Aronofsky's Black Swan

[mitch_h]

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Looks pretty good, probably my most anticipated movie of the year, kinda get a "Repulsion" vibe from the trailer and Aronofsky won me over for good with The Wrestler. Also Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman are both attractive people.

[dronepool]

Should be interesting.

[Lock Jaw]

Interesting. Can't say the trailer really hooks me, but I have liked all of this guy's movies.

[IC Champion]

Looks gay.

[LuigiD]

Interesting. I am a huge Aronofsky mark and had not heard of this.
Like the vibe it gives.

[Blitz]

Aronofsky is the man. Definitely seeing this.

[Snowden]

Aronofsky hasn't gone wrong on a film yet, and this doesn't look any different.

Shit, even The Fountain had me hooked, and thats widely regarded as his worst film.

[Lock Jaw]

I love The Fountain. Probably even more than The Wrestler.

[Blitz]

The Fountain is one of my faveourite movies.

[Fox]

Portman and Kunis have a lesbian scene in the movie.

Just saying.

[Snowden]

I love The Fountain. Probably even more than The Wrestler.

The Fountain is one of my faveourite movies.

:y:

Glad to hear it. The Fountain is up there for me as well, but IMO his best movie is Requiem for a Dream. I'll never forget the first time I watched it...

[mitch_h]

Overall, I would say I liked Requiem, Fountain and even Pi but there were certain aspects about each of these films that I didn't quite care for. I think Aronofsky's biggest weakness is his writing, and one significant reason the The Wrestler was so successful was because of Robert D Siegel's brilliant script. Fortunately it looks like some other dudes are writing Black Swan.

[Miotch]

This looks very much in the same vein as Requiem for a Dream. Can't wait.

[Hanso Amore]

Looks good and we get to see hot chicks naked in a sex scene possibly.

[Blitz]

Requiem For A Dream is a great movie, but man is that shit ever ever intense. I remember by the end of the movie I was literally curled up in the fetal position on the couch.

[FakeLaser]

Love Aronofsky, pumped for this. And the lesbian scene.

[Buzzkill]

Yeah this looks awesome. Going to be crazy dark i bet

[RP]

Portman and Kunis have a lesbian scene in the movie.

Just saying.

sold

[DrA]

First movie I have looked forward to in a while. I rarely go to movies anymore, but I don't mind going out of my way to see this guy.

[Buzzkill]

Another winner for aranofsky say the reviews

[FakeLaser]

Yeahhh can't wait, I think it's screening here next week.

[mitch_h]

Saw this back in September at TIFF, I thought it was great, it's really "over the top" but you could tell that was Aronofsky's intention and it works perfectly. Probably my second favourite movie of the year so far.

[Triple A]

What is your 1st

[mitch_h]

Meek's Cutoff, felt like a Gus Van Sant western, nothing really happens so most people will probably hate it :(.

[FakeLaser]

Just saw this, fucking awesome. Incredible imagery and parallels between the ballet and the "real life" of the characters. Definitely had the feel of an Aronofsky film with all of his "trademarks." Natalie Portman's "descent" really reminded me of Shelly Duvall in The Shining. Kinda reminded me a little of the Roman Polanski film Repulsion as well.

Also almost came like 3 times.

[DrA]

I saw this the other week. I enjoyed it. The first movie in a while where I was thinking "this movie is pretty good" while watching it. Part of that was because I was looking at attractive people, but even so the movie was alluring.

[Buzzkill]

Just came back from this. Don't know how I feel about it to be honest.

*SPOILERS*

Certain elements I really loved, like how they conveyed Mila Kunis as this wispy, devil-in-the-ear type character throughout the whole thing, with that overarching doubt as to whether or not she even existed at all. Loved the score and the acting, and some of the shots were incredible and really inventive (her putting on make-up in the reflection of the subway window, the few stage shots when the lights went out, etc...)

But I couldn't help but feel like 95% of it was completely absurd, over the top, self indulgent pretentious bullshit. And keep in mind, Eyes Wide Shut is one of my favorite movies of all time. It was just so "in your face" and really bordered on camp almost the entire time.

Not sure if this was his intention or not, but I would have loved a bit more subtlety. Also, too many cliches, over and over. Like ok, Natalie Portman is in the left side of the frame, she starts to back up and HOLY SHIT, IT'S BETH/MILA KUNIS/HERSELF. And yeah, watching people fuck with their fingernails is cringe-worthy, congratulations, you figured out how to make the audience extremely uncomfortable without providing any real substance.

DUNNO. Left feeling very angry for the most part. Couldn't tell if it was intentionally over the top and campy, and if so, then I'd say it does the job very well. But I think it took itself vry vry srsly

[FakeLaser]

My one gripe was that he relied a lot on "shit popping out of nowhere" to scare/shock the audience, like it was a crappy horror movie or something.

[mitch_h]

Aronofsky definetly intended for it to be over the top, had it not been it would have felt like some derivitive take on the Red Shoes/All About Eve/10,000 other movies. I think the crap horror and melodramatic moments prevented the film from feeling self indulgent and pretentious. Plus a lot of the movie was quite funny.

[Buzzkill]

If he was going for the "Drag Me To Hell"-type self aware schlock, then I could definitely reconsider my take on the movie. He's a brilliant guy, so I guess I find it hard to believe he could be so oblivious to his own camp. Maybe I will see it again at some point.

[Jeritron]

It didn't feel pretentious at all. Balet may ooze that, but that was just the topic. The film itself didn't come off that way to me at all.

[Buzzkill]

Another problem I had was that it was so firmly set in unreality, that it was impossible to connect to Natalie Portman's character (or any character for that matter). Anything that happened was essentially irrelevant because it could be written off as a fabrication. I know that this was most likely his intention, but it came at the cost of real characters.

Dunno. The more I think about it, the less I dislike it, but still not a huge fan. Will definitely D/L this at some point.

[Jeritron]

I think the connection to the character(s) was the movie's greatest strength. Just because she was losing touch with reality/sanity, and living in an insane world, doesn't mean she wasn't real on every level.

I will just agree to disagree with you because I loved this movie

[DrA]

Those delusional scenes have been done so much in movies that I don't think it's adequate to comment on them outside of their context. They worked well with the tone and underlying intensity of the film. They could have been more subtle, but this wasn't a subtle movie. It would have been interesting to see how things would have been different without the delusions and just seeing her behavior, but the 'schizophrenic meltdown' she had felt authentic in the way they chose to depict it.

[DrA]

I still believe The Wrestler is his best movie. It's just so genuine. It was a straightforward story that relied on characters instead of fancy camera angles or plot devices. He does those types of movies well too, but they can also have too much priority on the film.

[Buzzkill]

Loved The Wrestler so much

[Buzzkill]

Also not saying that people who like this movie are wrong. I can definitely see why people would love it, and I think that's all very legitimate, it just didn't sit well with me

[Buzzkill]

Pitting me against all of my friends irl and on tpww :(

[Jeritron]

Those delusional scenes have been done so much in movies that I don't think it's adequate to comment on them outside of their context. They worked well with the tone and underlying intensity of the film. They could have been more subtle, but this wasn't a subtle movie. It would have been interesting to see how things would have been different without the delusions and just seeing her behavior, but the 'schizophrenic meltdown' she had felt authentic in the way they chose to depict it.

This is exactly how I feel. The pop outs and disturbing imagery were more in the way of creating a genuinely off-putting experience to match the character's progression.
They were more tools in a larger scheme, rather than cheap parlor house horror tricks.

[Jeritron]

I feel like I should move all the posts from my thread in casual here. That way they can be part of the discussion.

[El Vaquero de Infierno]

I went to see it today and I thought it was great. It was quite intense at times, and I left cinema still reeling from it once it was all over. This is the first time I have watched an Aronofsky film. I will check out more of his other work.

And Natalie Portman actually delivered a performance worth watching.

[Shisen Kopf]

how was "the scene"?

[Corporate CockSnogger]

Nothing about the black swan being the "nigga swan" Shisen? You dropped the ball there.