Black Swan review

 Number 291 on the top 1000 films of all time is Darren Aronofsky's psychological thriller 'Black Swan.'

Nina (Natalie Portman) is a timid, but talented ballerina who has just been cast as the swan queen in Swan lake. Believing she isn't suitable to play the Black Swan, director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) pushes her to her limits. When rival ballerina Lily (Mila Kunis) enters the scene, Nina's sanity is pushed to breaking point.

If there was ever a director who made horror films that aren't actually horror films, it's Darren Aronofsky. There was the terrifying Requiem for a Dream. And Black Swan was equally scary. It was creepy, insidious with masterful camerawork that not only had Nina, but the viewer questioning their sanity. Aronofsky direction is to be praised. He depicted Nina's fleeting sanity very well. It could have been all too easy to show her in an all-out meltdown, but he was far more subtle than that. He was equally subtle with all the scares as well. We just see allusions and clips that something isn't quite right with her, but nothing grossly overt.

Natalie Portman won the Best Actress Oscar for her role. But I'm not sure how much I liked her characterisation of Nina. While Aronofsky directed the film well, I don't think I can apply the same praise to his direction of Portman. Under his direction, she played Nina with a high-pitched, girly voice. Reportedly, Portman wasn't happy about this. Past directors have criticised her for her natural voice being too girly. Having worked hard to lose it, she felt playing Nina was very regressive. 

I understand that she is supposed to be a naturally timid character, but giving her such a girly voice made her quite infantalising. Surely there could have been other ways to portray this. And I would argue this was more of a problem with Aronofsky's direction than Portman's acting.

And a quick shoutout to Vincent Cassel who played the sleazy, borderline abusive Thomas Leroy to a tee. He was an ugly, villainous character.

Nina declared her final performance as being perfect. I wouldn't apply the same praise to Black Swan, but it was one of the scariest non-horror films that I've seen.

The Wrestler review

 Number 372 on the 1000 films of all time is Darren Aronofsky's 2008 sports drama 'The Wrestler.'

Randy 'Ram' Robinson (Mickey Rourke) is a former professional wrestler who is desperately clinging to his past days as an 80's wrestling legend. When his hedonistic lifestyle catches up to him, he has to give wrestling up. But he finds letting go of the past harder than he thinks.

I have to admit I've never thought of Mickey Rourke as much of an actor. I've seen as cliched bad guys and I've seen as cliched action stars. But I don't think that these roles allowed him to display his full acting ability. Judging from 'the Wrestler', I would say his ability is very good. Granted he is still playing an action star of sorts, but this is one with pathos. He displays a more vulnerable side as he plays a character desperately clinging to times gone by. He is a lonely man who lives in a trailer. His only family is his estranged daughter Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood.) It's implied that he was a neglectful father, thus creating an acrimonious relationship between he and his daughter. Even when he tries fixing it, he still ends screwing everything up.

But Rourke plays the role well. He brings humanity to a character who is desperately seeking human connection. He finds some of that through the equally damaged character of Pam (Marisa Tomei) a stripper trying to create a better life for her son. Tomei was also very good and the two actors had great chemistry. One of the best scenes was when she and Randy were in a bar and start dancing to some cheesy 80's music. It was a simple scene, but an effective one.

Another great scene is where see Randy in his day job of a deli worker in a supermarket. Rourke's infectious energy comes to the fore and Randy is obviously enjoying himself. This scene was completely improvised with the customers being all genuine.

And for a film called 'the Wrestler,' there was actually very little wrestling. Wrestling has never been something I've ever been interested in, so I thought I would be bored senseless. But the wrestling fights were so boring that you could never get bored. Seriously? Staple guns? Barbed wire? A prosthetic gun? Crazy stuff.

The Wrestler did surprise me. I thought it would be tedious sports drama. But it was a tender and heartfelt portrayal of an athlete holding tight to his glory days. Mickey Rourke earned a Best Actor Oscar nod. Well-deserved I think.