... while you got it. The thought is hilarious.

what point am i missing, exactly?

you keep arbitrarily comparing it to random movies it has nothing in common with, and i'll keep enjoying it for what it actually is, ok?

Well just seem like the other fools here with your calling out other posters.

And all the movies, have some basis for parts of the movie. Bet you the screenwriter thought of them, sorry you didn't or couldn't.

Oh - - so that's what it all meant!

Darren Aronofsky has definitely shown himself as a strong director in the past but Black Swan takes the cake as his best work yet. The film is shot so beautifully while also keeping in its little pieces of horror. Some scenes are definitely gruesome to watch while others are just a joy. Natalie Portman is fantastic and really should get the Best Actress Oscar here. She tackles a lot of the odd, challenging scenarios well and builds herself into the character instead of having hints that she is just playing the role. Mila Kunis is strong as well. Vincent Cassel even makes a nice surprise here and doesn't come off as generic. The film definitely leaves a lot to be thought of once exiting the theater and that enriches it all the more. Definitely in the top of the year. Superb! ****

Also...

The lesbian scene was good but I loved the nightclub scene.

Well both were good. But the solo masterbating scene on the bed was the best. As it was pretty shocking and graphic.

PS. The way that she was doing it on top, in her mind, was the Black Swan fucking the White Swan?

i sort of wish i could make this movie disappear for like two years, and then have it reappear when people have forgotten it and it can exist in its actual state instead of the one that has been projected on it by 'serious' movie people.

black swan is fucking full-on, totally blown-out camp and hysterical melodrama. it's more depalma and cronenberg (or even argento, who i've seen it compared to several times now) than it is anything else, and it kind of infuriates me to see people lumping it in/comparing it to generic oscar bait dramas. this movie is a psycho freakout of epic proportions, not a prestige piece to stroke your oscar predictions to or declare it as "the xxxxxxx of this generation!"

It's not, but I wish it was too.

Well. Glad to see you are coming around and recognizing what I saw originally.

That this movie can be compared to other movies, styles and workings.

But I disagree this was camp, not even close, or even some of the directors you commented on.

Whatever to another punk ass worthless poster.

As I did nothing that others did, say it was a great movie. And I didn't mention Oscar as others did for the movie or Natalie.

OK FOOL!!!!!!!

And check out the people that raved about it including Junio, Viper, Public Enemy, Makeshift and J Movies.

And you called it a MasterPiece!!!!!!!!

So F Off Fool.

So Magnus and Makeshift, if you ever develop a set of balls and want to explain yourselfs. How did my 4 star movie of the decade compare to you two complaining fools, who call it perfect and a MasterPiece.

So whatever to these two.

Dear Grill:

Please don't spoil the Black Swan review thread with rants. Don't feed the trolls. You've been doing so well lately, so please keep the "Everyone's A Critic" threads on topic, especially for a movie that you so obviously enjoyed. Thank-you.

Sincerely,

Bradley

Grill, you're a fool for thinking that Black Swan could already be the movie of the decade!

The movie of 2010-2019 is clearly Scott Pilgrim vs. The World!

Michael Cera < Natalie Portman
BUT
Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel < EVERYONE ELSE IN SCOTT PILGRIM VS> THE WORLD!

I haven't even seen Black Swan yet, but I'm throwing down The Gauntlett!

Whatever.

And did you F up your signs???

And Natalie Portman is the whole movie!!!!! The rest are just pieces of furniture that she uses!!!!!!

Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, which is to say he is no stranger to emotional and physical torment) trains his sinister eye on the world of ballet in the highly effective Black Swan. It is a near perfect pairing of director and subject matter. Ballet is an art where great, often agonizing physical sacrifice is endured in the name of a graceful performance. Aronofsky dives into the curious relationship between beauty and hardship which constitutes ballet, and he finds both poignant emotions and classic horror-movie jolts/grotesqueries therein.

The main draw may be Natalie Portman's lead performance. She is Nina, a dedicated dancer who is not getting any younger (in a field where the four words "not getting any younger" are almost a death sentence, as is represented by a just-retired and furious dancer played by Winona Ryder in a small, but potent role). Nina's technique is perfect, but her demanding artistic director (Vincent Cassel) insists her performances are not "felt" as they should be--ace craft, but artificial, not intuitive, not sensational. After she is cast in the lead role in a certain Tchaikovsky masterpiece, Nina is compelled to find her inner villainess. She is a consumate professional ever mindful of formalism and precision who must embrace the long-buried wild child within if she is to give the best performance possible. This is no small challenge as Nina lives in a small apartment with a domineering and watchful mother (Barbara Hershey), a once-up-and-coming dancer who gave up her career to raise Nina and now seems to resent her daughter, denying her space and comfort. There is also the matter of a rival dancer (Mila Kunis) for whom hedonism and romantic misadventure is natural.

Portman's performance is a marvel. On a physical level, it is clear from frame one she was 100 percent committed to this role. Though I am no ballet aficionado, as will be the case with most moviegoers, I found her dancing in the plentiful ballet sequences to be believable and at times transcendent. Her performance also plays as a two-hour panic attack; Nina is always on edge, always self-analyzing to the point of self-abuse, always questioning herself and her abilities, often on the verge of tears or a scream, etc., and Portman is with her each step of the way. It is not hard to imagine her winning award after award for this live-wire performance. The supporting cast is top-notch. Cassel exudes an attractive blend of sleaze and sophistication, perfect for the role. Kunis is commanding and confident, and it's never hard to see why Portman's Nina desires and fears her character; who could resist? And then there is Hershey, who gives an eerie, unpredictable performance which recalls the best of Disney's evil stepmothers, as well as Piper Laurie's character in Carrie.

From a technical standpoint, it's hard/impossible to fault this film. Matthew Libatique, a D.P. who has shot films both small (Requiem for a Dream, Phone Booth) and enormous (Iron Man, Miracle at St. Anna), puts his camera in the center of the action. It is always following/haunting Nina, even when she dances. The effect is intimate, claustrophobic. The minimal FX are seamless and terrifying.

I am not sure how realistic this depiction of ballet is--I imagine in real life technicial precision by far trumps impossible-to-quantify "feeling." But Darren Aronofsky's nightmare vision of a perfect dancer giving herself over to madness and passion to find the one quality which eludes her is brainy, lurid brilliance.

A-

It's amazing how Aronofsky's camera can be so reminiscent of the style of the Dardenne bros. (especially in The Wrestler but also here) and yet also completely his own.

f

Not F-? Disappointing.

Fantastic! My second favorite film of the year after "Let Me In." Give Natalie Portman the Oscar now. She was incredible. She gives a very layered performance and it's the best of her still young career. Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, and Vincent Cassel all give very strong supporting turns.

A

It doesn't even compare to 127 hours in terms of graphic gore.

Stop yourself

q.v.: my post near the end of the first page of the 127 Hours thread.

I should either..

- download it online or
- wait till February to watch it in theater

argghhhhh

wait with me, juring!

okay

Wait. I'd have hated for my first viewing of it to be experienced on a small screen. It's much more effective on the big screen, IMO. Besides, it deserves support.