So I finally saw this movie and can officially conclude my 2010 year of movie watching. Before Black Swan came out, I had really really wanted to watch it, not the least because it was a dance movie featuring Natalie Portman. But as I kept missing it, the reviews from friends started rolling in. Equal parts love and hate, Black Swan was the polarizing film experience of the year.
I finally ended up watching it the other night, with eight of us altogether. Two of the eight had seen it before. Afterwards we had quite the discussions. I'll spare you the details but basically I enjoyed Black Swan more than I thought I did, and thought this was the perfect adult-ish Portman role. Everyone involved was mostly brilliant, except for Winona Ryder.
There were some legitimately great parts of the movie. However, there were also some not so good parts of the movie and everything seemed a little ham fisted. There was no surprise or newness to any of the things the film was saying, or how it said it. When my friend told me beforehand that the movie was "very literal," I was confused but after seeing it, I now understand. Black Swan was literal and lacked much imagination. The good news is we have now been inspired to create a Black Swan series of dance moves. Given the time and energy, we'll be creating a video complete with a how-to. Prepare your limbs.
This article about our forever Winona crush is fun. And apparently it's way cliche to have Natalie Portman as your number one. Oh well, so be it.
[Update] Also, read this Mirrorfilm.org article about Black Swan and Bathrooms by the always great Kartina Richardson.
