Thor

Thor (2011)

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PG-13 - 115 min - Action, Adventure, Fantasy - 6 May 2011
Big Blue Sky Rating : 7.0/10

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Director : Kenneth Branagh, Joss Whedon
Writers : Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz
Stars : Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston

The warrior Thor (Hemsworth) is cast out of the fantastic realm of Asgard by his father Odin (Hopkins) for his arrogance and sent to Earth to live among humans. Falling in love with scientist Jane Foster (Portman) teaches Thor much-needed lessons, and his new-found strength comes into play as a villain from his homeland sends dark forces toward Earth.

Powerful Family Dynamic and Beautiful Landscape

This is a throw-off piece of Marvel fiction that is packed full of cliché and predictability...to a point.

I found myself cringing at a lot of the scenes of heroism and there's a definite stink of pure cheetos-stained fanboyism in many of the scenes in general, with the usual over-the-top "glory" of this old four-color trope.

But certain things caught my attention as well-done.

First, Asgard is absolutely beautiful. They went all out in making a realm of metallic and elemental grandeur. I had no trouble in buying this as the realm of Asgard, the ultimate land of beautiful heroism. In particular, the rainbow bridge, the weaponry, and the interior scenes were very fitting in general style and specific detail. Very impressive visually and even thematically.

Second, Branagh's touch can be seen with Shakespearean flair in the family of Odin the AllFather. Odin himself is brimmed with both the rime of age and the wisdom that comes with it and yet his voice can instantly summon fearful authority. Hopkins does well with that balance, even through some cheesy scripting.

And the brothers... the sibling rivalry here is very very potent in that it is nuanced and fully realized by both actors. There is love there, but also a lack of understanding, envy, and hate. Loki is far from a cardboard villain, in that we see, all in one package - a fighter who protects his allies, an honest counselor, a liar, a cautious thinker, a smooth tongue, and an awkward one. He loves and reveres his father, but comes to almost fatally doubt him and even hate him...but it's all very real and very stirring. And even when it's clear that he's done very grim deeds, you can actually understand and accept his motives...and his last scene in the film brings all three of the family men together in a very poignant moment of utter loss.

I was pretty surprised how moving this all was, especially when put in the middle of some otherwise-uninspiring hero pablem.

So in summary, this movie both met my negative expectation of disappointment and surprised me with some purely moving content. See it to see if it surprises you at all as well, and forget the whole comic-book hero thing, since that's been done far better.

Thanks for reading.

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Thor: The Dark World

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

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Action, Adventure, Fantasy - 8 November 2013

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Director : Alan Taylor
Writers : Christopher Yost, Christopher Markus
Stars : Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård

Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all.

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Black Swan

Black Swan (2010)

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R - 108 min - Drama, Mystery, Thriller - 17 December 2010
Big Blue Sky Rating : 8.1/10

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Director : Darren Aronofsky
Writers : Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz
Stars : Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder. A ballet dancer wins the lead in "Swan Lake" and is perfect for the role of the delicate White Swan - Princess Odette - but slowly loses her mind as she becomes more and more like Odile, the Black Swan." />

Nina (Portman) is a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her obsessive former ballerina mother Erica (Hershey) who exerts a suffocating control over her. When artistic director Thomas Leroy (Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Ryder) for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice. But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily (Kunis), who impresses Leroy as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side - a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.

An epic and nightmarish delight

Natalie Portman lives a dream and a nightmare when she gets a chance to dance Swan Lake in Darren Aronofsky's new film

Black Swan is a very bi polarized film. Portman dances as the white swan flawlessly, but her 'brilliant' choreographer has doubts about her as the black swan. She needs to 'live a little' and be less mannered, but the closer she gets to that point, the more the walls start to close in all around her.

Darren Aronofsky, though he comes close to being heavy handed, has delivered a project which is fiery, spectacular and clever. He sells us ballet as something dark and off putting, starting from his decision to reveal what dancing does to peoples bodies. One mistake and you can crack a toe nail under your body weight, but I don't wanna oversell it. To look at Black Swan in another way, it is an operatic horror film, It has incredible style, but uses it not so much to dazzle but to confuse and intimidate. The paradox of Black swan is that it creepiness is kind of seductive, because it draws you in (much like the way vampires are supposedly romantic)

But style is only half the picture (not even). The rest is in the cast, and mostly in Natalie Portman. She is slow to get started, but she grows quickly and the result is arguably her best performance yet. I've never loved her that much. She's always struck me as more of a girl than a woman, but I guess all she needs is to get a little blood on her hands, and you have an award worthy performance. Vincent Cassel, though he gets some questionable lines, is also at his best. I would have almost liked to see more of him, because you get the sense that his role has a bit more room to grow.

Black Swan does quite a bit, but it's not for everyone. Do not go into this expecting to be emotionally enriched. From the beginning, it is staged to be a mind-twirl, delighting in playing tricks on the audience. Some might call it cheating, but that would be the wrong way to look at Black Swan. It's quite epic, and with year coming to an end, I think it's fair to say that it is among the best of 2010.

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