Were he still alive today, I can't help thinking that Black Swan would've been the late Japanese playwright, melodramatist and exhibitionist Yukio Mishima's all-time favorite movie...and I also recall how the costume designer Eiko Ishioka once mentioned Mishima's aesthetics were "in very poor taste."
I tried hard to view the film afresh, to convince myself that my negative (and, hence, admittedly minority) view of the franchise had more to do with a knee-jerk reaction against its spectacular popularity than it did to any great failure on the film's part.
The religion stuff is a red herring, though, I know. It wouldn't bother me if I was focused on the story or if I could see these characters as realistic people with actual human flaws.
I have long held that film writing reveals as much about the author as the subject. How have my tastes changed? How much can changing the context change the experience of the film? Do some films hold up better to second (or in some cases third, fourth, or twentieth) viewings, and, if so, is that an important descriptor of quality? Where was I right? Were there places where I was wrong? And if I now think I was wrong, do I understand what caused me to be wrong?
So here it is--a list of my ten favorite "new to me" films. These are films that I first screened in 2010 even though they have been previously released.
Certified Emergenetics trainer Erik Kieser joins Cindy and Ken on the podcast to discuss The Blind Side and how films can illustrate the behavioral and thinking preferences Emergenetics profiles.
Walking to my car after the screening, the first thing I said to my friend was, "Well, that was terrifically entertaining...." The urge to add the "but" was not literally overwhelming, though I do think the ellipses were audible in my voice.
Toy Story 3 versus Tangled. Human interaction versus spectacle. Who is tired of movies about misunderstood villains, and who is making a new year's resolution to watch less previews? The ladies speak up for Scott Pilgrim and The Social Network. Scott Pilgrim gets compared to True Grit, Winter's Bone gets compared to Made in Dagenham, and Inception gets compared to....Titanic?!?!?!
In podcasting about my personal favorites for 2010, I asked my friend Peter Waldron, "When did 'entertaining' become a backhanded compliment?" I did--and do--see a schism on my list between heavier, more prestigious films and lighter but still well executed fare.
The shots of Venice were dazzlingly beautiful in The Tourist. I would really love to visit that city some day. That's not much of a compliment for the film, though, is it?
