One of the most anticipated movie I wanted to see, especially for Darren Aronofsky as he is an eccentric and overwhelming director. Aronofsky created a masterpiece and thus he deserves all the praise in the world.
The movie has a strong psychological effect. The transformation of a white swan into the most astonishing Black Swan. Nina was a beautiful ballet dancer, with a strong character and perfect moves, just what a white swan needs. Due to her inability to let go her emotions and feelings, she thinks she lost the lead role in Swan Lake theater play. That is until she met Lilly, who triggers the transformation. Lilly was the kind of dancer with strong attitude and charisma, something that Nina didn't have.Thomas, the director of the play introduces Lily and Nina and by doing so, he created a competition worth watching between the two.
Natalie Portman is at her best in this movie. From what I read, she took ballet lessons for this role. She is in the spotlight right now. This role has brought her an Oscar and world's appreciation. "What for?" you might ask. I can tell you for what, the movie touched me deep inside my soul; Nina the lead role actress created a great atmosphere and made you watch the movie with great emotions.
As I said, the movie has everything from horror to love scenes. Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman together, sharing the bed, was indeed an unexpected turn of events. Aronofsky made0 sure to surprise you with the evolution of his characters. Creating a Black Swan out of a White Swan is the main focus of the movie.
The ending was a great set-up. Nothing to tell more, but go see this movie. It worth every penny.
From the executive producer of EuroTrip and the producer of Up in the Air (for whitch he had an Oscar nomination), Ivan Reitman, comes a new comedy called No Strings Attached. With notable names in the cast, like Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher. The team between Ivan Reitman and Natalie Portman is crucial and one of the best of this movie.The director surprises the audience with this strictly physical relationship between a guy and girl.
This romantic comedy is great, funny to watch and gives you lots of ideas and reasons of thinking. The main catch is the relationship between Emma and Adam, which know each other since childhood. They met again now and they have one sort of secret physical relationship. Meanwhile, Adam is haunted by his father's marriage with his ex-girlfriend and by his father's career influence over his. One of the scene is when Emma comes with Adam at his father engagement "party" where Emma has some rough discussions with his father. However, they maintain the relationship physical until they realize that they love each other and can't live one without the other. Emma is the one who doesn't let her feelings go wild.
Natalie Portman is fit to act in this movie. I remember seeing the movie only for Natalie Portman which I think it's a great actress. However Natalie never played such a "bold" movie role before. She never showed her skin before maybe only in Black Swan( for which she got The Oscar award). She plays her role very well and induces you her feelings and her emotions regarding her relationship with Adam.
Ashton Kutcher is the one with problems and he can't control his feelings for Emma. He plays the role very well, from the movie you realize even from his look that he is in love with Emma. He wants more than a physical relationship and Ashton shows that very well in his role.
The dramatic turn-ups are well thought by Ivan Reitman, making them funny and unexpected.
What's really interesting is that the movie was written by a woman. It's a thing to see the characters evolution as the story unfolds. That's what surprises me a lot since I didn't have high expectations from the movie. At first sight the movie seems to be another teen movie.
It's a great film to watch with your girlfriend or family.
In the year of 1999, The Green Mile was released under the signature of the same director and screenwriter who directed The Shawshank Redemption, namely Frank Darabount. The movie is an adaptation after Stephen King's novel with the same name, with a typically King story and a very consistently high-powered supporting cast. It is a 188 minutes drama, with some strong violent scenes and nonetheless it delivers a Biblical allegory, with stupendous performances from some of America's most beloved. It is not difficult to understand that everything Tom Hanks (Paul Edgecomb in the movie) touches becomes a work of art. In supporting this statement, we can easily think about Saving Private Ryan and Apollo 13. Perhaps, one of the most imposing figures in the whole movie is that of Michael Clark Duncan, a very imposing black man, acting the role of a convict, imprisoned for the brutal rape and murder of two little girls. Even if Duncan never played this kind of roles before (one can remember him better from bouncers and football players roles), in Darabount's film we can discover him able of showing great emotional rage and subtle talent for much deeper roles.
The year of the movie is 1935 but the year of the storytelling is 1999, the present. This means, the film tells its story in flashbacks by Paul Edgecomb (Hanks), a former upstanding guard who oversees the death row in the Louisiana State Penitentiary. His acting is very humanistic, receiving his inmates as human beings and treating them as so until the execution. The same case with Paul's colleagues (David Morse, Jeffrey DeMunn, Barry Peppe ) who are generally easygoing fellas disposed to show human and respectful treatment toward the inmates. There is an exception though, in the character of Percy Wetmore (Doug Hutchison). Not only that he is mean and evil-minded, he is also the governor's nephew, so he cannot be fired and he love playing with the prisoners' dignity. But when a very dangerous convict has arrived, Billy the Kid, played by Sam Rockwell, Percy disgraces himself in very different way, including his inability to stop the criminal from an almost deadly attack on one of the guards. When the same criminal attacked him, through the bars, he got so scared that he pissed on himself. In order for Paul and his colleagues to keep the silence, they made a deal: if Percy will be in front at the next execution, he'll be gone to another place, a better job he's been offered.
Everything seemed to work properly in the penitentiary, under Edgecomb's professional management. This until a new convict has arrived: John Coffey. Despite his imposing figure and his enormity, and the fact that he was sentenced to death for raping and killing two little girls, the giant seemed harmful: he was gentle as a lamb, afraid of the dark and occasionally burst into tears.
The Green Mile is a real/supernatural drama in which we can feel the echoes of The Shawahank Redemption. We can look at it's inner meanings and we can find a lots of. The figure of Christ in the person of Coffey is inevitably considered. He is on the edge of his life, condemned for a crime he didn't commit, accepting his situation, in order to change something in the world. For he says : “He killed them with their love. That's how it is, every day, all over the world.” He got tired of being sent by the Good , acting like a saint but never receiving a feedback.
What again must be mentioned is the attention Darabount payed in what's concerning the visuals and the exact attention for the detail, from the costumes to the lights. The music, which was released on 14th of December, 1999, by Warner Bros, containing primarily instrumental tracks from the music score by Thomas Newman, had also the awaited effect. Somehow it managed to connect the scenes, it worked as an editor. The genuine of the drama was also an effect of the stupendous performing of the cast. The behavior of the guards, in front with Hanks, was irreproachable , exactly the one expected by the public. In the same tone, the prisoners acted incredibly real. There was not a single moment of irrationality in the construction of their parts; genuine acting again. Interesting to put down on paper is how Frank Darabount played with the camera. He focused on every character's face, those close-ups, like he was trying to paint each of the characters' story.
With all these considered, I can't say that The Green Mile has no issues. In what I'm concerned, it could be a little bit shortened. It's true that the movie has the capacity to keep you connected, but though, the three hours could have been made only two and a half. Maybe that's the reason for which the character, Edgecomb, says in the end of the film : “But God, sometimes, the Green Mile seems so long”. And if all along the movie, some of the features were left to the field of unknown, maybe it would have been better to remain so, without their revealing in the end of the film, with the old Paul Edgecomb (played by Dabbs Greer), relating his story to his friend, Elaine. With this little detail and some other, maybe it would have achieved the glory of The Shawshank Redemption. But even so, Frank Darabout did a great job.
I watched it over the weekend and I came to believe that it's a great movie. Signed by Terry George and Keir Pearson and inspired from the life of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who made himself useful for the tutsi during their struggle against hutu militia in Rwanda.
Beside Jean Reno there is no great name in the cast, even Jean Reno has a small part in the story. However the collective group of actors with the main character in front, Don Cheadle made a great movie.
When you see this movie you can actually feel all the pressure on the tutsi people. The movie sets you in the tutsi place, causing you to feel all the pain and suffering. Both the two hours are keeping you breathless and scared. The movie transmits all the emotions of the main character upon the viewers.
I won't tell the story of it here, watch it, it's a great 2 hour movie that makes you feel every action in it.
Great work for Terry and Keir who wrote it.
