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Last weekend I watched Elia Kazan's 1961 Splendor in the Grass with Natalie Wood and "introducing" Warren Beatty. Written by William Inge. Takes place in 1928 and I most definitely saw bits of it on television when I was young--I specifically remember the ending. But man oh man. They would have had to bowdlerize the movie for tv back when it was first on, I'd think. It's ALL about sex. Repressing one's sexual feelings, girls being told that sex is bad (by a frigid mother). Having sex with prostitutes so that the good girls aren't dirtied (by a monster father).
Police Story 2 directed and starred in by Jackie Chan. Awful, just like the first, but the climactic martial arts fight between Chan's cop character and a kookie but vicious bomb maker is topnotch and almost worth the whole movie.
Zulu--rented because it's Michael Caine's first major role. Another one that I'd definitely seen and forgotten because I recognized one line plus the ending. A movie that is so politically incorrect (and for good reason) and that couldn't be made today --the way it was made. The Zulus are depicted as warriors yes, but their attack on the whites seem to be coming out of the blue...like why on earth would they want to slaughter all these many soldiers? Welllll, could it possibly be because their country had been invaded and colonized by strangers who stole their land and gave them no respect? Duh. The only whites sympathetic to them is the preacher and his daughter who of course, wants only to save their souls for Jesus Christ. Anyway, if you can tune your brain out to the realities of the situation(pretty impossible in my case) it could be seen as a great epic about fewer than 100 British soldiers who fight for survival against 4000 Zulus.
Today I saw Black Swan directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Natalie Portman. I knew in advance that it was about Swan Lake and that it was a horror movie. I'd avoided reading anything else about it. (although I read one article about Portman training for the role). Man oh man. I knew that ballet is hard on the body and takes an amazing amount of discipline. I also realize that the movie is (probably--I hope) an exaggeration of the tortures ballerinas undergo to stay at the top of their form, but I have a feeling that while over the top, the basics are very real.
Barbara Hershey is the monster mom (with botoxed forehead, alas). Vincent Cassell as the head of the company is fucking sexy. Natalie Portman is very good. More below under spoilers.
spoilers
Someone in a newsgroup mentioned that "she's really on edge from the beginning"--Well, yeah. If she was utterly well-adjusted--in control of her emotions and sure of herself and less obsessed with being perfect--her progression to "Repulsion" country would either have been unbelievable or caused by something supernatural (which would have been the lazy way to do it in this case).
It's Roman Polanski's Repulsion of the ballet world.
Police Story 2 directed and starred in by Jackie Chan. Awful, just like the first, but the climactic martial arts fight between Chan's cop character and a kookie but vicious bomb maker is topnotch and almost worth the whole movie.
Zulu--rented because it's Michael Caine's first major role. Another one that I'd definitely seen and forgotten because I recognized one line plus the ending. A movie that is so politically incorrect (and for good reason) and that couldn't be made today --the way it was made. The Zulus are depicted as warriors yes, but their attack on the whites seem to be coming out of the blue...like why on earth would they want to slaughter all these many soldiers? Welllll, could it possibly be because their country had been invaded and colonized by strangers who stole their land and gave them no respect? Duh. The only whites sympathetic to them is the preacher and his daughter who of course, wants only to save their souls for Jesus Christ. Anyway, if you can tune your brain out to the realities of the situation(pretty impossible in my case) it could be seen as a great epic about fewer than 100 British soldiers who fight for survival against 4000 Zulus.
Today I saw Black Swan directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Natalie Portman. I knew in advance that it was about Swan Lake and that it was a horror movie. I'd avoided reading anything else about it. (although I read one article about Portman training for the role). Man oh man. I knew that ballet is hard on the body and takes an amazing amount of discipline. I also realize that the movie is (probably--I hope) an exaggeration of the tortures ballerinas undergo to stay at the top of their form, but I have a feeling that while over the top, the basics are very real.
Barbara Hershey is the monster mom (with botoxed forehead, alas). Vincent Cassell as the head of the company is fucking sexy. Natalie Portman is very good. More below under spoilers.
spoilers
Someone in a newsgroup mentioned that "she's really on edge from the beginning"--Well, yeah. If she was utterly well-adjusted--in control of her emotions and sure of herself and less obsessed with being perfect--her progression to "Repulsion" country would either have been unbelievable or caused by something supernatural (which would have been the lazy way to do it in this case).
It's Roman Polanski's Repulsion of the ballet world.
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