Lurid, disgusting, disturbing and shallow. The film is never certain of whether it is a horror movie or condemnation of the ballet culture. It attempts to be both but never succeeds as either.
It seeks to draw parallels to Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, in which the protagonist loses her lover to the evil "Black Swan"...except that Portman isn't even in a relationship with her supposed love interest (the choreographer, who is a manipulative lecher she can't stand).
It's also very derivative (of things like Fight Club, Psycho and Jacob's Ladder). Told entirely from the perspective of Natalie Portman's character, one is never sure what is real or not. This is also yet another movie that is totally devoid of humor (intentional humor anyway; Portman's meltdown became funny after a while -- particularly when she sprouted bird legs
). Mila Kunis is adorable however (though her strikingly attractive features tend to upstage Portman's less comely looks).District 9
Interesting scfi thriller, though the script could have used another re-write (they never explained what that black fluid was, or why it was both a spaceship fuel AND a substance that turns humans in "prawns"). Toward the end I got sick of all the f-bombs and "shakeycam" but the story was overall good and held my interest. I also appreciated the depiction of bigotry towards aliens by people who were themselves victims of bigotry within living memory (which is a sadly accurate portrayl of human nature).
Clash of the Titans
I found this remake entertaining but not perfect, and while it arguably had more verisimilitude, it lacked much of the original's charm (and humor). I found it interesting that this film was more "ensemble"-driven than the original (and indeed Greek myths in general, which always focused on a single hero). All the characters were well-written, even the supporting ones (Lawrence Kasdan's influence no doubt).
Sam Worthington was very good, though he came across more like an army "grunt" than a Greek hero (and he certainly lacked Harry Hamlin's elegance). Gemma Arterton and Alexa Davalos gave superb performances, in addition to being breathtakingly beautiful women (and nothing enhances a woman's beauty like Greek attire). Ralph Fiennes was effectively chilling as Hades, but Liam Neeson doesn't really embody a "god-like" persona for me. I just can't accept Zeus with a Northen Irish accent (sorry). I'd have preferred an actor with a more refined style, along the lines of Olivier's original Zeus.
Beautiful art direction though, the buildings and denizens of Argos looking like a Lawrence Alma-Tadema painting come to life. Unfortunately, post production CGI overkill gave the film a decidedly 300 / LOTR look at times (and those are among the most visually repellent films ever made if you ask me).
Some of the action scenes got too frenetic, to the point that they were confusing (the scorpion sequence was halfway over before I realized there was more than one of them -- I couldn't imagine sitting through this movie in 3-D).
I did get tired of the effects after a while, which (while impressively rendered) started to seem ostentatious, and didn't offer anything not already seen in other movies. And while they may be slightly more "convincing", the effects in this remake don't have the same beauty as Harryhaussen's originals (which in some ways were more convincing, as they were were real, 3-dimensional objects, not computer animations).
The score was disappointingly to say the least -- especially when compared to Laurence Rosenthal's magnificent original.
Tron Legacy
A slick, worthy successor to the original. I did find the story a little confusing and ambiguous at times, but it moved well and the characters were believable. I also liked the slams at the modern software industry in the boardroom scene. The effects were near-unssailable, though the attempt to "youthen" Jeff Bridges via CGI didn't look that real (certainly compared to the same effect used on Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen in X-Men 3). Daft Punk's score was very good in the orchestral passages, though too much like something from an Ecstasy club in the synth portions. But Olivia Wilde's portrayal of Cora was a particular highlight (but I'm a sucker for Emo girls!).
LOVE IT.
