I'm going to be very lonely in this opinion, but...

I found Black Swan tedious. There are no surprises, and, quite honestly, the parallel story-within-a-story motif is tired as hell. There wasn't a single moment in this film where I did not know what was going to happen.

I like ballet. I just went to the freaking ballet two weeks ago. It's not that I am bored by ballet (although I can be).

It's that this story is so damned obvious. It is well-acted, and Aronofsky does a competent job directing, but with the exception of maybe three truly beautifully-framed shots (Nina standing on the empty stage, wide shot, in particular), nothing blew me away.

I will find myself in a distinct minority on this, I am sure.

Minority is too kind a word.

However, perhaps relevant to your point, Rushmore, is my concession that I left the theater wondering how long I would need to wait before I could enjoy watching the movie again, and that is usually a red flag for me that the movie lacks expert execution. I suppose you have some good points. For one thing, I suspect the story does not demand that the audience question how much of the weird stuff is real or not so much as our prior expectations of what Aranofsky is capable of.

I saw The King's Speech today starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter in a story about Bertie (later King George VI) and the crippling impact a life-long stutter has had on his psyche, particularly devastating due to his royal birth and its necessity for frequent public speeches. The movie is a quiet (and at times dryly funny) character study that ends up being quite emotional due to the superb acting performance of Colin Firth as Bertie. His timing - particularly crucial since he's portraying a man with a severe stuttering problem - is dead on throughout this movie. And the stuttering never seemed forced or unnatural; I kind of forgot that Colin Firth really doesn't have a stutter. I really like Geoffrey Rush as an actor also. He was a quite good supporting actor here in his portrayal of Bertie's unconventional Australian speech therapist. There was impeccable attention to historical detail in the clothing and settings.

Definitely recommend for those who enjoy character studies and/or historical period movies.

Watched the expendables having a few beers.
I knew what i was in for and it delivered

Well done. This is exactly where I was on this. I honestly thought it was beneath Aronofsky.

Meanwhile, there was a preview for Malick's The Tree of Life, which I suspect might require cinemas to employ mop boys.

I cannot wait to see this. It look gorgeous.

I know you are likely using hyperbole here, but either way you surely must concede you were surprised when:



I arrived at the theater as the trailers were ending I better check out an online trailer for Tree of Life.

No, I agree with you. Black Swan has its moments but they are rare. It's stuffed with tired cliches and ridiculousness. At least it's Aronofsky's best work, maybe one day he'll make something that isn't silly. 6/10

The Fighter should have dropped the commentary from the boxing scenes. Wahlberg and Adams don't play off each other well. Raging Bull it ain't. But it doesn't really try to be either. About average. 7/10

The Wind That Shakes the Barley is an amazing movie. I know very little about the conflict and couldn't understand what the characters were saying like 10% of the time through those thick accents, but this is fantastic. 9/10

Julia was decent. Tilda Swinton plays an alcoholic who kidnaps a kid for ransom and then some odd things happen. Didn't need to be so damn long, editing yo. 7/10

Also two docs, Exit Through the Gift Shop and Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child, both having something to do with the modern art world. First one is funny, not sure if a prank or not. Second one is very good too, it covers a lot and felt like it gave me a good look into the life of this man. Gotta admit I didn't know who either Banksy or Basquiat were a few days ago though! Both of these like 8/10

That trailer should win best picture. I should hate to die before I get to see it.

just saw the conformist again in a movie theater. much better than i remember it, easily one of the best movies ever made.

The Town was better than I expected, and this is coming from someone who generally hates Ben Affleck. I had some problems with it, but 3 pretty cool heists and good performances made for solid entertainment.

OK, fine. Yeah, OK, fine.

The Tree of Life

Malick: you either get it or you don't. I mean, I have friends who cannot begin to understand my love for Days of Heaven or Badlands, and I honestly can't see why they don't see it.

If you want to call it hyperbole, fine. But I meant to say that I ALWAYS knew where we were headed. A detail here or there is not what I meant.

I agree with this, except the liking ballet part, and that didn't detract from the story at all.

All of my students have seen it. I show it every semester.

Watched Contact again, for the 5th+ time. Man I love this movie, one of those that is not obviously better or worse than the novel.

I wish more documentaries had some balls, and weren't just intervieiws/boring commentary. So many docs put me to sleep. This is not one

edit: my comments are for Exit Through the Gift Shop

Ok guys u caught me I have never seen in the mood for love..ill see if Netflix has it

They do. It's on Watch Instantly - that's how I saw it.

FYI,

In the Mood for Love is the second part of a loose trilogy, which started with Days of Being Wild and ends with 2046.

WKW and Kieslowski are the two directors highly praised in here, who i don't really get the hype about. both are pretty stylish, but lack substance imo. will try to watch Dekalog soon though

Chungking Express might be my fav movie, and I loved My Blueberry Nights too (prob b/c it's very similar to CE). I'll have to revisit rest of WKW movies as none of them struck me anything like CE.

chungking expres was pretty confusing to me, but i like it much more than in the mood for love. need to watch more of his stuff as well.

I just blew a gasket.

Kieslowski is all about letting style enhance substance. There is no filmmaker other than Bergman whose movies are so clearly about something, and I'm amazed anyone who has seen his films could say otherwise.

Dom, I knew that would engender some reply from you. BTW, have you ever listened to the commentary on The Double Life of Veronique? If not, you should. Insdorff is one of the leading Kielowski scholars.