Black Swan
Holy fucking shit. I feel I need to write about this now while it's fresh in my mind. One of the most frightening movies I've seen in a long time, and in a very, very good way. Mirrors and broken glass and broken bones and blood and water and scratching and clawing and vomiting and pain and drugs and Tchaikovsky and sex and lesbian sex and masturbation and death and love and black black black.
One of the big keys of the movie for me comes in, oh, the first 10 minutes or so when Cassel delivers his first lines of dialogue. He strolls in and tells the dance company the story of Swan Lake, which of course basically doubles as the story of the movie. But then he says (paraphrased) "Yes, it's been done to death. But this time we're going to strip it down, and it's going to be visceral, and passionate, and real."
And that's exactly what this shit was. The story has been done before: young, innocent girl struggles to make it in show business, etc. But it hasn't been done like this. At least that I've seen.
Scary as fuck. Trippy. Completely exhilarating. And what a final act. I love the entire movie, but the last 30 minutes or so are almost exhausting with the succession of intense images and moments. When Portman finally comes out as the Black Swan...holy fucking shit. Chills, and a pounding heart. I think everybody with a brain and two eyes has known for years that Natalie had a performance like this in her.
"I was perfect."