but he stammers so beautifully...

It's very rare that I find a buddy who enjoys the same obscure movies that I do and gets excited for awards season. I met my soul mate in Collin three years ago, but this year, I found a female counterpart and I'm really excited. My fellow intern, Sonia, and I have really hit it off in the last few months and before she left to go visit her family for the holidays, we decided we needed to see The King's Speech together. Now three of my favorite actors are in it, the sexy Colin Firth, the dynamic Helena Bonham Carter, and the bastard Geoffrey Rush (don't get me wrong, I love him, but we have a sordid history). This movie has been getting tons of Oscar buzz and of course I needed to see what the hype was all about.
The synopsis on the web basically said that King George VI had a speech impediment and required the help of a therapist. Boo. The movie is so much more than that. Honestly, if I had to think of one word to describe the film, it would be "Bromance". It's an awkward love story in which two mean from very different backgrounds become life-long friends. Before King George VI was king, he was Albert, Duke of York, who lived a happy life with his wife and two daughters and his bloody stammer. Incapable of having a fluent conversation without the interruption of his stammer, Albert's wife (played by Bonham Carter) employs Lionel Logue, speech therapist, as a last resort. Logue implements unconventional methods in an attempt to lessen Albert's stammer. Even though their relationship starts off rocky, the two dissimilar men form an attachment with each other. Their relationship is more akin to brothers than employer/employee. When Albert finally ascends to the throne unexpectedly, Logue is there to coach him with every speech.
    Colin Firth is incredibly impressive with his interpretation of an important man suffering from such an embarrassing sickness. He stammers and stutters so beautifully, that it's impossible that he won't receive recognition from the Academy. Bonham Carter has delightful quips and a certain unapologetic elegance in her role, that she makes you smile every time she's on the screen. Honestly my favorite character is Lionel Logue played by Geoffrey Rush. Rush says every line unexpectedly and deposits humor in scenes that you wouldn't traditionally think were funny. Every line is refreshing.
      The movie is such fun, which you wouldn't be able to tell by the crappy trailers and even worst promotional artwork (WTF was that?). The King's Speech is a good time, even if you have to listen to the lines super carefully.

don't hold on too tight...you might fall

I've been really busy these past few months and I've been neglecting my friends and the cinema. Finally Collin decided that this could no longer go on and so he forced me to go see Black Swan, not that it took much encouragement. Once I saw the trailer months ago, I've been aching to go see it. Collin already saw it but was dying to see it a second time. That's enough of a review for me.
So we braved the cold and trekked to Union Square to enjoy a ballet psycho thriller (yeah, I know it's weird). Honestly it was so good. Natalie Portman really deserves all the accolades that the critics are throwing at her. She's amazing and is practically in every scene, oozing vulnerability. She's scared and timid, but full of passion and ambition that rings true for every struggling artist. Aronofsky does a wonderful job of portraying the world of ballet, where in order to be on top, someone else has to fall down.
Natalie embodies Nina Sayers, a shy ballerina with superb talent, whose personal growth has been stunted by her over-bearing mother played by the immaculate Barbara Hershey (fyi, Barbara was the most terrifying part of this whole movie). When offered the role of a lifetime, playing both the White and Black Swan in Swan Lake, Nina has to dig deep inside herself to find the sexiness and passion to inhabit the unpredictable persona of the Black Swan. However it doesn't come quite easy to Nina and she's constantly looking over her shoulder when her competition, Lily (played by Mila Kunis), is trying to claim her shining crown.
The movie is sexy and scary, which is hard to achieve in modern cinema. While the viewer doesn't always know what's real and what's being constructed by Nina's psyche, the trip that we take is a fun one. The are hilariously awkward moments (including a masturbation scene gone wrong) and uncomfortable awkward moments (including dance maestro, Vincent Cassel, abusing his power on Nina).
The last 20 minutes of the film are truly breathtaking, which I can attest because Collin raved about them prior to seeing the film and then proceeded to grab hold of my arm for the last act, cutting off circulation (I'm starting to regain movement in my right fingers). Honestly this award season is jam-packed with standouts, but Black Swan is truly something you need to go see.

It means that I, like God, do not play with dice and I don't believe in coincidences...

I grew up reading plays. There are times I think that it's more rewarding to read a play than to see it. Now I know that goes against all the rules and regulations of theatre. I can hear my college professors yelling at me now, "Plays are meant to be seen, not read". I get it. But sometimes I just want to hear the words than see the actions. I think that's where the beauty of theatre comes from. Considering the fact that you could have the worst seats in the house and be only able to see the hem of one of the actress' skirt, how is it that you can still be moved by the play? Simple, the dialogue. Every word that a playwright includes is not by chance. It always means something. That's what I cling onto from theatre. I want to make sure I know what diction was chosen. You might have noticed with past reviews that I love the meshing of theatre and film. I love the visual metaphors that are possible in cinema, but I also adore when they include the verbal metaphors as well. One film that accomplishes that is V for Vendetta.
      It's a political allegory about what could happen when we stop being active participants in our government. If we forget that the government works for us and not the other way around, then we relinquish our rights. V is one of those heroes that hasn't forgotten about the "fifth of November" and is planning a revolution to claim back his liberty. On the way, he encounters Evey and falls in love, even though he never thought he could. They risk everything, including their lives, in order to be free. Now we may all believe we're free, but this film illustrates that were clinging to bondage because we're afraid to make our own decisions. But all it takes is a little flame, a match to set off an Armageddon.


Hugo Weaving's voice is sooo sexy in this movie.