Monday, January 31, 2011

Films I saw for the first time in January 2011

10:47 PM / Cinema / Comments11 Comments

  • Saturday, January 1, 2011: BLACK SWAN (USA, 2010) 8/10
  • Sunday, January 2, 2011: INCEPTION (USA/UK, 2010) 4/10
  • Saturday, January 8, 2011: SALT (USA, 2010) 5/10
  • Sunday, January 9, 2011: RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE (Germany/France/UK, 2010) 6/10
  • Tuesday, January 11, 2011: THE SOCIAL NETWORK (USA, 2010) 10/10
  • Monday, January 24, 2011: THE KILLER INSIDE ME (USA/Sweden/UK/Canada, 2010) 4/10
  • Sunday, January 30, 2011: I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE (USA, 2010) 5/10
  • Monday, January 31, 2011: WINTER'S BONE (USA, 2010) 5/10
 
11 Comments

1. Copkiller said:

...and how, prey/tell did you mamange to get to see Black Swan three weeks before it's official UK releases date, Mr McKenzie?

(Posted on Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 9:34 AM)

2. Author Profile Page Michael said:

Magic.

(Posted on Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 9:50 AM)

3. Anonymous said:

...And only an 8, you stingy git - I thought it was a (wait for it) 9.

All jokes aside, I thought it was amazing. There's such an abundance of obvious influences at work, it's going to be one of those films I need to see again and again to fully appreciate it.

(Posted on Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 11:12 AM)

4. Author Profile Page Michael said:

To tell the truth, it was very nearly a 7/10, but upon proper reflection I decided it did deserve more than that. I was a little put off by how overwrought it was at first, but in retrospect this was entirely appropriate given the subject matter. In any event, I'm planning a trip to the cinema to catch it again before too long.

I know a couple of people who absolutely loathed it, incidentally.

(Posted on Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 11:23 AM)

5. Copkiller said:

Didn’t realise my credentials weren’t already log-in last time, hence the anonymous post.

I would certainly recommend a trip to the cinema. My local, which is a run-of-the-mill multiplex screened it digitally and it looked phenomenal...

I've seen some pretty unforgiving comments about Black Swan online but everyone I know has really dug it. Some of the detractors are hailing it as high camp, which is odd to say the least! I think there are people who genuinely dislike something, which is fair enough, but there are also people who are contrary to popular opinion just for the sake of trying too hard to be different...

Interesting to see that Portman finally got to play ballerina, as if rumours are correct, she was one attached to star in and produce (in some capacity) a US remake of Suspiria. I'm glad she opted to do the Aronofsky film instead, because Suspiria should be left (the hell) alone.

(Posted on Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 11:53 AM)

6. Author Profile Page Michael said:

Yeah, I'm glad too... although I've noticed that quite a few critics have attempted to draw parallels between this and Argento's work. Myself, I don't think the connection is all that pronounced, although I certainly got vibes of OPERA at various points.

(Posted on Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 11:58 AM)

7. Ronny said:

To be perfectly honest, I hated "The Social Network". It just didn't click for me and I wanted to like it in the worst way as I am a huge Fincher fan. I would give it a 4 or 5.

(Posted on Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 2:39 PM)

8. Marcus said:

Black Swan is more Polanski/Powell than Argento. The Perfect Blue parallels are there as well, as we all know the director's love for that movie after Requiem for a Dream.

I would give it a 10/10 myself, best movie I've seen last year and I hope it wins the Best Picture Academy Award, though I fear that might go to The Social Network.

(Posted on Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 4:05 PM)

9. Copkiller said:

There's definitely a debt to Polanski, Cronenberg too. There were more than a few nods to Argento though. He (Aronofsky) is obviously a huge genre fan and it's nice to see him paying homage to his influences in what could have been a straight forward character study.

(Posted on Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 5:12 PM)

10. Marcus said:

I got few Argento nods... mostly the rolling scene. Perfect Blue got a huge nod in the bathtub sequence. The plot inspiration for Black Swan is The Turning Point, 1977's OTHER ballet movie (the one without witches) that actually received multiple Academy Award nominations. It's fun melodrama and has some impressive dance sequences.

(Posted on Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 9:04 PM)

11. Copkiller said:

I've not seen, nor have I even heard of Turning Point - will look it up.

(Posted on Wednesday, February 2, 2011 at 8:32 AM)

 
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