I got forwarded an email from my mother that my aunt sent her.  My mother’s contribution was simply, “do you know anything about this movie?”  It was in response to my 70-year-old aunt telling my mom that she was going to see Black Swan with a bunch of her friends that were part of the Philadelphia Ballet group she belongs too because they heard it was simply a movie about ballet staring Natalie Portman.  Don’t worry.  I swiftly wrote back to my mom warning her that this was a Darren Aronofsky film.  He’s the man responsible for The Wrestler, Pi and the scariest, most disturbing movie I’ve ever seen, Requiem for a Dream.  I also warned her that yes it’s true that Black Swan is about ballet, in fact it might even be one of the best films about ballet; but it is also a deeply disturbing psychological horror.  Naturally that makes the movie sound typical, plain and even a little silly.  (It will actually sound even sillier when you hear people say that it chronicles Portman’s character transforming into a swan.)  Trust me though, that’s a simplistic view of Black Swan and it’s cheating the art that is this film.  Natalie Portman gives the performance of her career and a sure thing for an Oscar as the frail and innocent ballerina, Nina.  After getting the lead in Swan Lake, the movie slowly, and I mean slowly, spirals into terror and insanity.  Mila Kunis (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Family Guy) and Winona Ryder give great supporting performances but it’s Portman’s show.  The only competition she has for the spotlight is the rarely seen anymore Barbara Hershey (The Right Stuff, The Natural), who plays Portman’s overbearing, almost criminal, mother.  But Portman is the star and shows so much control over her emotions that it astounds.  She also goes through such a metamorphosis from sane and gentle to crazy and violent, that it seems eerily subtle at times.  Be warned though, this is not a film for everybody.  Some people got up and left the theater during my screening.  One was during an incredibly graphic (hot) lesbian sex scene and the other was during a horrifically violent scene involving a nail file.  And that’s not even including the before mentioned change into fowl.  But if you can get past all that, you’re in for a finely crafted piece of art cinema.  Makes sense that Aronofsky would do this after he did The Wrestler, since both are films about what is considered art by the performers who do it and how they torture their bodies to pull it off.  His direction of the film is his finest work since Requiem for a Dream.  The symbolism and use of iconic images is a little on the nose at times though.  You don’t have to be a film major to pick out that there is a reflection in the background of every single scene, Portman’s character is always wearing white and Kunis’ character is always wearing black, there are stuffed black swans every time there’s a scene of attempted transition, etc.; but that’s still fine with me.  The real achievement of amazement for me was the cinematography.   The cameras, most of which are handheld, moves like a dancer in the film.  The scenes that involve the dancing itself are not observed from a far by a stationary shot.  We’re not meant to feel like the audience while watching this movie.  We’re suppose to be one of the dancers, feeling everything from an uncomfortably close perspective.  That way when Nina slips into the abyss, it feels like we’re sliding in with her.
Black Swan  (Rated R)
Gavin Grade: A

I hope that Christian Bale is already practicing his acceptance speech for winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.  Besides the fact that the infamous method actor sculpted himself into a 120 lbs crackhead for the movie (he’s done that AND WORSE for movies before though), he also blends a perfect mix of sympathy, comedy and suffering into arguably the best performance of his career.  He plays Dicky Eklund, the brother of famous boxer “Irish” Mickey Ward, who’s played by Mark Wahlberg.  Besides also being joined by the beautiful and extremely talented Amy Adams, you won’t recognize another actor in this movie directed by David O. Russell (Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees).  This is his finest work as well.  Be warned, the film is very misleading.  You know it’s about a boxer and the film is called The Fighter, but it’s not the cliche sports movie you’ve seen over and over again.  I would say this might be the best Boxing movie since Rocky and, in some aspects, might even give it a run for its money.  Yes, the Boxing parts of the movie feel like they could be interchangeable with any other Boxing movie to ever come out (although Russell really impressed me by switching his camera to a digital one for the fights to give it more of a Pay-Per-View look) however Boxing has very little to do with the movie.  This really is a movie about a family dealing with addiction.  Bale’s character is addicted to crack.  Wahlberg’s character is addicted to his brother.  And Alice the mother, who is played amazingly by Melissa Leo (Frozen River, Conviction) is addicted to the fame.  Everyone in this, with the exception of Wahlberg, deserves a nomination.  It drips with talent.  And hats off to Russell for also casting many locals in key parts that make you shake your head wondering “where the hell did they find these people?”  Well, they found them in Lowell, Mass, where it all took place.  Russell even allowed Mickey’s trainer, Mickey O’Keefe, play himself in the film.  Everything feels more like a documentary with it’s shining authenticity and handheld camera work.  It’s true that the movie reminds you of something you’ve seen before.  It has the archetype of almost every sports film but it also has the archetype for every poor family struggling with drug addiction.  But rarely are those stories told together with so much talent and attention to detail put into it.  If you’re looking for a sports movie, you’ll get one eventually but you have to wait a while for it.  If you’re looking for a family drama, you’ll get one right away but you’ll have to appreciate the Boxing too.  My wife had zero interest in seeing this with me but went just to make me happy.  By the end of the film, we were both sitting in the darkened theater with tears in our eyes and a desire to see it again.  In fact she liked it more than I did.  The Fighter won’t win Best Picture because there are too many other movies that are just slightly better, but it deserves to be considered one of the Top 10 films of the year without a doubt…and doesn’t have to fight to get there.
The Fighter  (Rated R)
Gavin Grade: A+

Since we all know that Taylor Swift is getting cozy with her man Jake Gyllenhaal… she was recently asked on the Rachel Ray show, who would be her dream prom date? Taylor said it would be Katy Perry and a few others….

Taylor Swift said, “It would be a group, and it would be a really fun group, because all these different reasons. Well, Katy Perry would be so much fun. She’s just like crazy fun and like spontaneous. Diddy has always been very nice to me. Justin Timberlake is the same way, he’s really funny. And, Sheryl Crow is really down to earth and really cool. And like, J. Lo would be a really good dancer!”

I wanna hang out with K Perry!!! Too much to ask for Christmas? Happy Holiday! XoXo -OA

Earlier in the year, when Let Me In came out, I asked in the review, “Should a movie that’s a remake of another film be eligible for the Oscar for Best Picture?”  It’s a tough question to answer.  Once again, that question needs to be asked and this time more seriously because True Grit is amazing!  However, it’s not really a remake as it is a different vision of the book.  Full disclosure however, I’m a HUGE fan of the Coen Brothers.  They’re the writer/director/producing team behind movies like Raising Arizona, No Country for Old Men, Fargo, and my favorite of theirs and the best comedy of all-time (in my opinion) The Big Lebowski.  What excited me the most about True Grit was Oscar-winner Jeff Bridges re-teaming with the Coens for the first time since The Big Lebowski and on the heels of winning Best Actor last year for Crazy Heart.  The Coens are arguably the best filmmakers out there.  Their films are shining examples of every aspect needed to make a movie.  They’ve mastered suspense, comedy and drama all while making their films arty yet commercial.  With True Grit, which is based on the novel by Charles Portis and was already made into a movie in 1969 that won John Wayne his only Oscar, they are just as impressive as ever.  The Coens do everything perfectly but the one they excel at above the rest is writing a script.  They wield dialogue like no other writer out there…yes, that means Quentin Tarantino too!  And what’s so incredible about Bridges performance in True Grit as “Rooster” Cogburn is that he manages to mumble and slur his way through the art of their words just enough that  you can still appreciate what he’s saying and still doing it justice.  Amazing!  Besides adding Matt Damon to their repertoire of Oscar-winners that work with them, the Coens added a 14-year-old unknown Hailee Steinfeld.  She not only holds her own in scenes with Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon under the instructions of The Coens (I couldn’t be more jealous), but she’s amazing at it too!  Don’t be surprised if she gets an Oscar nomination herself.  Don’t go into this movie expecting the big-balled, gunslinger action movie that Westerns notoriously are.  The Coen’s vision of True Grit is full of complex characters that are filled with grey and not black and white.  There are no true villains in this, nor are there true heroes.  The sense of the human condition is something that The Coens seem to know so well, they can evoke it into all the characters they create.  That aspect of it may turn some of you away from the film.  The lack of a true climax or big action might be unsettling, but just like the masterful No Country for Old Men, this movie will get better and better the more  you watch it and make you think about it long after it’s over.
True Grit  (Rated R)
Gavin Grade: A-

So, in case you havent seen some of the videos coming out of the Galleria from earlier this week’s flash mob. This was a video taken in the food court right before everyone was evacuated.

Oh boy…he naughty.

Shocked that Justin Bieber is number one?? Not. At. All.

1. Justin Bieber
2. Dilma Rouseff
3. Lady Gaga
4. Julian Assange
5. Mel Gibson
6. Lil Kim
7. Zilda Arns
8. Kate Middleton
9. Kim Hee Chul
10. Joannie Rochette

This list marks the first year of Twitter’s global takeover.

This is how our favorite fashionista goes shopping! I guess it does make it easier for you to try clothes on! You gotta love Lady Gaga!! She’s in Paris for a few concerts and incase you haven’t heard, the weather over there is a mess! Snow and blizzard conditions all throughout the U.K. Over the weekend, one show was cancelled due to weather and even members of her crew were arrested in the mess! Check the pics below!

Lady Gaga the Grinch!! While performing in London, some fans decided to throw a stuffed Santa on Stage when Gaga was performing. You’ll never guess what she did next! I’m guessing she’s not a big fan of Chrismas from this video.