I Will Be Back

I do care about this blog, and apparently people care it as well.  I just received an email from a fan requesting future posts.  I see that Jimmy Likes Movies received between 40-60 page views a day, and that humbles me.  I am currently eyebrows deep in writing a Masters Thesis and applying for employment, but that doesn't mean this is dead.  I plan on returning to this often in the future, but that's when it will have to be, in the future.

Giant Monster Meets Disney's Famous Fawn: Bambi Meet Godzilla (1969)

I stumbled across a wonderful little short when researching my Monster Movie a Day.  Looking through a box of monster movies I picked up at a flea market a couple years ago, I found a VHS I didn't know I had.  This strange box is both surreal and magnificent, and quite frankly, bought without me even knowing it was among the lot I purchased.  

Bambi Meets Godzilla & Other Weird Cartoons is a treasure of obscure, bizarre animation that I feel ashamed of never watching.  The tape is 30 minutes of rare, vintage animation mostly from the animation pioneer Max Fleischer. Aside from the title-piece, which I will get to soon, the rest of the VHS is just as good. In Betty Boop in Crazy Town, an insane wonderland of absurdity knocks Bizarro World down a peg. "You Auto Lay an Egg" is  a short showing a bird eat auto parts as it eventually lays an egg.  In "Cobweb Hotel," a spider invites houseflies in for dinner.  Any fan of animation deserves this VHS (not available on DVD) among his or her collection.

Ok, now to the bizarre title-piece, Bambi Meets Godzilla.  The short itself is roughly a minute and a half and features simple, hand-drawn animation of a cute, Disney-eqsue deer eating grass.  The one joke, hilarious short is drawn by a young man named Marv Winston – entirely drawn from his bedroom in 1969. 

Bambi meets Godzilla - Marv Newland (1969) from O.C. on Vimeo.

Not surprisingly, this short was included on several VHS releases of Return of Godzilla.  Bambi Meets Godzilla was ranked number #34 in the book The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals, a 1994 book by animation historian Jerry Beck. 

Feel free to comment below.  I would love to read them.

Monster Movie A Day #3

The Iron Giant (1999)

Dir. Brad Bird

In anticipation for the July 12^th release date of Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim, I am offering a Monster Movie a Day review.  Here is the third of the series.

 

(movie poster created by the incredible artists at Mondo. http://www.mondotees.com/)

Following the horror or The Host and the heartbreak of King Kong, I need to stretch my monster-loving wings and include my favorite animate feature, Brad Bird’s 1999 epic The Iron Giant.  But, before I start raving about this film, I must discuss its pedigree.  The name that strikes the loudest chord is Brad Bird.  If you don’t know Brad Bird, you just don’t pay enough attention.  This is the guy behind some of my favorite films of the last twenty years.   After directing a few episodes of The Simpsons and write the screenplay for *batteries not included, Bird nabbed his first solo directing gig with The Iron Giant.  The film was so badass and near perfect that he was snatched by an animation company named Pixar, yeah he’s that awesome.  While at Pixar, Bird jumped onboard to write and direct The Incredibles, therefore keeping the superhero boom from popping and offering a working template for ensemble superhero films.  Next up for Mr. Bird, my favorite Pixar film, Ratatouille.  Both Ratatouille and The Incredibles provided Pixar with an element missing in some of their previous films – a solo, artistic style approaching pure art.  There are frames in Ratatouille that deserve to be framed and hung in the best galleries.  Bird decided to jump from the Pixar boat to direct a live action film, the surprisingly great Mission Impossible-Ghost Protocol (2011).  Next is the amazing voice cast of Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick Jr. Cloris Leachman, and Vin Diesel as the Giant.  Now, voicing a metallic, alien robot doesn’t seem like that notable, but man did he make that role so much more touching – making the robot a real, emotional being. 

Based on the book The Iron Man, by Ted Hughes, Iron Giant isn’t too different than the plot of so many retro science fiction films (i.e. E.T.).  In 1957, an alien robot shows up on Earth and befriends a troubled boy who must protect the robot from government agents.  Toying with Cold War paranoia and the space race, this script, paired with a director with a vision and ability to execute that vision successfully, The Iron Giant becomes a masterpiece. 

Now the reason you all came to this blog, the monster.  While not exactly a monster, the Iron Giant is an alien robot, but the sheer magnitude and presence the Iron Giant holds is special.  The Iron Giant is a militarized robot, built to cause mass destruction. He is large and menacing but his emotions and gentle humanity allow him to understand innocence and build connections with people. Audiences can relate to the robot as he has to defy the purposes of his existence and make his own path despite his expectations and programming – a freedom to be who one chooses.  While seemingly cold and stoic, the giant is true Superman with powerful feelings of grief, heroism, anger, and duty.

While only available on DVD at this moment, I cannot recommend this film more.  Truly spectacular.

Feel free to Comment below! I would love to read what you have to say.

Monster Movie A Day #2

King Kong (1933)

Dir. Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack

In anticipation for the July 12^th release date of Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim, I am offering a Monster Movie a Day review.  Here is the second of the series.

No one can claim fandom over monster films without appreciating RKO’s 1933 King Kong.  Some modern audience members might look at a stop-motion film from 1993 as archaic, but the majesty of this film holds up today as much as it did in 1933.  Here’s the deal with King Kong, is was an absolute game changer.  Modern movie monsters in film would not exist without this film, but it changed the game for more than just movie monsters – King Kong revolutionized special effects work.  Kong is the prototype of big, city-destroying monsters.  Kong inspired the likes of some of the greatest filmmakers and special effects artists from Ray Harryhausen to Peter Jackson to Stan Winston to the creators of the King of Monsters, Godzilla.  This ape is the real deal.  The great Ray Harryhausen credits King Kong with instilling in him a desire to make monsters only to find himself under the tutelage of the brilliant Willis O’Brien, the special effects supervisor on King Kong.  Approach any filmmaker who created or loved special effects and they will site King Kong as a major influence. 

In the film, theatrical showman Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) travels to Skull Island and kidnaps a monstrous ape known to the natives as Kong.  Once back in Manhattan, Denham bills the monster as “The Eighth Wonder of the World.”  The rest of the film is filled with iconic scenes from Kong’s capture of Anne Darrow (Fay Wray) to the iconic scene at the top of the Empire State Building.

King Kong is such a pleasure to watch today.  The size of this film is massive. Nothing is held back from the island, the natives, Manhattan, the Tyrannosaurus Rex (!), the score...everything is huge.  Filmmakers today should look at the delicate balance between actions, effects, and well-performed human story as an example for blockbusters.  The pacing of the action and the dialogue is snappy and quick, keeping the energy going through the entire film with falling flat and dull (much like Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake).  Credit must be given to writers James Ashmore Creelman and Ruth Rose who wrote the screenplay based on a story by Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace.  The screenplay keeps the tension throughout without lifting the light, brisk pace.  The performances of the human characters, especially Faye Wray, are believable and fantastic, but the best performance in the film is that of the monster himself. 

Willis O’Brien brought the puppet models to life with such nuance and precision that he was able to give Kong emotion and thus make him relatable.  This is no small task considering the two models of Kong were 18-inches and 24-inces respectively and filmed in stop motion, a method of animation that required one slight movement of the model and then a 1-frame shot from a camera repeated until the scene was complete.  Stop motion would be used for animation throughout the 20^th century and into today with by Ray Harryhausen, Stan Winston, Tim Burton, Henry Selick, and George Pal. 

King Kong is still a pleasure to watch today due to its creativity, visions, and ambition making, not only the greatest monster movie of all time but also one of the film's best fantasies.  Watch it now on DVD, Blu-Ray, or Amazon Prime Instant Video.

Feel free to Comment below! I would love to read what you have to say.

Monster Movie a Day #1

The Host

Dir. Bong Joon-ho

In anticipation for the July 12^th release date of Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim, I am offering a Monster Movie a Day review.  Here is the first of the series!

 

I have never been a fan of lists or rankings, but I continue to list and rank nearly everything.  Who am I to tell you that King Kong is a better monster than Godzilla? Thus this column does not insist a list or a ranking but a smattering of indelible monsters movies that everyone should see. 

What is it about a monster that intrigues so many people?  A monster is simply a twisted atrocity of natural order typically associated with words like sinister, nightmare, or terror.  Humankind naturally demands definition and explanation for unnatural phenomena, and when, logical contextualization cannot be provided, people experience fear.  Fear builds from the reality, or unreality, of the unknown and the limitless perversion that exists within it.  Within that fear resides humankind’s fascination with monsters. 

The late twentieth century found its monsters on a smaller scale than the King Kongs and the Godzillas of the world.  The monsters became human, aliens, diseases, gremlins, vampires, etc.  Audiences found terror in the disguisable and the invisible (John Carpenter’s The Thing as a example).  That trend was pushed aside in 2006 with the release of the South Korean hit monster film, The Host (completely unrelated to Andrew Niccol’s 2013 film of the same name).  The monster in the film is unnamed – simply referred to as Gwoemul, a Korean translation of the word monster.  Gwoemul is a call-back to the classic giant monsters of the 1950’s and 60’s, most notably members of Godzilla’s rogues gallery.  As with the best giant monsters, Gwoemul was created by people disregarding or trying to improve Earth’s natural order.  In the case of The Host, American GIs stationed in South Korea dump chemicals into a sewer, thus constructing an allegory for Western military occupation in the East.  Gwoemul is a part of the kaiju family tree because, quite simply, it acts on pure animalistic rage.  The monster succeeds because the audience never witness the potential destruction the monster is capable of despite working on a much smaller scale than the traditional giant monsters.  The appetite for mass destruction expected by fans of Godzilla will not go unsatisfied as The Host offers plenty of impressive monster sequences that rivals the best in any monster movie.

Gwoemul works as a monster so well because of the delicate directing and performances in the film.  Nearly every element is fine-tuned to provide a heartbreaking, terrifying, and often comic film that serves as South Korea’s response to Japan’s Godzilla.  The Host is a delight.

I said it in 2006, and I will repeat it whenever asked, Bong Joon-Ho’s The Host is a must-see film.  Catch it right now on DVD, Blu-Ray, Netflix streaming, or Amazon Prime Instant Video. 

Feel free to Comment below! I would love to read what you have to say.

A New Beginning. More Awesome than the Last Beginning.

One project I regret leaving is my film blog. While wholly imperfect and amateur, it was a wonderful part of my life for the short time it existed. I've spent much time recently considering my film love. I honestly don't believe I have ever been as passionate about anything else. I pinpointed an exact moment when a love became an obsession. February 2007 I sat in a local Cinemark theater and watched a film so powerful it turned a love into an obsession, Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth. From there I discovered the artistry of film and I haven't forgotten the moment when Javier Navarrete's score flourishes over an image of a dragonfly becoming a fairy. That is my relationship with film, and I'm amazed everytime.

So, in honor of Pacific Rim, Guillermo del Toro's first original film since Pan's Labyrinth, I will kickstart my blog (with optimistic permanence).  Pacific Rim releases on July 12th (a date that places me 2 days into a Grand Canyon road trip), I will be posting a Monster/Robot Movie A Day with a review and a bit of commentary.

Follow my blog! I promise it will change your life.

From the Director of the Underrated YOUTH IN REVOLT...CEDAR RAPIDS!

I truly loved YOUTH IN REVOLT. I thought it was the perfect outlet for Michael Cera's timing. So now Miguel Arteta is grabbing another hot-at-the-moment comic actor (Ed Helms) and giving him a movie to rock in...CEDAR RAPIDS.  Ed Helms, John C. Reilly, Sigourney Weaver, Rob Corddrey, and Isiah Whitlock Jr. look hysterical.  The movie is showing at Sundance, and I am hoping for a theatrical release for this.

CEDAR RAPIDS looks to be the must-see comedy for 2011 for me.

Trailer for David O'Russell's THE FIGHTER!

I really like David O'Russell. I HEART THE HUCKABEES and THREE KINGS are both excellent films. The guy directs with enthusiasm that is evident in his films. Now, Darren Aronofsky was originally attached to direct this but dropped out to direct BLACK SWAN (which I'm glad he did), but I feel we will get a completely different movie that Aronofsky would have made. This looks like a great throwback to some great sports movies of the 80's. I love Wahlberg's and Bale's looks in this, and Amy Adams doesn't hurt the eyes either.

HERE YOU HAVE IT!



or here...

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/paramount/thefighter/

Here Is Some Incredible Video My Telluride Friend Giancarlo Iannotta Shot At The Festival!

I haven't been able to describe the beauty and wonder that was the Telluride Film Festival. Here is an incredibly beautiful video from a fellow Symposium attendee Giancarlo Iannotta. Nothing can describe the experience better.


#50: Telluride Film Festival from Giancarlo Iannotta on Vimeo.

Looking Ahead: September and October Preview!

This year was a little odd with a lot of mediocrity and a few excellent films.  Now looking through the rest of the year, there are a few films that can offer redemption just before the awards season. 

I'M STILL HERE dir. Casey Affleck starring Joaquin Pheonix (9.16.2010)


This could be genius.  Pheonix has been an enigmatic figure in Hollywood for a couple years now.  From his retirement to his hip hop exploits to his hilarious appearance on Letterman, no one knows what is up with this guy...except Joaquin.  If he really is this insanely eccentric dude than I want to watch this documentary, but he could be putting on an act.  If he is putting on an act worthy of the great Andy Kauffman than I want to see this mockumentary.  Either way this should be good.

WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS dir. Oliver Stone starring Michael Douglas and Shia Lebouf




I honestly don't know how to feel about this one.  Oliver Stone is a very good filmmaker who has made some amazing films (the original WALL STREET, ANY GIVEN SUNDAY, JFK, and BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY) as well as a few that I do not care for (W, ALEXANDER, and NATURAL BORN KILLERS).  In my opinion, the original WALL STREET is Stone's best film.  It is a wonderful character study on the influences of greed.  Now he releases a sequel.  My favorite part about the original is the performance of Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko, and I assume I will like his performance in this film as well.  I do not have anything against Shia Lebouf at all.  I feel he is a good young actor who will be around for a long time and be great in many things, but how will everything mesh in this film?  Releasing another Wall Street film in these economic times sounds like it sense, but there are a few issues I have with it.  First of all, I want to look at a good film released recently, THE INTERNATIONAL.  This was a good movie with good performances, it was exciting, and it was very good looking, but it failed...bad.  My theory is that audiences do not want to see a movie about people getting robbed by banks.  Now apply that theory to WALL STREET, a film that gets a sequel 23 years later, and failure could be on the horizon.

NEVER LET ME GO dir. Mark Romanek starring Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, and Keira Knightley





This will be the film that will make me the most angry.  I have already seen this when it premiered at Telluride.  Its not good.  Its loaded with melodrama, mediocre acting, directionless directing, and a horribly sappy score.  The only redeeming feature is the beautiful cinematography.  I planned on writing a review for this, but every time I started I got too angry.  Lots of people will love this for its Britishness, its moodiness, and for its cast.  See it if you like, but hopefully you won't be so jaded.

THE TOWN dir. Ben Affleck starring Ben Affleck, Jon Hamm, and Jeremy Renner





The biggest movie of September is the newest directorial pursuit from Ben Affleck (GONE BABY GONE).  This has everything you want in an early fall blockbuster; the big name cast, the academy buzz, and a great complex story.  Everyone always talks about the films of the summer as the great ones, well films like this occupy the fall, and I prefer them.  This looks exciting and complex enough to be one of the best of the year.

JACK GOES BOATING dir. Philip Seymour Hoffman starring Philip Seymour Hoffman 




I absolutey love Philip Seymour Hoffman.  He is so watchable and likeable, and when I heard he was directing a film I got mixed feelings because he is such a good actor I wasn't sure if he was wasting his time directing.  Not many actors become great directors (except maybe Clint Eastwood), but JACK GOES BOATING looks great.  It has the sweetness that Philip brings with nearly every role.  It looks like this could contend with THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT for the best indie drama of the year for me.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK dir. David Fincher starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, and Justin Timberlake




Ok...we have all heard about this.  This is the new David Fincher film about Facebook starring Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield, the new Spider-man, and Justin Timberlake.  What makes me so excited about this?  David Fincher rarely makes a bad film.  The guy has a nose for projects that allow him to do amazing things with.  I love Jesse Eisenberg as well.  Many people have been trying to compare him to Michael Cera, but i believe Eisenberg has much more range and is much more enjoyable to watch.  A lot of people are hoping for this to fail, but I don't see how.  This could be amazing.

LET ME IN dir. Matt Reeves starring Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Moretz, and Richard Jenkins





I am very excited about this movie.  This is the american remake of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, an incredible film about a young vampire.  With the saturation of vampires in pulp culture lately another vampire movie does not sound like something the public needs, but this should be a great twist on the phenomenon.  Chloe Moretz (KICK-ASS) plays a young vampire who befriends a young human.  I can't give too much away, but this should be a wonderfully scary film.  The question is Matt Reeves (CLOVERFIELD).  Can the director of a JJ Abrams led "found footage" horror film allow LET ME IN to be the deeply nuanced horror film it needs to be?

HEREAFTER dir. Clint Eastwood starring Matt Damon and Bryce Dallas Howard






I am always excited when I see Clint Eastwood is releasing another movie, which has been a frequent accurance.  This one looks to be exceptional to say the least.  Its a supernatural about how differently three people deal with death.  Eastwood is such a nuanced director and is able to tell a story with such subtlety that the plot does not worry me.  I'm sure it will be deeply contemplative, look beautiful, and wonderully acted.  When that is expected of you as a filmmaker you know you are good.

YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER dir. Woody Allen starring Anthony Hopkins, Josh Brolin, Antonio Banderas, and Naomi Watts

 





I don't know too much about this movie aside from what I've seen in the trailer, but from what Woody Allen did with VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA I am pretty excited about this.  It has a wonderful cast, a priveledge of being Woody Allen, with Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin, Frida Pinto, and Gemma Jones.  Anthony Hopkins could really knock it out of the park with a Woody Allen script, and he really needs to.  Lately it seems that Hopkins has just been collecting pay checks with his roles, but this could be different.

LEAVES OF GRASS dir. Tim Blake Nelson starring Edward Norton

 



This looks like a film that I could really like. Tim Blake Nelson directs Edward Norton and lets him have fun. Norton plays an Ivy League professor who is lured back to his Oklahoma hometown where his twin brother, a pot grower also played by Norton, tries to convince him to help him take down a local drug lord. I don't know if there will be any Oscar buzz surrounding this movie, but it could be one of those fall gems that make for a great viewing experience.

Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsman to make a Dark Tower Trilogy...and a TV Series? At the same time?

So for as long as I can remember people have been wanting to adapt Stephen King's Dark Tower series.  Every one from Steven Spielberg to JJ Abrams have been rumored to direct.  Well today the rumors can end because Ron Howard will direct, with Akiva Goldsmand to write, a trilogy of films.  Then, to work along side the films, they will produce a television series as well!  The massive epic of King's Dark Tower will get the room needed to for the story to be fully fleshed out, but can it work?

Can director Ron Howard (Cinderella Man, Frost/Nixon, A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13) and writer Akiva Goldman (I Am Legend, Batman & Robin, I Robot, Da Vinci Code) do the source material justice.  Ron Howard has made some incredible dramas, but I don't know if he can direct a sprawling fantasy/horror epic, but he is a capable director.  He doesn't have a unique style.  I honestly feel that someone like Alphonso Cuaron (Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban) or Franks Darabont (The Mist, Shawshank Redemption) would have been ideal, but I'm glad we are not getting some shmuck.  The problem comes from Goldsman.  Goldsman has never been able to write a great script.  He has done a decent job throughout his career with dramas as well, often partnering with Howard, but his action and epic scripts have never been something to marvel at. Above all else, they are both safe choices.  Rom Howard has never been able to direct with style and is not a visionary by any means.  So many of his "great" films could have been outdone by someone else.  Apollo 13 is great, but what would it have been by someone more stylistically inclined, like Steven Spielberg or David Fincher.  Could it have been better? 
What does make me happy is the credit Howard gives to Peter Jackson for the Lord of the Rings trilogy:

“What Peter did was a feat, cinematic history,” Howard said. “The approach we’re taking also stands on its own, but it’s driven by the material. I love both, and like what’s going on in TV. With this story, if you dedicated to one medium or another, there’s the horrible risk of cheating material. The scope and scale call for a big screen budget. But if you committed only to films, you’d deny the audience the intimacy and nuance of some of these characters and a lot of cool twists and turns that make for jaw-dropping, compelling television. We’ve put some real time and deep thought into this, and a lot of conversations and analysis from a business standpoint, to get people to believe in this and take this leap with us. I hope audiences respond to it in a way that compels us to keep going after the first year or two of work. It’s fresh territory for me, as a filmmaker.” (Ron Howard on The Dark Tower.  MTV)

What intrigues me most the concept of the tevevision show.  If it is shown on network television during primetime (ala Lost) it will work well.  People will have to not feel alienated from the films.  If the story of the films continues on Showtime or HBO, most people without premium cable will not see the films.  The issue with network television is the content.  I have read the series and it is not appropriate for a family friendly station.  Maybe a happy medium can be reached with a TNT, but I don't feel that a basic cable station will allow for the exposure it would need.

The good news is that Stephen King's going to be adapted into an epic trilogy and a television show companion piece by professionals.  Hopefully it is all that I have hoped for!

Telluride Review: BLACK SWAN! Aronofsky! Portman!

Much of my swooning over some of the Telluride Film Festival films is warranted. I swear. I admit that my reviews are often victims to my own excitement and love for the movies, but I will not recommend a movie that I truly do not enjoy. I also want to say that a bad review for a moderately hyped movie is coming soon, but this is not it. This is for a screwed up, scary as hell, masterpiece that is Darren Aronofsky’s BLACK SWAN.

Ever since I saw Aronofsky’s first film PI I knew that he had a horror film in him. There is something about the way interprets human obsession that can be pretty creepy. Exploring the subject of obsession has been a common thematic element throughout his films with mathematical theories, professional wrestling, eternal love, and drug addiction being the vehicles to do so. BLACK SWAN is a loose companion piece to THE WRESTLER, but it is a whole other animal. BLACK SWAN is also about obsession with glory and success, like THE WRESTLER, but it is clearly a horror film. Influences appear from Polanski’s ROSEMARY’S BABY and REPLUSION as well as THE RED SHOES. Forget all of this “psychological thriller” nonsense; BLACK SWAN is a balls-to-the-wall horror film that scares and repulses like the best of them.
Now I’m not doing much justice to this film by giving it a genre label. Horror films have a certain stigma attached to them. They are typically campy, poorly acted, and have low production values, but when a respected and renowned filmmaker, like Darren Aronofsky, makes a horror film none of those stigmas apply. This is anything but campy. It’s absolutely beautiful. From the opening prologue (one of my favorites scenes in any horror film) to the climactic shot are gorgeously crafted and shot with the best eye ever to film horror. In the prologue (meaning absolute opening scene folks so I’m not ruining anything) Natalie Portman dances with the giant, black man-bird, from the trailer, in such beautifully choreographed staging filled with macabre that leaves you awe-stricken and on edge throughout the rest of the film. Paired with all of the beauty and mature acting is a score that films perfectly. The entire score is a rendition of Swan Lake. I was already aware of the creepy and powerful orchestral score for the ballet, but when a creepy, powerful, and nostalgically familiar score is placed over a film like this it becomes so incredibly effective.

What has Natalie Portman done for me lately? Well…not anything great actually. She did well as the bald girl in V FOR VENDETTA and then tragically awful turn in the Star Wars prequels. In BLACK SWAN, she is a master class. Portman plays Nina, an up and coming ballet dancer who is working for a behind-the-times ballet company headed by Thomas Leroy (Vincent Castle). Thomas’s intentions for the winter program are to strip down, as well as stylistically adjust, some ballet classics. In order to bring forth these changes Leroy needs to hire a new lead for his version of Swan Lake. Out goes the great Beth Macintyre, played wonderfully by Winona Ryder, and in comes Nina (Portman). Things take a turn for the weird when new dancer Lilly enters the picture as this new breed of badass dancer played by Mila Kunis.

Basically Vincent Castle, Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, and, last but not least, Barbara Hershey (playing Nina’s mom with all the ferocious obsession reminding us of Mommy Dearest) provide a solid cast to populate this world of dance. If this were a straight-laced film about ballet it would have been good enough, but Aronofsky cannot do it straight. Nina becomes obsessed with her role as the Swan Queen, but Thomas wants both the role of the White Swan and the Black Swan (the evil twin) to be played by Nina. He scolds Nina repeatedly (and if scolding means trying to seduce as well that it works here too) for not being seductive enough for the role of the Black Swan. He says the Black Swan needs to be about lust and sultriness, not about precision and beauty, which Nina does fine. Then the pressure and the cruelty of Nina’s mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) start to wear on Nina as the threat of Lilly starts to threaten her. Next comes the odd creatures, displaced time, strange dreams, and questionable hallucinations that start to plague Nina. Ugly scratches start to form on her back and she starts to deteriorate physically. I refuse to go any further because what ensues is one of the most wonderfully screwed up psychological horror films I have ever seen.

Darren Aronofsky is a genius, and as well as one of my favorite living filmmakers. I have loved, or an at least enjoyed…ahem THE FOUNTAIN, every one of his films. His well paced style and visual acuteness blend to create magic more often than not. And when these abilities are applied to horror they create a nightmare world that will be forged in your memory for some time. It’s very soon to say, but I feel this could be my favorite of Aronofsky’s, and maybe my favorite film of the year. I have been wracking my brain trying to find some negatives to include, but I have come up short. BLACK SWAN is a quick and brilliant masterpiece of psychological horror. Could this be the first time since SILENCE OF THE LAMBS that a horror film can earn some from the academy?

See it and love it.