Reviews of "Black Swan" and "The Fighter"

As promised here is my review of Black Swan along with a bonus review of The Fighter.

Black Swan

Directed By: Darren Aronofsky

Run Time: 108 min.

Rated: R

Natalie Portman gives a tour de force performance as Nina Sayers in Darren Aronofsky's latest directorial effort, Black Swan. If you liked Aronofsky's own Requiem for a Dream this just may be the film for you. The movie is loaded with "what's-real-what's-imagination" sequences that may even give Inception a run for it's money.

Keep a close eye on the Oscar-worthy set and costume design full of black and white which represent Nina's darker and innocent sides. Throughout the movie watch how the colors transform to help viewers decipher the current mood. Also at play are the colors pink and green which represent Nina's childhood and envy/ambition. The colors speak much louder than the dialogue in this film, and steer Black Swan all the way into the credits.

Mila Kunis (That 70's Show) gives her best on-screen performance yet as Lily, a fellow ballerina in the Swan Lake ensemble. Kunis plays the understudy for the Swan Queen, the part Portman stars as. Nina's obsession for perfection and her up-tight attitude begins to raise doubt amongst her director (Vincent Cassel) that she can play the Black Swan (the more free-spirited counterpart of the White Swan).

Black Swan is Oscar-bait for sure, and expect nominations for Portman, Aronofsky, Kunis, and writing nods as well. Costuming, Production Design, and Cinematography are also looking bright for Black Swan. Not Aronofsky's best, but damn good. (3.5 out of 4 stars)

The Fighter

Directed By: David O. Russell

Run Time: 114 min.

Rated: R

The Fighter feels like Good Will Hunting (minus the smart people and unnecessary Red Sox references) meets Rocky (minus the drawn out training sequences and Sylvestor Stallone's dumb accent). The best part? The amazing ensemble of Mark Wahlberg (Mickey Ward), Christian Bale (Dicky Ecklund), Amy Adams (Charlene Fleming), and Melissa Leo (Alice Ward). Big nominations so far for all of the cast except Wahlberg who is good but nothing special. Wahlberg's co-stars, however, light up the screen led by Christian Bale (The Dark Knight) who is noticeably forty pounds skinnier.

The Fighter helmed by David O. Russell (I Heart Huckabees) is much faster-paced than most boxing flicks and will have you jumping out of your seats by the end of the film. Melissa Leo is perfectly cast as the bitchy mom, as is Amy Adams is Wahlberg's love interest. Christian Bale shows he is a force to be reckoned with whether or not he is a jerk.

Big Oscar potential for The Fighter with likely wins for Bale and Leo. A two hour film that seems like it's over all too fast, The Fighter is a triumphant picture worth seeing in theaters. (3.5 out of 4 stars)

Updated Oscar Predictions

As promised here are my updated predictions for the 2011 Academy Awards. These are my post-SAG nominations list. The Screen Actors Guild nominations are a very good way to determine the major acting nominations (last year 19 out of 20 matched up).

Best Picture

The Kids Are All Right

True Grit

Toy Story 3

Inception

Winter's Bone

Black Swan

The Social Network

The King's Speech

The Fighter

127 Hours

Notably missing are Rabbit Hole, The Town, Another Year, Blue Valentine and How to Train Your Dragon. The Social Network is the movie to beat this year and if any film stands a chance it's The King's Speech. However, it looks like 'Network' holds a solid lead after winning Best Picture from the New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and San Fransisco Critic Circles and the New York Online Critics (NYOC). Winner: The Social Network

Best Actor

Colin Firth (The King's Speech)

Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)

James Franco (127 Hours)

Robert Duvall (Get Low)

Jeff Bridges (True Grit)

Notably missing is Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right) who is considered supporting and Leonardo DiCaprio (Shutter Island not Inception). Like the Best Picture competition, this will come down tooth and nail to The Social Network's Jesse Eisenberg and The King's Speech Colin Firth. Frankly I cannot choose who I like more between these two, and I would like to see them both win. The New York, Los Angeles and San Fransisco Critic Circles awarded Best Actor to Firth whle Boston Critics gave the honor to the young Eisenberg. While this category is still a toss-up, I'll give it to Colin Firth.

Best Actress

Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right)

Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)

Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone)

Natalie Portman (Black Swan)

Hilary Swank (Conviction)

Notably missing is Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine. All the early buzz indicates Annette Bening taking home the gold but don't count out Portman, Kidman, or Lawrence either. Winner: Annette Bening.

Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale (The Fighter)

Jon Hawkes (Winter's Bone)

Jeremy Renner (The Town)

Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right)

Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech)

Notably missing is Andrew Garfield (The Social Network). Anyone who's name isn't Geoffrey Rush shouldn't even bother showing up. He gave a performance of a lifetime as the speech therapist in The King's Speech. If someone pulls an upset expect it to be Christian Bale in The Fighter. Ninety percent of the praise for the movie was over Bale's performance. Winner: Geoffrey Rush.

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams (The Fighter)

Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech)

Mila Kunis (Black Swan)

Melissa Leo (The Figher)

Hailey Steinfeld (True Grit)

If Hailey Steinfeld wins she'll be the third youngest winner in Academy Award history at the age of 14. Unfortunately for Steinfeld, that's one record that won't be set at this telecast. Amy Adams vs. Helena Bonham Carter vs. Melissa Leo. Will the fact two of the three are both in The Fighter make a difference? Probably not, but it doesn't hurt Helena Bonham Carter. While I quite enjoyed Helena's performance, I haven't seen The Figher. I have read rave reviews (say that three times fast) about Melissa Leo's performance so I'll take a leap of faith on her. Winner: Melissa Leo.

Best Director

Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)

Danny Boyle (127 Hours)

David Fincher (The Social Network)

Tom Hooper (The King's Speech)

Christopher Nolan (Incpetion)

Notably missing are the Coen Brothers (True Grit) and David O. Russell (The Fighter). Stay tuned for the Director's Guild of America nominations and winner to have a better insight on this category. The DGA has a long history of predicting the Best Director at the Oscar (only six times have they not matched up). It's between Tom Hooper and David Fincher on this one, and I'll give it to Fincher cause The Social Network kicked ass.

Best Documentary

Restrepo

Waiting For Superman

Exit From the Gift Shop

The Tillman Story

Inside Job

A very solid lineup of documentaries, and this is the category I am least positive on, but certainly one of the easier to predict given only fifteen documentaries are eligible. Waiting For Superman seems like too obvious of the choice and Inside Job might be too political for Oscar voters so I'm going to go out on a limb and predict Restrepo.

Best Animated Feature

The Illusionist

How to Train Your Dragon

Toy Story 3

Hands down the winner is Toy Story 3, but this is overall the best lineup in years. Three excellent films, and the category may be expanded to five depending on the entries, but as of now that's the lineup. Winner: Toy Story 3

Best Original Screenplay

David Speidler (The King's Speech)

Stuart Blumberg & Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right)

Mike Leigh (Another Year)

Christopher Nolan (Inception)

Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, John J. McLaughlin (Black Swan)

The best part about Kids was the script, but then again The King's Speech was such a dialogue-driven film that it's hard to believe it won't win. My bet: Stuart Blumberg & Lisa Cholodenko (The Kid's Are All Right).

Best Adapted Screenplay

Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network)

Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3)

Ben Affleck, Peter Craig, Aaron Stockard (The Town)

Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (True Grit)

Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini, Daniel Woodrell (Winter's Bone)

Why are we even discussing this? Winner: Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network)

Sound and Effects will be divided amongst Inception and Tron: Legacy boasting the finest effects of the season. Cinematography, Costume, Art Direction, Makeup and Foreign Film are a mystery to me right now. Editing should be the only award for 127 Hours the whole night which sucks since it was such an awesome film, a film that wouldn't work without the precision of it's editing. All the shorts (Documentary, Live Action, and Animated) are also up in the air. Original Score may go to Daft Punk for their work on Tron: Legacy if the Academy is feeling unique or they could reward Hans Zimmer with his second statue for his score to Inception. Best Song could go to a song from Tangled, Burlesque, or Randy Newman's song in Toy Story 3. These awards I won't be able to predict until post-nominations in January.

Thanks for reading.

Early Oscar Predictions

My decision to return to the blogging world has been a tough one. After weeks of discussion with friends and family, we decided it would be best if I praised blogspot.com with one final blog. It has not been an easy choice and I am sure I will regret it. I'd like to thank everyone for being so supportive these past few weeks. When I came out as a "blogger" a few months ago everyone seemed to be okay with it. Perhaps I'm just blog-curious, or perhaps I'm a full-out blogger, either way one thing is sure: I am NO John Erusha.

Anyway, onto the Oscar Predictions. These are very preliminary and will change as the nominations are announced in January. Not to brag or anything, but I've been doing quite well in my Oscar Pools in recent years. I was the foremost expert on the Oscars on my High School paper staff, and was right on all but 3 predictions last year (cinematography, adapted screenplay, and sound).

I will NOT make those mistakes again this year, but Jason Reitman got SNUBBED last year by Geoffrey Fletcher for "Precious".

Best Picture

"The Social Network" will take home the big prize of the telecast barely edging out "The King's Speech". Other nominees will include "Toy Story 3", "127 Hours", "True Grit", "The Kids Are All Right", and "Black Swan". A lot of Oscar talk about "Hereafter", consider it dead. Any talk about "Inception" is a joke, I will be surprised if it even gets a nomination. Good movie, and if it gets a nom it will be to apologize to Chris Nolan for not nominating "The Dark Knight". But have you SEEN "The Social Network"!?!?! It truly will be the movie that defines our generation. I personally would love to see "Toy Story 3" pull an upset. It's the best of the year, and possibly the best PIXAR has put out. It's a shoo-in for Best Animated Feature, of course.

Best Actor

Colin Firth beating out Jeff Bridges and Jesse Eisenberg. I would love to see Eisenberg win in this one, but I find it unlikely. Very cool dude, met him at the Vail Film Festival before Adventureland, before Zombieland, and before The Social Network. But even then, I knew that kid would explode, and he did. Bridges doesn't have what it takes to win back-to-back.

Best Actress

Annette Bening for "The Kids Are All Right". Other possible contenders are Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway, or Nicole Kidman.

Best Director

David Fincher vs. Danny Boyle. It's a rematch of the 2009 Oscars, only this time, Fincher has helmed a masterpiece. Boyle's "127 Hours" has gotten some solid buzz from the festival circuit, not having seen it I can't comment on it. Lee Unkrich deserves a nomination for "Toy Story 3" as well, but won't get it.

Supporting Actor

Geoffrey Rush in what may be the closest race of the season. This one is the category I am least positive about. I'm a huge fan of both Justin Timberlake and Andrew Garfield in "The Social Network", and I'm going to give this Oscar to whoever wins the field at The Golden Globes. In a few months I'll have a better idea on who will win this one.

Supporting Actress

Helena Bonham Carter in another extremely close race. Just as Supporting Actor will become clearer as we get closer to Awards Season, so will the category for Supporting Actress. Although almost everyone disagree on who will win this one, most agree Carter will at least get a nomination for "The King's Speech". Melissa Leo is up there right next to Carter for a possibility.

Adapted Screenplay

"The Social Network" is almost guaranteed. The best damn thing about this movie is Aaron Sorkin's powerful script. "Toy Story 3" will upset if we have a repeat of last year in this category.

Original Screenplay

"The King's Speech" will battle with "Inception" and "The Kids Are All Right" in this one. I can really see any of these three winning it, but would like to see "Inception", not because I think it has the best script, but because besides the technical awards (visual, sound, even cinematography perhaps), it won't win anything big. Christopher Nolan is a master in the art of story-telling and he deserves more than he gets. Then again, what credit the Oscars don't give him, the fan boys sure do make up for it. They looooooooove anything Chris Nolan.

Anyway, I will have a more definite list as time gets closer and after I have a chance to see all the movies. Best Song should go to Randy Newman (and perhaps best Score too) for "Toy Story 3". Best Documentary? "Waiting For Superman", probably.

Goodbye for now blogosphere, you may reach me on twitter at twitter.com/senatorbrown or on the FB at Facebook.com/senatorbrown.