Black Swan, True Grit, King's Speech, Tourist, Lady Killers

Much like last years THE WRESTLER, the new film by Darren Aronofsky called THE BLACK SWAN is an operatic, frenzied vision of an artist who gives their all to their craft at the risk of losing their ---sanity, dignity, safety net, mind, life, etc.--you pick one, or better yet, pick at least three. Aronofsky's best films (and they are all pretty good--especially REQUIEM FOR A DREAM) go sometimes way over the top, but he sucks you into the milieu and drama with fast and creative editing and photography so that it's easy to forgive his excesses. He also has an excellent cast helping him. This would be Natalie Portman's best performance since she started in film in 1994's THE PROFESSIONAL. Some of her most memorable moments have been in the STAR WARS Episodes 1,2 and 3, and CLOSER, V FOR VENDETTA, GARDEN STATE, and THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL. She gives her all as the talented but insecure ballerina who is given the lead in a SWAN LAKE production only to have her confidence undermined by her mother (the remarkable Barbara Hershey), her best friend understudy (the amazing Mila Kunis ) and her director (an excellent Vincent Cassel) who seems to want to use (or misuse) her sexually to get the right performance out of her. An unrecognizable Winona Ryder is also good as the retiring ballerina. The style is passionate and at times overwrought, with growing tension and psychological horror used to great effect--at times this film reminded me of Roman Polanski's most effective horror films like REPULSION, THE TENANT and ROSEMARY'S BABY. My only complaint--the persistent use of a jerky hand held camera. GRADE------A-

The amazing Coen brothers are back with an excellent remake of the popular story TRUE GRIT which won John Wayne his only Oscar back in 1969. This version is grittier, and much less campy than the Wayne version, because Wayne won for his huge popularity and as make-up for being ignored for 50 years at award shows, and for a wink-in-the-eye spoof performance of all the macho westerns he'd been in previously--I liked his role, too. Fresh off his Oscar win last year for the film about an alcoholic country singer in CRAZY HEART, Jeff Bridges now expertly tackles the role of Rooster Cogburn--another alcoholic, who joins up with a 14 years old girl (an excellent Hailee Steinfeld in her first role ) and a Texas ranger played well by Matt Damon to find the murderer of the girl's father. The western is very engrossing, and sprinkled with wit and clever dialogue. My only complaint--the 1969 version is still strong in my mind, but if you've never seen Wayne do his thing, then this new version of TRUE GRIT will deeply satisfy you. GRADE------B+

Anglophiles rejoice, for THE KING'S SPEECH is everything you'd want from a period piece which showcases the very talented Colin Firth (see him in last years superb A SINGLE MAN) as King George VI and Geoffrey Rush as his speech therapist trying to overcome a deadly stammer that stands in the way of the King being able to lead Great Britain into WWII with effective prose and inspirational speeches. The entire cast is excellent, especially the two leads and Helena Bonham-Carter as King George's wife. The music, costumes, photography and editing are well done, and the film is a marvelously simple time capsule of an historical drama. GRADE-----B+

Two popular actors, Angelina Jolie and Johnnie Depp meet up in THE TOURIST, and the results, while not always sensational, are at least intriguing. Both have had other big hits this year (SALT and ALICE IN WONDERLAND, respectively) and while this film is more modest in box office draw, it nonetheless has one gigantic plus---the fabulous canals of Venice are beautifully photographed and used to great effect. Venice is wonderfully captured in these other films, too--DEATH IN VENICE (1971), CASINO ROYALE (2006), DON'T LOOK NOW (1973) and THE ITALIAN JOB (2003). The director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (!) made the wonderful German Oscar winner from a few years ago called THE LIVES OF OTHERS, and the film flows with assurance and control, and the cast also includes effective turns by Paul Bettany, Timothy Dalton and Rufus Sewell. The film is more of a romantic thriller than a "thriller" spy story, but it does have a twist that I really didn't see coming, and it does have Venice....... GRADE------B-

-----------------------------------------DVD choices------------------------------------

Alec Guiness heads a motley group of robbers (which include a young Peter Sellars) who camp out in an old woman's house in the British film THE LADY KILLERS (1955) in this droll black comedy. Of course the old woman manages to spoil the robbery just by her innocence, so they decide she must be killed. Easier said than done. This film was remade in 2004 by the Coen brothers with Tom Hanks. Just as black and witty, with a bit more slapstick, and although it is different plot wise, it is also very entertaining. GRADE-----A-

CAPTAIN'S PARADISE (1953) has Alec Guiness (again) as a sea captain who shuttles back and forth between Gibraltar and northern Africa. His wife lives in Gibraltar and his mistress lives further south. The film was banned for many years due to this subject matter, and is not well known, but it is rather entertaining and delightful just the same, with Celia Johnson and Yvonne de Carlo as the wife and mistress, respectively. All is well until one day he gets careless with his anniversary gifts..........GRADE-------B

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (1955) is an Otto Preminger film starring an overacting Eleanor Parker and an effective Kim Novak who both love the drug addicted Frank Sinatra. This was one of the first films to deal with drug (heroin) addiction, and the film was banned and finally released without government approval. Today it seems rather tame and dated, but it does maintain interest due to the cast. GRADE-----B-

Irving Berlin's music is the the draw to the lush, colorful WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954) which was a loose remake of the b/w HOLIDAY INN (1942). The song White Christmas was introduced in HOLIDAY INN, a film that has an inn opening only for the specific holidays of the year (!) (there are songs about Washington's birthday, Thanksgiving and Easter (Easter Bonnet) and some other unforgettable tunes.) I don't really appreciate Bing Crosby's singing and acting--too laid back and lethargically lazy for me. WHITE CHRISTMAS takes the song and has a much better plot and actors including Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and a dangerously skinny (anorexic?) Vera-Ellen and better director Michael Curtiz and production values. Plus it has a better emotional, Christmas ending. GRADE------HOLIDAY INN---C and WHITE CHRISTMAS----B-


-------Other movie stuff-------

Just finish two autobiographies about two very strong, iconic women. The first was by Katherine Hepburn called, appropriately, ME. It is obviously written (or at least spoken) by her in her clipped, fragmented voice, with lots of humor, generalizations, partially remembered stories, and what I felt was a lot of editorializing---I think a lot of the details were sanitized. Still, she is a force to be reckoned with and you really get a good idea of the strong willed actress and personality she became. The portion about making ON GOLDEN POND in the early 80's was especially interesting, as the next book I had on my shelf was the autobiography of Jane Fonda called MY LIFE SO FAR. This was a fascinating book, extremely well written and thought-out, with a lot of character and psychoanalysis where she really gets to the meaning of her feelings and failures and movies and causes. She is obviously very smart, and has led an incredibly interesting life. Her mother committed suicide when she was 12, her father Henry Fonda was distant and emotionally cold (also confirmed by Hepburn in her book), her first husband insisted on sexual three-somes, she becomes politicized with her anti-war views and many travels (including an illuminating report on her infamous visit to Hanoi) and then she meets Ted Turner who seemed so different, but we can sure tell why she was attracted to him in a funny and astute section of her book. She is active in all sorts of fine liberal causes---trying to stop sexual abuse and genderfication of young girls and boys, conservation issues, ecological issues, and health issues--including her very popular work out tapes. It's all there, and it was a fabulous read, fascinating, humorous, shocking, insightful. It is the best autobiography of a film actor I've ever read. GRADE for ME---------B and JANE FONDA: MY LIFE SO FAR-----A