Black Swan

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A ballerina (Natalie Portman) gets cast as the lead in Swan Lake and struggles with her inner demons, as her stardom alienates her, makes her paranoid, and generally drives her insane.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder, Benjamin Millepied, Ksenia Solo, Kristina Anapau, Janet Montgomery, Sebastian Stan, Toby Hemingway

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. As you can tell from my late review, I didn't really want to see this film because it looked creepy. And it is. The members of my audience couldn't wait to get the hell out of the theater when the movie ended. But there's no denying that the filmmaking is at expert level.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Darren Aronofsky lives in a world of depressing self-importance. If there was ever any humor in this script, I'm sure he did away with it.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: It's not necessary. Just-- if you're considering becoming a ballerina, don't.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: According to all sources, Natalie Portman is going to win an Academy Award this year.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Believe the hype.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: While I'm rarely interested in any of the stories or subject matters that Darren Aronofsky is compelled to put to celluloid, visually, he is one of my absolute favorite directors working today.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: In the vein of Fight Club, the story deliberately confuses reality with the inner workings of a nutsoid person's mind. It is interpretable, though, and while I don't enjoy guessing what the storytellers want me to believe, I did enjoy the way the story of the film perfectly parallels the story of the ballet. Which brings me to my next question: why do the dudes who wrote and directed this know or care so much about this ballet?

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Black Swan Trailer

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Mao's Last Dancer

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: The true story of Li Cunxin (Chi Cao), who was taken away from his family as a boy in Moaist China, to train at the Beijing Dance Academy, and later recruited to the United States where he was accused of turning his back on China, and denied re-entrance to his homeland. Meanwhile, in America he becomes an acclaimed ballerino.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Chi Cao, Bruce Greenwood, Kyle MacLachlan, Joan Chen, Amanda Schull, Shuang Bao Wang, Madeleine Eastoe, Aden Young, Chengwu Guo, Wen Bin Huang, Camilla Vergotis, Su Zhang, Gang Jiao, Ferdinand Hoang

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! This film is so beautiful, its beauty can only be properly expressed in French with tears in your eyes. So here goes... C'est beau! (sniff-sniff)

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: There's one musical cue that's kind of funny, although I'm not sure it's deliberately funny. You see, the film takes place in the 70s, so for authenticity's sake, they have no choice but to cut to disco music once in a while.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: I predicted what they were going to do, I knew it was gonna make me cry, and I still cried, full on tears, both eyes.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: This is the kind of slow and important film that the Academy goes crazy over. The only thing it has going against it is that I like it, too.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: After watching Bruce Greenwood play very straight and very powerful men, in both Dinner for Schmucks and Star Trek, it is fascinating to see him pull off a man who is obviously gay, but in no way flamboyant. Joan Chen is delightful as the dancer's mother, with touching moments of both anger and joy. And it deserves a mention that Chi Cao, who is an amazing professional ballerino, but has no acting experience to speak of, makes you believe that you are watching a documentary, and not a scripted movie.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Despite a few passing moments that are pointlessly showy, Bruce Beresford's directing is impressive both in the flawless coverage of the numerous ballet numbers, and in the little touches, like making the film negative look like grainy stock footage, straight out of the 70s and 80s, when he shows us the date of each sequence.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Obviously, it's a true story and a tear jerker. My only complaint is that for those of us that know structure, there are a few moments which feel like they're approaching the ending but then don't, which makes the film feel momentarily longer than it is. But all is forgiven, as the last 10 minutes are worth the wait.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/maos-last-dancer/10014074/trailers

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Fame

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Remake of the 1980 musical about a group of kids who attend New York's High School for the Performing Arts.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Kay Panabaker, Walter Perez, Naturi Naughton, Asher Book, Kherington Payne, Collins Pennie, Kristy Flores, Paul McGill, Paul Iacono, Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, and Cody Longo. And as their supervisors: Kelsey Grammer, Charles S. Dutton, Bebe Neuwirth, Megan Mullally, Debbie Allen.

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. More than anything this movie will make you long to see the original, partly because the nostalgic element is completely missed in the new version, and partly so you can find out if it was equally as trite as this one, and the only reason you didn't notice was because back then, you were too young to know better.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Not so much. Unless, like me, you have an adorable 6 year old boy sitting next to you, making peanut gallery comments like, "That song was beautiful!" And, "I like the lion!" Which refers to the MGM lion that roars at the beginning of the movie.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: I was on the verge of tears for a non-continuous 30% of the film. It was completely unjustifiable, and most likely had nothing to do with the content. Maybe it was hormones.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: They wrote a lot of new songs in their efforts to update this piece to present day sensibilities, but in all their efforts, the only song that really moves you is the one they kept from the original, "Out Here on My Own." And I'm pretty sure that won't qualify as Best Original Song.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: The one reason this is worth seeing is that you will have the opportunity to feel like you've discovered some great new talent. In particular, Naturi Naughton, who sings like a next generation Mary J. Blige, and Asher Book, whose vocal stylings make you hope he will fall in love with you. On the other hand, Kherington Payne-- who I just found out was a winner on "So You Think You Can Dance?"-- is not nearly as good a dancer as the extras who are playing backup dancers to her lead. The professional dancers surrounding her hit each move with a sharpness and precision, that make Kherington look like she was discovered on a reality show... This is just more proof, that when America votes, they get second tier stars.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Using lots of long lenses with action in the foreground doesn't make the story any more engrossing, and sometimes, you find yourself actually getting a little impatient with the scenes, as you wonder if anything interesting is going to happen once the director is done indulging himself in his own sense of beautifulness.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: A lot of the conflict is completely illogical, as kids fight with their parents over things their parents would never fight them for. Plus there are times when the dialogue seems either generic and predictable, or simply unnecessary.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: After opening on an elaborate audition montage, it's hard to imagine how the majority of the main characters got into the school, with auditions that are sometimes humiliating, and shouldn't have garnered much more than a "Don't call us, we'll call you."

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/fame/30945/trailers

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