Black Swan rekalled...

Black Swan is the latest film from Darren Aronofsky and stars Natalie Portman in a moving, disturbing film that is worth seeing at least once. The film examines a few different themes simultaneously, women's body issues, the decent in psychological destruction, the artists sacrifice. Natalie Portman carries this film and is in almost every scene, giving a very an amazing fractured performance. The films has some great tension filmed scenes with relatable anxieties and disturbing sounds. Also a great use of digital effects that blends well with the aesthetic of the surroundings, it doesn't take you out of the film when things get fanciful. Not one that I will watch often but glad I saw at least once.

TRON:Legacy rekalled...

TRON:Legacy is the sequel to the the 80's Disney film and they try to recapture the magic of the original and fail disappointingly. A film that had been building my expectations for 3 years from the initial concept film shown at comic-con to the alternative underground marketing of a scavenger hunt for a recreated arcade featuring games and material from the movie. The film was a huge disappointment and felt like missed opportunity for greatness. The film had a great look but the action wasn't that amazing. Jeff Bridges lives off his Jeffery Lebowski performance in TRON and is a little distracting. The biggest distraction was the digital performance of a young Jeff Bridges clone program that didn't seem quite lifelike, the uncanny valley effect was evident. The effects were the only improvement over the original, the character and story was lacking, just disappointing.

True Grit rekalled...

True Grit is the newest Coen brother's film that is a remake of the John Wayne film of the same name which is based on a book. Hailee Steinfeld carries this film with a nuanced performance exuding a confident curiosity and delivers her dialog with a crisp wit. Jeff Bridges performance was a little more boisterous and mumbling than I would have enjoyed, I feel he has been riding on the laurels of his Big Lebowski fame for a while. Matt Damon gives a passable character performance but nothing special. The film is shot rather well but does have a few moments of obvious green screen and digital effects which stands out against the texture of this western. A decent film but not did not live up to the hype in my opinion.

TheFighter rekalled...

The Fighter is one of those films that doesn't tread new territory or create a new genre but it does do the fighter or boxing genre a great service by being a great film. Based on a true story, this film is filled with great performances and crowd pleasing dialog. Christian Bale steals the show with an all out performance of a crack head. Mark Wahlberg doesn't stand out but doesn't hurt the film, his sisters and mother really do add texture and depth to the film. One of my favorites of the year and I can't imagine anyone disliking it.

Switch rekalled...

Switch is the rom com featuring Justin Bateman and Jennifer Aniston. Only worth seeing if you like Jason Bateman. Otherwise it is forgettable.

Charlie St. Cloud rekalled...

Charlie St.Cloud is the Zac Efron vehicle which seemed like a very typical sappy romance story which actually surprised me by the end of the film. Zac Efron gives a great performance and I can see his career really blossoming. There is a plot twist that I didn't see coming and can't figure out if I give this movie more respect than I normally would, not necessarily a great film but I have seen worse. I will probably forget I saw it shortly.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 rekalled...

HPatDH:P1 is the latest and second to last film in the Harry Potter serious based on the children's books. This was my first Harry Potter film and I have never read any of the books so this film was not created for me because this film definitely is not for someone who is not familiar with the characters or story line. I thought the film was long, boring and goes nowhere. I have no interest in seeing or reading any of the Harry Potter material out there, this film did not take.