I've recently been overcome with post-holiday malaise. 2011 showed up and killed my motivation. I've mostly been sitting around, playing Dragon Age: Origins and its numerous expansion packs. I've owned the game for over a year, and have played through the epic storyline several times, but I've never played any of the expansions until recently, when I purchased the "ultimate edition". So that was obviously the perfect excuse to immerse myself in the world of Ferelden once again.
After playing everything, I must say I am rather disappointed. All of the expansions, Awakening included, just... stop. Aside from Awakening's text-only denouement, all of the damned stories just cut off. It's incredibly annoying. I was hoping for a little something more. Awakening is obviously the crown jewel of the set, with its larger story and cast of memorable characters, but in the end even this falls short. I had open quests for at least two of my companions, and instead of giving me the opportunity to complete these quests, the game decides that now it's time for everything to wrap up and it throws me directly into the final conflict. Balls.
I'm still excited for Dragon Age II, however. The different approach to the sequel's story, focusing on a singular protagonist a la Mass Effect has me intrigued. So there's that.
Oh yeah, I also saw some movies over the holidays.
Darren Aronofsky is one of my favorite film makers. I bought Pi on DVD early in 1999 from Amazon dot com ($32.99!) and I loved it. I must have watched it a dozen times in three months. Of course, back then my DVD library consisted of perhaps 20 discs, so my choices were rather limited. But I still kept coming back to this bizarre motion picture.
I watched a late screening of Requiem For A Dream on Christmas Day, 2000 with my cousin Ky and our friend Douglas. Leaving the theatre, we were all borderline-suicidal. That's what the damned movie does to you. It's an amazing and sometimes beautiful movie, but it's also soul-draining. For this reason, I rarely revisit the film. I think it's a masterpiece, but it's a rather difficult movie for me to watch.
I saw The Fountain alone one bitterly cold afternoon in January, 2007 at a now-defunct movie house called "The Palace East". There were maybe five other people in the auditorium with me. When the film ended, I just sat in silence during the end credits, letting the beautiful music wash over me. I was profoundly affected by The Fountain. It's a perfect film to me; at once heart-breaking and uplifting. The movie's exquisite soundtrack is still in heavy rotation in my iTunes library.
I caught The Wrestler with my brother in the winter of 2009. I'm still (unfortunately) a wrestling fan, and the subject matter was right up my alley. Randy "The Ram"'s efforts to put his life back together only to realize that he's destroyed everything good in his life, that he is the cause of his own ruin, culminating in a climax that is alternately (once again) heart-breaking and uplifting reduced me to a silently weeping mess as Bruce Springsteen's titular song unfurled.
That brings me to Darren Aronofsky's latest film, Black Swan.
I first saw Black Swan one week before Christmas, alone. It was a matinee, with only a smattering of folks in the auditorium. The second time I saw the film was on Christmas Day with my cousin Ky in a nearly sold-out auditorium. I'm one of those straight dudes who actually likes ballet, so I was excited as soon as I read the announcement that Darren Aronofsky was working on a "ballet movie" in 2009. At this point, I'm on board for whatever the man wants to make. I'm a dyed-in-the-wool, card-carrying member of the Darren Aronofsky Fan Club.
But this is so much more than a simple "ballet movie". At its heart, Black Swan is a story about perfection. Nina (Natalie Portman) wants to be perfect. Driven both by her domineering mother and her own desire, she simply has to be the best. She has no social life. All of her peers at the ballet company seem to tolerate Nina, at best. She has no man in her life. She has no hobbies. Ballet is her entire world.
When the ballet director Thomas (Vincent Cassel) announces that the company's next production will be a re-imagined version of "Swan Lake", Nina sees her opportuinity. She covets the dual role of the Swan Queen and her seductive twin, the Black Swan. Thomas knows that Nina could play the reserved Swan Queen in her sleep, but she lacks the passion and fearlessness of the Black Swan. Nina refuses to lose control.
Thomas gives her the role, anyway. He sees the potential for a truly brilliant performance in Nina, and as rehearsals continue, he uses some rather unorthodox methods to coax the Black Swan out of the quiet, reserved young woman. A new addition to the company, dancer Lily (Mila Kunis) from San Francisco, is immediately drawn to Nina. Her wanton sexuality and general carefree attitude represent everything that repressed Nina is not. She is the embodiment of the Black Swan. Thomas notices this, as he makes Lily Nina's understudy.
What follows is, in a sense, the portrait of a woman losing her mind. As opening night looms closer and closer, Nina's sanity begins to unravel. Thomas' constant sexual advances, her ever-evolving love-hate relationship with Lily, and her rebellion against the infantilizing dominance of her mother make Nina question her own perception. Is Lily trying to steal her part? Does Thomas just see Nina as alost cause? Does her mother really have her best interests at heart? All the while, ripples of goose flesh continue to manifest on Nina's back. Is it a psychosomatic stress reaction? Or is the Black Swan slowly emerging?
Black Swan is brilliant. It's one of the most tense, exhilarating, frightening and at times erotic films I've seen in a very long time. Natalie Portman is a revelation. Her metamorphosis (figurative and literal) from a shy, repressed waif to a confident, seductive woman is astounding. This is the role of a lifetime. She's earned the Best Actress Oscar this February. Barbara Hershey can stand shoulder to shoulder with Requiem For A Dream's Ellen Burstyn in her role, despite her abbreviated screentime. Her character controls her daughter through guilt, constantly reminding Nina that she gave up a promising career to bring her only child into the world. She's overbearing, at times unstable, but it's clear that she truly loves her daughter, which makes her behavior all the more hard to watch.
Mila Kunis, who has never really left much of an impression on me before, is fantastic playing Lily, a dual role of sorts. Her portrayal of the reckless understudy who may or may not be out to destroy the new star player is fantastic. She pulls off her very tricky role effortlessly. Vincent Cassel is the perfect choice for Thomas, the self-confident king of his own little world. He can be the biggest, sexually aggressive asshole in the world, then a kind-hearted father figure all in the same scene. He may be the film's secret weapon. And Winona Ryder is great in her small but pivotal role as Beth, the former star player in the ballet company. Nina idolizes her, but as her career fades and she grows increasingly bitter and volatile, Beth becomes a glimpse at Nina's possible future.
Clint Mansell's score is amazing, as per usual. I don't think the man can make bad music. Hell, his musical contributions to Dwayne Johnson's Faster serve as one of the highlights of a rather disappointing movie. I love how the score here incorporates elements from the Swan Lake ballet throughout. I also love how the score becomes overbearing and melodramatic at times, echoing Nina's heightened emotional state. Brilliant work, Mr. Mansell.
The cinematography follows the model of Aronofsky's previous film The Wrestler, using mostly handheld cameras to lend a sense of immediacy to the proceedings. This approach really helps draw the audience into Nina's increasingly suspect point of view. The shot compositions sometimes evoke a sense of claustrophobia, as Nina feels trapped by her circumstances. Very smooth, I must say.
One of the surprises of Black Swan, at least for me, were the cringe-worthy "body horror" moments. Split toenails, painful scratches, things bulging just under the skin, these moments were incredibly effective in the film. During both screenings, the audience loudly reacted to this stuff. The scene where Barbara Hershey frantically trims Natalie Portman's fingernails caused half the women in the second screening to close their eyes or turn away from the screen. This stuff was more effective than the violence from a dozen Saw movies.
When Black Swan opened here in Wichita, I texted Ky and asked him if he wanted to see it. His reply was "I don't like that ballet shit." So I saw it on my own. By the time Christmas rolled around, I had finally convinced him to see it. As we exited the theatre, he turned to me and said "That was a great fucking movie." Yes it was, Ky. Yes it was.
Look, I love the original John Wayne flick. I think it's a lot of fun, mostly due to Mr. Wayne and to a lesser extent, Robert Duvall. A good movie, with a classic performance. I am still baffled at the casting of Glen Campbell, however. I'm a fan of the original True Grit, but I felt just fine when the Coen brothers decided to go back to the source material and make a new adaptation.
Overhearing a conversation between my parents, I realized that they were not so enthusiastic. According to the two of them, remaking True Grit was blasphemy of a sort. How dare these upstart directors defile the legacy of The Duke?! Well screw them! The Brothers Coen have outshined John Wayne, as I learned on Christmas Day!
Jeff Bridges made me remember that he's actually an incredibly talented actor again so soon after the abomination that was TRON: Legacy with his portrayal of Rooster Cogburn. I know he just won an Oscar for Crazy Heart, but he deserves another one for this movie. He talks like his mouth is stuffed with cottonballs, he looks like he smells terrible, he drinks like a fish, he's a dick, and he's got no problems with killing folks that deserve it. He's an over the hill hardass, and I love the one-eyed bastard. He's simultaneously more dangerous and endearing than John Wayne's characterization.
And Matt Damon's LaBouef is a funny son of a bitch. If Jeff Bridges > John Wayne, then Matt Damon >>> Glan Campbell. Seriously, Matt Damon made me laugh out loud nearly a dozen times in the film. After he sustains an injury to his tongue that affects his ability to speak, he's on even ground with Jeff Bridges in the "amusing just making throat noise" department. And his character's ongoing pissing contest with Cogburn is the source of much joy. He's not just a clown, however. LaBouef gets his much-deserved moments of heroism, as well. Bonus: he doesn't sing any fucking songs.
Great supporting work from Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper (!), Dakin Matthews and the fucking "Bear Man", as well as some little dwarfish goon who does nothing but make bizarre animal noises demand multiple viewings, just to soak up the scenery these characters inhabit. But Hailee Steinfeld is amazing as Mattie Ross. She's the real reason to see True Grit. She makes Kim Darby look like... a Kim Darby statue.
Young Miss Steinfeld has a commanding screen presence. She demands the respect of an adult from all those around her, and if you close your eyes while she's speaking, you might even be fooled into thinking that she is an adult. It's eerie. She carries herself with a dignity beyond her years, yet we are consistently reminded that she is still a child in a harsh world populated with dangerous people. Her performance never hits a false note, and it is a remarkable thing to see.
You know what else is remarkable? Audiences are actually watching this film. True Grit is the most successful theatrical Western since Unforgiven in 1992, not to mention the most successful Coen brothers film ever. There have been some great Westerns since Clint Eastwood closed the door on that chapter in his life: Tombstone, Open Range, The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, Seraphim Falls (Fuck You!), but none of them have really garnered a great deal of attention from the general public. Most Westerns these days just come and go, unloved by the masses. How quickly people forget that the Western genre carried the motion picture industry on its wide shoulders for over 40 years.
But True Grit has struck a chord with the finger painters, and they're telling their finger painting friends how good this movie is, and now it's finally overtaken Little Fockers at the box office. Justice, Ben Stiller. The Coen brothers have made a fantastic, crowd-pleasing film. No Country For Old Men was an awards darling, and True Grit is their biggest theatrical hit to date. These guys deserve the success. They've been cranking out amazing films almost non-stop since Blood Simple, and maybe now the general public will realize how special the Coen brothers really are.
I wanted to see The Tourist. I'm a Johnny Depp fan, and it's been a while since I've seen him play anyone but a slurring pirate or the product of Tim Burton's deranged psyche. But The Tourist almost got away from me. In fact, the only reason I ended up seeing it was because The King's Speech was sold out on New Year's Eve. I settled.
And I was pleasantly surprised. It's not a great movie, but I found it be a charming diversion. The Tourist supposedly tells the story of a hapless American math teacher who is mistaken for a white collar criminal and is thrown into a wild European adventure with Angelina Jolie, frought with danger and intrigue. But it's not that simple.
Basically, Elise (Jolie) is in love with a suave British chap named Alexander who stole a shitload of money from that guy who played Stilgar in the Sci Fi Channel's Children Of Dune miniseries. Alexander is in hiding, and has presumably had plastic surgery to stay one step ahead of both Stilgar and the British police, who are hunting him down because he forgot to pay his taxes. Alexander asks Elise to find a patsy on the train to Venice, and to make the people following her believe that the patsy is actually Alexander. She chooses Frank (Depp), and he immediately falls in love with her soft, pillowy lips.
Shit ensues. Stilgar and his henchmen track the duo down and try to kill them. The albino masochist from The Da Vinci Code wants his back taxes. We find out (twist!) that Elise is really a British police agent who went rogue when she fell in love with Alexander, Frank runs across the skyline of Venice being chased by armed goons, BOAT CHASE, Rufus Sewell follows Elise around (hmm...), and Stilgar finally confronts Elise and Frank, threatening to kill them unless he opens his private vault and gives back his fucking money.
Luckily, the Archangel Michael finally pulls the stick out of his ass and saves their lives, ordering a sniper to shoot Stilgar in his black heart. Ominously, the tumor on Stilgar's forehead detaches and skitters away like Charles Hallahan's head in The Thing. I smell sequel!
Good thing the cops stepped in when they did, because poor Frank couldn't possibly have opened Alexander's wall safe... then he opens the wall safe. What the fuck?! Holy shit, Frank is Alexander! What a twist! Rufus Sewell gets nicked by the fuzz, and we find out that he's the real tourist, hired by Alexander as a suave British decoy! Frankexander leaves Priest a check for the back taxes he owes the government, and he and Elise come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with meeeeee!
Yeah. It's no masterpiece. But it's a lot of fun. At least I thought it was. The critics didn't care for The Tourist, and it didn't set the box office on fire, but I enjoyed it. I thought Depp and Jolie had decent chemistry, and the supporting cast was amusing. The plot is at once unneccesarily complicated and dumb as a pet rock, but it's not really important when the final twist is revealed.
I wasn't offended by the twist. It's actually pretty romantic. Alexander just wanted to fall in love with Elise all over again. And get his money. And settle up with Gangster No. 1. And kill Stilgar. How come Robot Chicken never made a Kill Stil parody, by the way? Too obscure? Although I suppose a more apt Dune saga parody would be something more like Kill Duncan Idaho. A Lot. But I'm getting off-topic.
I'm glad I saw The Tourist. I'm glad I settled. I was also surprised that my New Year's Eve screening was packed. And it's still playing here in Wichita. So apparently The Tourist is pretty popular here. Go figure.
I finally caught this on New Year's Day. It's a masterpiece. Give it all of the awards because it deserves them. I laughed, I cried, then I laughed some more. Who knew speech therapy could be so fucking enthralling?
In Conclusion
I'll come back to do the obligatory "Best of/Worst of 2010" lists, because I'm a conformist like that. I'm also tardy, but that's par for the fucking course with me. You, Dear Imaginary Reader, would expect nothing less.
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