Friday 4 February 2011

Black Swan

We just watched this film for our tri-monthly evening out.

To sum up, it was a lot like Silence Of The Lambs, in that two-thirds of the film was close ups of the leading actress' face looking worried, and it was filmed with the grace, wit and charm of one of those Childline or NSPCC government-sponsored adverts off the telly.

Sod this, frankly.

I'm going back to the old ways - only go to see films which get really bad reviews, that way you are seldom disappointed and often pleasantly surprised.

9 comments:

Tim Almond said...

In that case, you might want to check out Dinocroc vs Supergator which is on Syfy, directed by Roger "King of the B-Mobies" Corman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pVuB6-po94

Looks like complete rubbish...

Electro-Kevin said...

I am utterly UTTERLY fed up with crash-bang-wallop films with no story line. Above all else I am fed up with films which THINK they have story lines.

Such as:

- I'm in a dream [or another realm]

- Or am I in someone else's dream ...

- Or am I in another level of consciousness ...

- Or am I up my own arse ...

- Or am I up someone else's arse ?

Do you know what I mean ???

(Or how many inventive ways can I devise how to kill someone ?)

Electro-Kevin said...

I have been to the pub btw. Please forgive me.

I'll make much more sense to you in the Matrix.

Ms Smack said...

I saw Black Swan and didn't think that much of it. The ballet was beautiful though.

Can I please recommend Colin Firth and Aussie Geoffrey Rush in the brilliant film 'The Kings Speech" if you haven't seen it already.

It's amazing.

:)

JuliaM said...

"I'm going back to the old ways - only go to see films which get really bad reviews.."

Depends on the reviewer - if it gets lousy reviews in the 'Guardian', fair enough. Bad reviews in the 'Sun', well, they might have a point.

But then I like my entertainment uncomplicated :)

PJH said...

Was it really that bad?

I was considering going to see it because the OH is rather into ballet, and I caught a hint of it 'not being totally about ballet' which might make me want to go along.

(I can't stand ballet as entertainment. Give me riverdance any day.)

Mark Wadsworth said...

PJH, yes it was. Imagine watching Childline and NSPCC advertisements for one and a half hours on end.

What I like about Riverdance is that you can do it at your desk - you just keep your arms down and hop up and down in your chair.

john b said...

A friend of mine who's a massive ballet & general dance person hated The Black Swan because she thought the ballet stuff was inaccurate (a bit like military kit geeks hating mainstream war movies), so it all depends on quite *how much* your wife likes ballet.

Charlie B. said...

The FT gave "Black Swan" an absolute stinker (one star) - indeed, it suggested you would want to walk out half way through in order to go and see a film worth watching (= almost anything else currently on release).

We had already bought tickets so we went anyway, and thought it was a complete stinker. Complete crap and really annoying. However, FT has given good reviews to films we thought were nearly as bad. Likewise other mainstream newspaper reviews.

My view - In film reviews (and most of the other arts notices) there are now no objective standards to which reviewers refer (and over which they might disagree by citing specific aspects of the film or performance) -- it is just personal taste dressed up as authoritative comment. They provide no guidance at all as to the quality of the film, or whether one might enjoy it. Their only use is to learn the genre of the film, the kind of milieu in which the action occurs, some hint of the story, and the name of actors with large parts. SO: I never go to horror, sometimes go to rom com, generally go to adventure. I like exotic settings, hate anything in North of England. Bank robberies are OK, espionage is better, teenage kids totally not. Like Paul Rudd. Films made in Oz/by Oz directors are usually better than comparable films from elsewhere. Hope that helps.