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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Pirate Radio

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Back in the 1960s, when British radio only allowed rock n' roll to be played for 1 hour a day, groups of DJ's formed rock stations off the coast of the UK, where they lived and partied together on boats, so they could rock out all day and night, without breaking the law. Over half the population enjoyed listening to these moderately legal radio stations on a regular basis.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Tom Sturridge, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Darby, Nick Frost, Chris O'Dowd, Kenneth Branagh, Jack Davenport, Rhys Ifans, January Jones, Emma Thompson, Tom Wisdom, Sinead Matthews, Ralph Brown, Talulah Riley, Tom Brooke, Ike Hamilton, Will Adamsdale, Katherine Parkinson

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. This is a high energy movie, based around the love of good rock n' roll music, with a lot of ambiance, and almost no st-argh-y.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Jokes there are a' plenty.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: When you watch a bunch of horny men together on a ship for months and years at a time, it quickly becomes clear why pirates obsess on wenches, ale, and walking the plank... They are bored out of their blasted minds!... But that doesn't mean their debauchery won't still make some more high falutin' moralists cry inside.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Best Soundtrack. This thing is wall to wall 60s music. And not the crappy stuff either. The kind that makes you think that for every $100 they spent, $99 of it when to ASCAP.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: I love the Brits... And Philip Seymour Hoffman is good, too. But I feel sorry for Tom Sturridge, because with his pasty white skin, dark hair and cherry red lips, if he'd come along a few years earlier, he could have had Robert Pattinson's career. The good news for old Tom is that Vampire movies seem to be getting more, not less, popular, and it shouldn't be too long before someone puts him in one.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: The directing injects electricity into a so-so script... But mostly, that's because the guy can pick some music. And speaking of electricity, am I the only one who wonders how a ship can sink with all sorts of electrical machinery on it, and no one gets electrocuted as they're wading through the flood waters? Or for that matter, speaking into a wet microphone?

Q: How is the story/script?

A: The script contains little hints of story in it, most of which are gravely underdeveloped (especially the storyline about the government shutting them down, which comes and goes like a ship passing in the sea.) Some of the moderately developed, meatless storylines have set ups and pay offs, but mostly it's a fun character piece about wacky djs taking the piss out of each other. (Please tell me I used that expression right, because it would certainly be the first time I did.)

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/pirate-radio/36833/trailers

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Sunshine Cleaning

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A dark comedy about a couple of struggling sisters (Amy Adams & Emily Blunt) who try to make ends meet by starting up a business that involves cleaning up after people's bloody deaths.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin, Jason Spevack, Steve Zahn, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Clifton Collins Jr., Eric Christian Olsen, Paul Dooley, Kevin Chapman, Judith Jones

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. In this time of recession, it's interesting to think about the different odd jobs out there that might be lucrative, but it's depressing to think about how easily your whole plan can get ruined, ruining you in return for your efforts.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: It's from the producers of Little Miss Sunshine and the darkness of the humor is similar, but the laughs in this one aren't as frequent or as plentiful.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Some people cry at the sight of blood and death. Personally, I'm just thankful that they never perfected smell-o-vision.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: They really teach you everything you need to know about starting this kind of a business, so I'm thinking it'll probably be the movie most likely to inspire people to get over their fear of death and get a job cleaning up after it.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Amy Adams is her regular delightful self. Emily Blunt is a pleasure that I look forward to watching more of as soon as possible. Alan Arkin is exactly the same as he was in Little Miss Sunshine, but with less funny lines to say. And Steve Zahn is desperately underused in this and the rest of the movies getting made around Hollywood, in particular, the ones he's not cast in.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: The only moment in which the directing really draws attention to itself is when we see the mom, and then dissolve from one sister's face to the other, instantly realizing how incredibly well cast it is, as the mom has the exact facial features necessary to link the two actresses faces, and create the illusion that they're really related. Separately, you should know that considering all the blood involved in death, the director has intelligently shot this such that the gore-level isn't too high.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: It's definitely a story that's never been done before, so there's that. The question remains: is this a story that needed to be done? And that's where I'm on the fence.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/search/sunshine%20cleaning/trailers

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