Tag: natalie

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Muni Reviews: Hesher (2011)

Hesher Synopsis: Hesher is a loner. He hates the world and everyone in it. He has long greasy hair and homemade tattoos. He is malnourished and smokes a lot of cigarettes. He likes fire and blowing things up. He lives in his van, until he meets TJ. So I was looking forward to watching this film, it had a few of my favorite actors in it, Joseph Gordon-Levitt Natalie Portman & Rainn Wilson.  The story follows a young boy T.J played by Devin Brochu, who is dealing with the death of his mother. He tries to purchase the car back from the impound, but is turned down because of his age.  T.J goes to vent his anger by destroying a model home where he meets Hesher, played by Gordon-Levitt, as the synopsis says, he’s a loner; a bit of a misfit. The story is a poignant tale of how a boy & his family deals with the death of someone close. I couldn’t help but feel bored at times though, and I hate that. Something this emotional and moving is usually my cup of tea; I like an unconventional story that captures you by surprise. Whilst watching this I felt like waiting for something to happen. I was left slightly disappointed but I guess you’ll have to watch it to make a formal decision. The acting was very good I can’t fault that but as I mentioned above the story did let it down. I guess whilst I was watching it some of the characters felt very two-dimensional. I didn’t feel emotionally connected with anyone in particular. I felt like there was a barrier put up by something, I guess you have to watch it and see for yourself. It was co-written and directed by Spencer Susser, who marks his first feature film after making a few shorts. For the directors first attempt this is a good film. The film has some wonderful shots that draw the audience in, and you could see the attention to detail put in the characters. I think the director will be someone to look out for in the future, it is a shame that I couldn’t connect with the film. The music or lack off could be a factor; I guess I enjoy music in film as it does bring an emotional side out in the film and in the person watching it. Movieville recently did a blog on music in film, which is worth having a look at. Overall I’d say I was left with an unfilled hole in my head and heart. I really wanted to love this film that I probably built it up too much in my head. I think it is worth watching, as it is an interesting film, with some lovely moments that do make you laugh, but I would recommend this to everyone, as you would be left disappointed. 6/10

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Black Swan on DVD & Blu-ray 16 May

The awesome-ass Black Swan starring the ever so beautiful Natalie Portman is set to release on home video in three days. That means Monday. I'm so buying this. Check out the trailer for it's awesome awesomeness, and a few clips from the film to prepare you for the release on the 16th of May: Trailer "Attack it" "Go Away!" "Rough Start" Also, check out the website, "Becoming the Black Swan" Kazed

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Kazed video reviews: Thor (2011)

Click 'show' to read, otherwise watch below!

Kazed  

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Annie Reviews: Black Swan (2011)

I wanted so much to be blown away by Black Swan, partly because I wanted the justification for the purchase of one of the beautifully rendered 1920s style posters that have been produced to commemorate the release of this much Oscar-buzzed film.  I also wanted to love it because so many other people had – friends, family, respected critics.  I just couldn’t get over the sheer melodrama of the piece, however, or the overbearingly clunky use of cliché and stereotype, which made it difficult for me to swallow as a serious film, and deserving of all its hype and buzz. I found the protagonist Nina, played by Golden Globe winner, and hotly tipped for Oscars glory Natalie Portman, cloying in her innocence and childishness.  She was hard to age as a character, but I would hazard a guess at her being meant to be around the mid-twenties point, and yet she sleeps in a Disneyfied haven of teddy bears and butterfly wallpaper.  It is not unusual these days to find children in their twenties still living at home, but the idea that she wouldn’t have redecorated in a decade was frankly more than a little hard to believe.  I understand that all this – her insistence in wearing only pale pink and pastel colours, her teddy bears, her soft voice and tendency to tears – were used to emphasise the transformation into the black swan, and the casting off of her childish shackles in order to embrace her new wilder, more adult side.   It fell short of convincing me, however, because it was so extreme, and in some ways I was more convinced by the descent into madness than by Nina’s original state as the innocent ingénue. The film is of course, sublime in its ridiculousness.  And perhaps this is the point, but I just couldn’t at any point in my viewing fully embrace Nina as a believable character, and therefore, couldn’t sympathise with her.  And it wasn’t just Nina who was an almost farcical exaggeration of a stereotype.  Her foil Lily (Mila Kunis) is also reduced to type as the wilder, free-spirited, sexually dynamic San Franciscan to Nina’s repressed, childlike, Upper West Side Wasp.  Vincent Cassel is also somewhat wasted in his talent as the sexually manipulative director Thomas; a man who seems to think it his artistic right to sleep with all of his principal dancers, in order to bring out their darker, more seductive side.  Despite finding myself hating Thomas for his presumption and tendency towards manipulation, he is also funny and wry, and he has a point about Nina; she is weak and ineffectual, and maybe that’s why I found her so grating, because she represents a part of us that we have to leave behind at a certain point in life, lest we flounder in our insecurities, dependencies and butterfly bedecked bedrooms. The problem with Black Swan is that it tries too hard to make its point, and in doing so left me feeling alienated from all the characters, because they only represent parts of us, and not one of them is representative of the fine balancing act it takes to be a well-rounded human being.  They are caricatures of men and women in a melodrama, rather than fully formed characters in a film.  In creating a melodrama, I can’t help but feel that Aronofsky has fallen short of the film he could have made, because, for me at least, a psychological thriller needs to have believable characters at the centre of it in order to create a convincing portrayal of the psychoses that can affect us all. None of this is to say that Black Swan isn’t enjoyable, however, because it is; it just isn’t quite the film I wish it had been. Rated: A disappointing but not terrible 3/5

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OFFICIAL Thor (2011) trailer

A couple of months back, I posted the leaked footage from the San Diego Comic-Con earlier this year. Of course, seeing as it was 'leaked' the higher-ups at Marvel or someone didn't like it, so promptly took it down from Dailymotion along with other sites. So here it is, in it's official capacity.

So nothing new here, but WHY. WHY WITH THE 3D!? Ugh, it's just beyond my comprehension as to why studios insist to stick a '3D' label on films. It's boolsheet.

Anyway, trailer still looks good. I APPROVE.

Kazed