.

Toy Story 3 - Yeah its no suprise this is here, but I haven't put iot on the list just because its a good film its more the fact Toy Story 3 proves you can still make a trilogy and still make it good. The trilogy curse still haunts many franchises but Toy Story cements its place up there with the good ones such as back to the future and lord of the rings, it can be done people.

And my favourite Film of 2010 was...................

SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD - Why Oh WHy this did not do well at the cinema I don't know. Edgar Wright once again shows he is one hell of a awesome director. This film excells on so many levels, great soundtrack, great casting, amazing cinematography. Scott pilgrim is the sort of film you go to the cinema to see, its different its fun and further its doesn't require gimmicks like 3D to draw a audience. The critics love this film, but much of the audience did not and I took the time to ask some people why, the most common response was 'I just didn't get it,' which seems kind of bizzare since this really is not a complicated film. its ultimate Nerd love on cinema here and I'm sure its one of those films people will be getting on DVD and lovin once it is given a chance. It's been ages since I have been so entertained at the cinema. Watch it.

So thats my films of 2010, I did not really see anything that I thought was particularly terrible as I avoided what appeared to be very bad films such as littler fockers and the last air bender, plus I can't really judge them as I haven't seen them.

Tune in next time for my top picks in music in 2010. Have a mad one guys
jamy