The Way, Way Back (2013)

Writers/Directors: Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (also co-wrote "The Descandents")
Sound Editing/Mixing: Rob Simonsen

Cast:
Duncan- Liam James
Pam- Toni Collette
Trent- Steve Carell
Betty- Allison Janney
Kip- Rob Corddry
Steph- Zoe Levin
Peter-  River Alexander
AnnaSophia Robb- Susanna
Joan- Amanda Peet
Owen- Sam Rockwell
Caitlin- Maya Rudolph

Introduction

I think I first heard about this movie on Reelz channel. Leonard Maltin or Richard Roeper said it was one of the best films to come out in the upcoming summer. I remember seeing commercials for it when it was getting critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival.
Then I watched it for the heck of it one night when it premiered on HBO. First because of the props and second because Steve Carell was in it.
Little did I know how terrible a character he was playing. One of the biggest jerks I've come across in recent memory... more on that later.

Summertime Comparisons

This area runs a little long, so feel free to scroll to the 2nd spoiler alert banner

In all likelihood, this is going to become one of my summer staples. The trick is getting the DVD so I can leave it at our shorehouse. So much time has passed since it came out that I could probably get it for cheap at Target or Wal-Mart.

Much like with "Fast Times at Ridgemont High [scroll to the way bottom for what I'm talking about here specifically]
http://moviegoerconfessions.blogspot.com/2015/04/fast-times-at-ridgemont-high-1982.html
I got the idea to review this movie because I heard a song from the movie and immediately thought of it.
That's an aspect of music I love so much- you hear a song and it automatically transports you to another place. And sometimes that's a movie where it's featured prominently or at least referenced in the dialogue.

The song in question: "Kyrie" by Mr. Mister
It's playing in the background and the actors are putting their own words to it. Steve Carell I think was the one who said it was "carry a laser."
I remember looking it up myself and I had no idea what the words were.

Here's the chorus, in case anyone cares and wants to save themselves the Google search:

"Kyrie eleison, down the road that I must travel
Kyrie eleison, through the darkness of the night
Kyrie eleison, where I'm going will you follow
Kyrie eleison, on a highway in the light"

Apparently the first two words is Greek for "Love, have mercy."
You learn something new every day.

As for the whole comparison bit...

I guess you could say that this movie has a lot of similarities to "Adventureland," which stars Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart and Ryan Reynolds. Both take place in summertime and the characters are working at a theme park.
Ok, maybe just those two similarities. It's not a coming-of-age story because Jesse Eisenberg seems well established as a person. And working at the theme park is equivalent to purgatory for him. He'd just graduated and was planning on going to college, but his parents spent all the money he/they saved up... so he needs to take a summer job.

The main difference between the two: this one is way better.
"Adventureland" loses its way when it gets to the third act. Most of it is the fault of Kristen Stewart's story arc.
unrelated SPOILERS

She gets a raw deal from a lot of people over "Twilight" and the fact she cheated on Edward Cullen [yeah, WTF happened to Robert Pattinson?] with the "Snow White and the Huntsmen" director. People have picked her acting apart for years following those movies.
While I DO NOT understand why her character had to be involved with Ryan Reynold's [it's icky- she's practically a teenager and he's a married adult], I feel bad for her character and how she feels out of place in her family. Her step-mom is such a bitch.
And the ending was kinda... blah... didn't do a whole lot for me and it felt thrown in at the last minute.

Also, both movies have memorable moments involving 80's music.
"New Sensation" by INXS is another from this one that I recall.
Meanwhile, "Adventureland" had a lot more songs (apparently it takes place in 1987 despite all the anachronisms) including "Obsession" by Animotion and ...

"Amadeus, Amadeus, Amadeus
Amadeus, Amadeus, Amadeus
Amadeus, Amadeus, oh, oh, oh Amadeus"
and this exchange to follow:
James: Jesus F***ing Christ! They play this song like 20 times a day!
Joel: F***ing Sadistsl F***ing Sadists!

***

ok, I'm done talking about unrelated movies. Maybe the next time I see "Adventureland," I'll give it its own review. It has its issues, of course, but I still enjoy it and its characters very much.
But for now, back to this movie.

By the way, here are the quotes about their "Kyrie" lyrics... and my bad, it wasn't Steve Carell. It was Allison Janney and Corddry.

Joan: Carry a laser down the road that I must travel!
Kip: Why would it be 'carry a laser'?
Joan: Because it's a song about outer space.

That dude plays such a jerk in this movie [I know, I already said that, but it's a valid point] that I shouldn't be giving him any more credit than he deserves... which is none.

I love Steve Carell, don't get me wrong. But movies like this... I guess I just prefer he does comedies because his dramatic roles aren't as fun to watch. You know, because they're all dramatic and shit...
sorry...

The Story
FINALLY moving on... my apologies. I could edit all that out, but I want my creative process to be there. In fact, I'll just put a notation in the beginning that say to scroll down to this point.

related SPOILER ALERTS
The trailer includes the very first scene. And actually, the first time I saw the movie, I had to miss the first 10-15 minutes because I had to finish watching something else... I was kinda broken up about it. I hate watching movies mid-progress. I worry that I'm going to miss a crucial detail or I'm going to be lost.
[Goes to make a reference about catching "Purple Rain" halfway through and realizes that a future entry needs to address Prince's short-lived cinematic career... and by that I mean he only did 4 theatrical releases, all in the 80's, and one practically was a concert film]

Enough stalling!

The scene in question: Steve Carell asks our protagonist how he rates himself on a scale from 1 to 10. Duncan says he's a 6 and Steve Carell says he's a 3. Mainly because he lacks ambition, doesn't put himself out there and hangs around the house all the time.
Sure, he might have a point, but saying someone is a three is just mean. And who's he to say that? He's only the jerk his mom is dating. And even if they were married, he still had no right to be such a jerk to him.

Okay, I'm done Steve bashing... for now.

Duncan is a very withdrawn teenage boy that really doesn't know what to do with himself because he lacks self-esteem more than anything else.
I saw comments in the IMDB messageboards that made reference to this: why are all these types of roles done by guys?

[Personal rant and some unrelated SPOILERS... again, feel free to skip]
On the plus side, they had this characterization for Duncan without using childhood molestation as an explanation for it. I say this now because that plot device was used in "Perks of Being a Wallflower" and "Love Letters for the Dead." The latter has a female protagonist and that about ruined the story for me. Mainly because I am an introverted wallflower myself and I don't have that in my past.
I had pressure from my parents to succeed in school and [non-condescending] tempers flared the few times I was getting C's and D's [9th and 11th grade nearly killed me]. Also, kids were mean to me in elementary school and in high school, I didn't really succeed in making m/any friends. That's always been hard for me and I don't know why. Breaking the ice in of itself is terrifying and I feel like I can't add much to an ongoing conversation unless I REALLY know the subject matter. I'm 30 now and I still have social anxiety issues that I can't explain and have no real way of resolving other than practice makes perfect.

Makes me wonder sometimes if I'm borderline autistic or I need Xanax or a therapist to cut down my anxiety.
At least my temp job recently got an upgrade to full-time, so I have one less thing to worry about for a while.

... I'll make another note. I don't know what's with me today, honestly :P it's been a pretty good day for me, albeit an uneventful one in my case.
I didn't even think any of this when I was watching the movie the first time. And it would have made sense to do so... I was in a major rut with my unemployment status.
***

"The Way, Way Back" got its title: 1) because "The Way Back" was already taken and 2) it refers to the wayback seat of a station wagon, which Duncan was occupying at the start and end of the movie. But he's in a much different state of mind from start to finish, which we get to see unfold.

He's going with his mom, his mom's jerkish boyfriend and his daughter, Steph, to his summer home upstate that's nextdoor to his sister... my bad, it's not his sister. They're just neighbors.
I feel like the worst person that could write for this movie. I forget all these details.

Anyway, Allison Janney's character almost reads like an audition for her current role on "Mom" where she's an alcoholic. Except she's far less apologetic in "Mom"... which I'd barely seen, so I really shouldn't comment.
She has a son and daughter. Peter wear an eye patch because his eyes are cross he has a lazy eye. And Susannah kinda becomes Duncan's love interest, but the romance gets to a VERY slow start due to his sheer awkwardness.
There's a cute scene (which I only just remembering searching for that "Kyrie" quote) where he's singing some REO Speedwagon ("Can't Fight This Feeling"), she catches him, he dismisses it as something from his mom and she jokes that he practically screamed it at the top of his lungs just for the hell of it.

Zoe Levin plays Steph and her role, I could say a similar thing about. That it was practically an audition for her character in "Red Band Society"- except she has a little more character development in the latter.
Sometimes, I REALLY miss that show. It really deserved a 2nd season. And a 3rd and so on...

One day, he decides to get out of the house and ends up meeting Owen (Sam Rockwell) at a local dive. They immediately develop a rapport over a Pac-Man machine. Duncan says "you know there's a pattern, right?" and Owen dismisses him, saying that he needs to make his own pattern.
He sees that he's wearing a T-shirt that has the name of a local theme park, so he goes there another day to find him again. He winds up getting a job there and really finds himself as a person.
So many cute scenes where Owen is teaching him the ropes and in trying to put a stop to a break-dance party, he gains a reputation and a cool nickname. I think it's Back Slide?
I'm sorry, I'm so bad at remembering this movie :P

Mainly because Sam Rockwell practically STEALS the show for me in the best possible way. I didn't think too much of him after "Iron-Man 2" (I SO wanted him to be collateral damage in that movie- payback for being such a jerk).
He has a wicked sense of humor, some I think was even improvised. And he's also very good to Duncan. He really seems to care about him and gives him so much good advice.
I actually spent a great amount of this movie hoping and PRAYING that there wouldn't be this great reveal later on where Owen is revealed to be a bad person or he does something really bad to tarnish everything Duncan and I liked about him.
THANKFULLY, that was not the case. But you have to admit- movies do that so often that it's cliché at this point.

And Owen has a cute love-hate relationship with Maya Rudolph's character. She can be really over the top on SNL and stuff, but here, she was a little more serious and heartfelt. So that was really nice to see. [And the fact she loves Prince as I do doesn't hurt either]

At least Duncan gets the courage to finally speak his mind to Trent (Steve Carell) and also lets his mom know what he thinks of him. This is coupled with the fact Trent is having an affair with one of the neighbors.The ending of this movie where Duncan reveals what he's been doing all summer and his mom meets "[his] friend Owen"... it's one of the best pay-offs you will ever see in movies. It's really nice to see it when the bullied and downtrodden find confidence and get acceptance from their peers or families.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (book- 1999, movie- 2012)

Writer (book AND screenplay) /Director: Stephen Chbosky
Type: Coming-of-age high school dramedy

Cast:
Charlie- Logan Lerman
Charlie's mom- Kate Walsh
Charlie's dad- Dylan McDermott
Charlie's sister, Candace- Nina Dobrev
Sam- Emma Watson
Patrick- Ezra Miller
Brad- Johnny Simmons (young Neil from "Scott Pilgrim vs. the world")
Mary Elizabeth- Mae Whitman
Alice- Erin Wilhelmi
Aunt Helen- Melanie Lynskey
Dr. Burton- Joan Cusack
English teacher, Mr. Anderson- Paul Rudd

Personal Exposition- My Life as a Wallflower
Yet another topic that begs for an AA reference:
"Hi, my name is... and I'm a wallflower."

Other than my time participating in concert choir, high school musicals, that's probably the best way I could describe myself in high school. I was a wallflower... and I was okay with that. Most of this was to maintain my grades. Can't say that I'm a huge nerd because my grades were above-average (I believe I was 136/522) so I wasn't exactly among the best and brightest.
And the rest of it... I just have trouble making friends. I'm afraid to participate socially because when I was younger, I had a few experiences where I wanted to get involved and nobody wanted to hang out with me. Either because I was weird or they thought they were better than me.

Ultimately, that wound up defining a lot of my social life. I've had occasions where I made a friend or two, but a year later, they'd make other friends. People with stronger personalities that I didn't feel I could compete with for my former friend's attention. I got really lucky in middle school when I had classes with a couple of  the same people and things naturally worked themselves out.
But high school kinda felt like hell because, except for lunch period one year and concert choir, I never hung out with anybody. Just didn't have that confidence to put myself out there to form friendships.

Then in college, my junior year, a couple people started asking me to hang out with them... they were a bunch of weirdoes too and I couldn't imagine why they were interested in me. But after a while (can't remember if it was weeks or months), I took a chance simply because I was in no position to turn down friends.
(So I guess you could say that was my "Cady Heron meets the Plastics" moment).

It's a little trickier in the workplace... because I want to maintain the façade of professionalism, but I also don't want to come off as a snob or worse because I don't socialize. What I need to do, I think, is learn how to read people so I know which ones I can be gregarious with and which I can't.
I'm not sure if that makes me more of a wallflower or a people-pleaser. :P

Exposition

I'd seen this book on the shelves for a couple years, intrigued by the title. But I think I need the extra push from the fact it'd become a movie... I didn't get to see it until it came out on DVD (thanks a lot, Hollywood, and your stupid wide-release-only movies).

According to my Goodreads page, I read this within a month. But if I didn't pace myself, I could have done it within a day. It was the most compelling book I'd read in a long time.
The first one I devoured and connected with since "Twilight" (fall of 2008) and the first that affected me personally since "The Giver" (2000-2001)- where it stayed with me for weeks afterwards.

I guess you could call it divine intervention or perfect timing, but it was like this book was something I needed to read because it corresponded with something I was going through.
Or what I had been going through a while... periods of depression where it was hard for me to participate in my own life... being unemployed, putting all this energy into the application and interviews processes, and my efforts going unrewarded... [this went on between 2011-2013 and I finally got "the call" last March]

The Book
Spoilers Ahead for who we hadn't read or seen this book/movieThe book wound up being different than I pictured it would be. I thought it'd just be about a shy protagonist struggling to survive high school. I didn't know Charlie had a history of depression or that his best friend had committed suicide. Or had any idea about the troubling secret in his past that he'd just come to grips with.

This was a heavy book in a lot of places. I remember multiple times where Charlie talked about bursting into tears, crying and such. Some was warranted as were the periods of depression and loneliness he experienced. I've had those kinds of moments myself. But after a while, I started to feel self-conscious about him being so emotional all the time. All while hoping "please don't have this be a reoccurring thing in the movie."

The book had a lot of sex and drugs. Not that I'm totally vanilla about all that. I just never grew up around all that. At least not until college where half the population were smokers and some of my roommates frequented frat parties and such. Charlie recalled a situation he was in where he was at a party and walked in on a girl being forced to give a guy a blow job. His new friend Patrick was gay and had a complicated relationship with a football player. After his [football player's] father caught them together, Patrick started taking Charlie to a certain park where he'd pick up random guys. And his other friend Sam used to have a reputation- when she was a freshman, she got taken to a lot of parties, got drunk and such...

They don't sugar coat much in this book. It's realistic, but not to the point where it's overbearing.
I remember reading it was one of those books that got challenged by school systems. With all the sex and drugs, it's hard to imagine why that might be.
There was also another scene that stuck with me. Throughout the book, Charlie's sister was really mean to him. Her boyfriend hit her once and their parents found out later on. But there was a point where she asked Charlie to take her to the abortion clinic.
What shocked me most was that their parents never found out about it, and in a way, that's a good thing. For both parties.

Despite everything going on, how challenging some of it was to get through emotionally, it was a cathartic read. I loved that Charlie was an avid reader. His narratives read the way I often write. They meander, touching on multiple topics at once, and just going on forever. And I didn't get sick of it. Loved the way he talked about the book he read for class (and that Mr. Anderson gave him for additional reading).
Mr. Anderson was such a great character. Probably will go down as one of my favorite fictional teachers because he was very supportive of Charlie. I liked him so much that I was afraid that of some big reveal later on that would undo this amazing teacher-student relationship he and Charlie had.

All the characters were defined so well that you could either relate to them because you saw yourself in them or people you knew.

The Movie

Because I'd already read and loved the book, I really didn't need to worry about not liking the movie. I already knew Logan Lerman from the Percy Jackson series. Of course Emma Watson from the "Harry Potter" series. Nina Dobrev ("Vampire Diaries"), who didn't look anything like how I read the character in the book, played his older sister.

Overall, I was very pleased with it as a teen movie and also as a book-to-movie adaptation. A couple of scenes didn't make the cut. Most were for good reason (toned down the sexual content and Charlie only had one major breakdown scene, which was in the epic 3rd act climax... I write that as if it were a cliché, but I felt like it was handled very well). One scene I kinda missed was Charlie taking his sister to the abortion clinic because that was a great bonding scene for them. Luckily, that was available via the DVD extras.

I liked how it was approached as a dark comedy where it knew where to be light, but also to go very dark. And it did so without completely losing me. Certain movie overdo it with the drama and I never felt that here.
The tunnel scene is probably the most iconic in the book, where Charlie says "I feel infinite"... that was done so well... it was really something special.
All of the actors played their roles so well. Especially loved Ezra Miller as Patrick. I'd only seen him in one other movie since ("Beware the Gonzo"), but he was born to play this character. Nobody else could have made him so hilarious and also grounded and angsty.
I'd never seen "Parenthood," but I can't imagine anyone else playing Mary Elizabeth (the opinionated Buddhist vegan) except Mae Whitman.

With him playing so many idiots, it's good to see Paul Rudd play a nice straight character with a really good moral compass... my only nitpick was that Mr. Anderson wasn't in the movie nearly enough for my tastes :P

Great use of music throughout. I'd only heard "Asleep" by The Smiths one other time... and it was part of the "Sucker Punch" soundtrack. Personally, I still prefer Emily Browning's voice to those lyrics :shrug: but that's just me.
Using "Come on Eileen" at the homecoming dance was inspired... especially how it was like Charlie's soundtrack for when he approached the dance floor to meet up with Sam and Patrick... and that's saying a lot because I HATED this song. I still don't like it a whole lot (sounds like a bunch of hillbillies who can barely carry a note), but I can't help appreciating in this one instance.
Then David Bowie's "Heroes" for "The Tunnel" scene... powerful stuff... wow

Aunt Helen and Dr. Burton

As for comparing to the two mediums (book vs. movie), the movie did one thing that the book really didn't... it explained Aunt Helen's presence in Charlie's life, their relationship and how it contributed to him being [pardon the language] fucked him up.

Towards the end of the book, something happened in the 3rd act that resulted in Charlie being hospitalized... to me, it was very vague and never fully explained.

I literally had to read on Goodreads.com (where I posted my review of the book) that Aunt Helen molested him. Then other people commented how he psychologically exhibited those signs of abuse throughout the book- how it explained him being so emotional and such...

Not so much the fact that it happened to him, but I was frustrated that so many people picked up on this and I had no idea. Frankly, it made me feel like an idiot because to them, it was glaringly obvious.
In my personal defense, I had never experienced any of that and never personally knew anyone who experienced any of that... so how am I supposed to pick up on that?

I was also thrown off because Charlie kept saying Aunt Helen was his favorite person and he had nothing but good things to say about her. [Another thing that should be very obvious... that sense of shame and betrayal because it was at the hands of someone you really cared about and trusted].
And the way I read her character in the book, she read a lot older to me... someone as beautiful and young as Melanie Lynskey surely didn't come to mind. I expected someone much older with some gray-hair at least.

They were kinda vague about it in the movie too, but there was a bit of pay-off at the end. Where it was addressed. The breakdown scene begins where Charlie and Sam start kissing and she's rubbing his leg, startling him to the point where he stops... this image flashes on the screen multiple times and we see Aunt Helen's face intermingle where she says "don't wake your sister"...

Joan Cusack is in this movie only for a couple scenes as his doctor at the hospital. I loved her in this. She had such a comforting on-screen presence. One of those actresses I'd only see so much of, but enjoy being around them when they're doing their thing on screen. She was really good to Charlie where he was having difficulties. Definitely a quality over quantity type of deal.

Other Comments

Both medias have their give and take. I miss hearing Charlie's thought-provoking narratives, how he spoke about the books he read. The characters were represented well in both versions.
One negative I can derive is that we really didn't see much of his parents. Not a lot of interaction between them. I watched one of the deleted scenes and the writer/director talked about how great Kate Walsh was in it... I appreciated that she was good in the scene. I just wish the movie spent more time on her and his dad. I never fully connected with either of them.

This is one of those movies where, later on, I would like to see it with commentary. Just getting to know some of the actors more. Getting inside the director's head... it's amazing to me that the guy who wrote the book got to write the screenplay and direct the movie... it's so rare where writers have so much freedom with their material.
Apparently, John Hughes had bought the rights to it... but the movie got put on hold after his death. I read that it was Emma Watson's favorite book and I'd been under the impression she was the reason the movie happened at all. As much as I love John Hughes, I'm glad that this movie went to someone else. His work is great and I will love him forever for his Brat Pack movies, but something like this... I don't think it would have worked out quite as well with him behind the camera.

This movie was ultimately the reason I watched "Rocky Horror Picture Show" a couple years ago... I wanted to understand the whole phenomenon of it... I still don't quite get it :P but I'm still interested in giving it another go. Only next time, I'd like to watch with other people and preferably at an earlier hour so I don't FALL ASLEEP halfway through.
The last thing I remembered was the "Touch Me" musical number and I woke up halfway through the cabaret scene... I didn't know what the fuck was going on! Reading the synopsis later on, it said how they were coerced into it... I missed that entirely, so mentally, I wasn't engaged for the final 40 minutes.

I promise, I'm really good with weird :P but I'd like another chance to wrap my head around all that.

This is going to sound a little messed up, but I'll try to explain this:
This is one of those movies I like to watch when I'm going through something... where I'm feeling down on myself, lacking energy, PMSing or whatever reason... in an odd sort of way, it makes me feel better...
Not so much the "other people have it worse than you" cliché as the fact that it feels kinda good to explore things I'm feeling through these characters. It's healing :shrug:
That's all I can say, really... plus the fact I should see it with my friends, Sam and Dave, at one point so we can experience all those feels together :P

19. Spider-Man (2002)

Code-name: MJ

Director: Sam Raimi
Composer: Danny Elfman

Cast:
Peter Parker- Tobey Maguire
Mary Jane Watson- Kirsten Dunst
Harry Osborn- James Franco
Norman Osborn- Willem Dafoe
Uncle Ben- Cliff Robertson  (RIP, 2011)
Aunt Mae- Rosemary Harris
J. Jonah Jameson- JK Simmons

Notable mentions (actors who got big later on):
Elizabeth Banks as Daily Bugle secretary Betty Brant
Joe Manganiello as Flash
Octavia Spencer as the check-in girl at the wrestling match
Bruce Campbell as the ring announcer at the wrestling match

Notable Nominations:

OSCAR- Best Sound
OSCAR- Best Visual Effects
(lost to "Chicago" and "Lord of the Rings: the two towers")

Grammy- Best Film Score- Danny Elfman
Grammy- Best Original Song- "Hero" by Chad Kroeger
(lost of "Lord of the Rings" and Randy Newman's obligatory Pixar cameo, "If I didn't have you" from "Monster's Inc.")
Musical Extras
I don't get where all the Nickelback hate comes from. Granted, I find their albums very uneven, but I love their songs on the radio, how we have this really rough voice does these beautiful melodies... but "Hero" is such a great song. A great way to end the credits.

As for Danny Elfman's score, he's up there for me with John Williams and Hans Zimmer. While he started his career as part of the band Oingo Boingo, he really has brought so much to movies. His work with Tim Burton is so iconic and perfectly canvases the eerie, spookiness of his work. For the "Spider-Man" movies, they wouldn't be anywhere near as impactful as they are without his score resonating in the background. So iconic and such a part of this trilogy's success story.

Write-up:

Beginnings

At best, I guess you could say I was a casual comic-book movie fan before "Spider-Man" turned all that around for me. I'd only seen a couple "Batman" movies (by that time, I think all but "Batman Returns"). Enjoyed the original Tim Burton film that turns 25 this year and "Batman Forever," #73 on my list in case you missed it:
http://moviegoerconfessions.blogspot.com/2013/06/73-batman-forever-1995.html

Well, to be fair, "Spider-Man" made the genre more accessible for me, but I didn't become super fanatical about the Marvel universe until years later.

It led me to X-Men (which I really need to rewatch), Fantastic Four (which I didn't care for) and Daredevil (... I just can't, it was too horrible, one big reason I'm not a huge Ben Affleck fan, but after "Argo," I'm intrigued to see his take on Batman... just as long as he promises to leave the phony Christian Bale Batman voice out of it).

"Batman Forever" had its moments, which I went into great detail about, but "Spider-Man" really resonated with me. I guess because it was about an awkward teen in high school that got super powers. I was going on 16 at that time, so I could relate.

Definitely a great theatrical experience, especially with wide angle shots of Spider-Man flying through the city, although it did run a little long towards the end.
I don't remember much of the banter that resulted with my family after we all went to see it. My mom and I enjoyed it enough where we saw the sequels at the movies as well.

One thing I did remember, oddly enough, was that I actually left the theater for a bathroom break somewhere in the "running long" territory of the third act.
Maybe it's because we don't buy drinks and tubs of popcorn anymore (contraband candy on the other hand...), I hadn't gotten up during a movie since then... actually, I think that was the only time ever.
And I'd sat through the likes of "Avatar" (TWICE!), "Les Miserables," "The Hobbit" and the Lord of the Rings franchise without a break.

Yeah, it is a little TMI, but with my blog titled as it is, movie going experiences are all up for grabs.

The Story
BEWARE: AMPLE SPOILERS FOR ALL SPIDER-MAN MOVIES AHEAD

Or should it be "stories"... there are multiple plot points and themes explored in this.

At the forefront we have Peter Parker's coming-of-age story.

During a school field trip, he gets bitten by one of the museums' "super-spiders" and gains powers. In addition to the biologically occurring silk in his wrists, he gains muscle mass, strength and improved senses (the 6th 'spidey sense' and vision allowing him to discard his glasses). As if it wasn't bad enough that he was coping with puberty and a school-girl crush.

Part of his character arc also involves his relationship with his Uncle Ben. He's the closest thing to a father figure he has and he doesn't appreciate that until after his tragic death. Much like in a lot of superhero origin stories [especially notable in "Batman"], the death of a family member is the activating incident that leads/solidifies to the assumption of a crime-fighting secret identity.

In other words, he takes Uncle Ben's now famous mantra to heart:
"with great power, comes great responsibility"
so Peter learns to use his newfound powers to fight crime in NYC in order to clear his conscience of the one misstep he made that led to his uncle's death.

Then of course is the love triangle:

Peter's had a crush on Mary Jane since the day she moved in next door to him. But while he goes through his changes and assumes his crime-fighting role, his best friend Harry swoops in and asks her out.
This is, of course, after she dumps her jerk of a boyfriend, Flash, upon high school graduation.

One way or another, Peter does manage to sweep MJ off her feet, but some of it is helped by the complicated dynamic Harry's dad brings to the equation.

Norman Osborn is developing something at his company, OSCORP, to maintain their military contract and it goes terribly wrong. If that wasn't enough, he gets fired from his own company when they get an offer to sell to their chief competitor. Therefore, he assays the role of the villain. First to get his revenge on them and second to take down Spider-Man.
His motivation for this... I'm not sure... he offers Spider-Man the option to ally with him and turns against him when he refuses...

Come to think of it, that's a really flimsy explanation.
[after rewatching the film... a painstaking undertaking because my little used, glitch-free DVD chose tonight to give me a hard time... apparently he decides to go after Spider-Man because at the World Unity fair where he destroys the OSCORP board members, he realizes he's the only person able to stop him]

As I'd gone into a few times before (again, I swear that him popping up in my movies is pure coincidence), Willem Dafoe knows how to play a heck of a villain. In addition to the super strength and improved reaction time (his transformation oddly mirrors that of Peter Parker after he gets bitten by the spider... okay, the writing was done on purpose and cleverly done so), the "performance enhancers" he experimented with also gives Norman Osborn a psychotic dual personality.
I hadn't seen more than 5 minutes of the movie, but this scenario really does have Jack Nicholson ala "The Shining" written all over it.The psychosis appears in the form of the Green Goblin, but on numerous occasions, it leads to angry outbursts that result in rocky situations. Most notably on Thanksgiving. On top of learning Peter Parker's secret identity, he yells to Harry off-screen that MJ is only after him for his money.

...Jerk move. And it kills me when Harry defends him:
"That is a great man. If I'm lucky I'll be half of what he is"...

Looking at all the facets of his character arc throughout the trilogy, I really do not like Harry Osborn... the only time this wasn't true was when he learns Peter's identity towards the end of the second movie.... more on all that later.

The only other storyline left is the second most notable 'antagonist' in Spider-Man's life:
J. Jonah Jameson, Editor in Chief of the Daily Bugle, who seems to be hell-bent on smearing his image, proclaiming that he's a villainous vigilant. All this despite Peter's efforts to convince him otherwise.
Yeah, I find this annoying, but as we see in "Spider-Man 2," there'd be an ingredient missing in these films without Mr. Jameson's explosive derogatory outbursts :P

Actors and Character Development

So many great memorable characters throughout this movie and the trilogy...

Easily, Tobey Maguire is my favorite part of this. He owns the socially awkward nerd archetype that he begins this movie with. He's the underdog you want to see finally catch a break and even with superpowers, it's always a struggle.
Batman has his struggles as well, but I find that I gravitate more towards Marvel superheroes because they're more real. They're real, relatable people that have power thrust upon them or (in the case of Iron-Man), have to adapt to overcome difficult, sometimes, life-threatening situations. And they all have something to overcome, demons to fight.

Tobey brings such great vulnerability to this role, I couldn't help but follow him to some other movies. I remember one of them being "SeaBiscuit."
I'd mentioned with Ralph Macchio and Emma Stone that I fell in love with their acting after one role that led me to other movies, but their other work didn't carry the same weight for me. Didn't have as big an impact.
I still have hope for Emma Stone, though.

With Tobey, I thought he did really well in two other movies.
I'd already mentioned in my Gatsby review where I thought he was a perfect Nick Carraway.
http://moviegoerconfessions.blogspot.com/2013/05/theatrical-review-great-gatsby-2013.html

I have a vague recollection that I'd wanted to see "Wonder Boys" years ago because he was in it. When I was binging on all the RDJ movies I could find (granted, I did my research beforehand), I did get around to it.
Ironically, Terry Crabtree ranks among my least favorite characters that he played, but everyone else was amazing. A really well made movie.
http://dreamypoproyalty.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/wonderful-wonder-boys-4-the-writers-writer/Peter Parker goes through so much throughout this movie as I'd already said. He grows into this role, gains a sense of responsibility and finds his niche, his place in the world and it comes from a very honest place. Wanting to do right by Uncle Ben and protecting those he loves.And getting with MJ is also part of his motivation. Also my second favorite Kirsten Dunst role (the first being "Bring it On")
http://moviegoerconfessions.blogspot.com/2013/04/86-bring-it-on-2000.html

I hadn't really seen her in much since then, although I'm still considering seeing "Melancholia" since it'd been her first movie in YEARS.

MJ's characterization does have its critics, but I just find her so pleasant to watch on screen. Even with the incessant screaming in times of peril.
She does come to realize her love for Peter Parker, but watching the two of them struggle through the second movie was hard. Will they/won't they... the fact they did get together in the end was one of many reasons why I felt the third movie kinda ruined the franchise.

It's easy to root for them through the first couple movies, but with all the ups and downs in the third... however much of it I remember (only saw it once in its entirety and that was in theaters in 2007)... was it really worth it?

As for Norman Osborn, watching the movie again... he was really quite fascinating to watch. I don't know if it's because of all this time I'd been spending with Willem Dafoe these past several months, between the movies on my list and "The Grand Budapest Hotel." To me, it doesn't appear that he's all bad. It appears that he still does have a conscience and outside of the office, he seems like a really nice guy. He's very supportive of Peter, treating him almost like a son. But by the finale, it's clear that he's gone too far in the wrong direction to receive any type of redemption.

Thoughts across the trilogy

Shortly after coming up with this list, I got "Spider-Man 2" on DVD. Watching it again got me thinking that maybe I should have picked it in place of the original in my list.
I'm obligated to stand by my rankings, but to be fair, even though I enjoy the sequel more than the original and felt it outdid the original in a number of ways, the original "Spider-Man" is on my list for nostalgic purposes. And also because I consider it as the superhero movie that officially turned me onto the genre to the point I love going to theaters for the cinematic experience they provide.

It's rare that a sequel is better than the original movie.
Firstly, I loved the character of Doc Oc. I'm not sure if it's the way the original comics were written, but I thought his character was really well written.
He was an intelligent likeable guy, a brilliant scientist who became a villain when an experiment goes totally wrong. Then by the finale, he realizes the error of his ways and redeems himself before his unfortunate demise. I also liked how they tied up all the loose ends, what with Harry learning that Peter is Spider-Man and that his father was a nutjob and Peter and MJ end up together in the end.

Then the third movie happened.
The reason I'd been unable and unwilling to see it a third time is that the movie is just too damn long. When it's on TV, it's always cable and it runs for 3 hours.
And it just seemed to be one horrible decision after another.

Like Harry becoming Green Goblin 2.0. WTF? You'd think after he learned the truth about his father he wouldn't do the exact same thing and turn to evil.
And maybe it's these movies, but James Franco just annoys me in general. I can never take him seriously.Then MJ and Peter's relationship had too many peaks and valleys. It was exhausting.
As for Peter's "emo phase," what all the fanboys proclaimed as the worst part of the movie (aside from the treatment of Venom, obviously), I thought it was a freaking riot. Loved every minute of it.
It also made the same mistake that "The Dark Knight" made a full year later: they introduced a villain (in the case of Venom, a highly anticipated one) in the last half hour of the movie and he gets snuffed as soon as he's created.

One thing that really had me throwing a fit was how they ruined part of the original movie for me. Not to the same degree as "Karate Kid part III" mind you, but they totally manipulated a key part of the movie to say "that's not the whole story."
I hated how they went on to say that the guy Peter pursued after Uncle Ben was shot wasn't the guy that killed him... it was other guy... way to toy with our emotions, guys.

...and for the record, I hadn't seen the reboot series yet.
When I heard they were remaking the movies not even a decade after the original, I was about as pissed as I was over them remaking the Karate Kid. In a "it ain't broke for the love of God don't fix it"
After hearing some arguments in favor of it, I'm starting to reconsider. James Garfield is a positive in that direction (but again, I hate that you've got this great looking British guy but he's given roles that don't allow for his equally hot accent). But hearing that Emma Stone dies in the sequel... why subject myself to loving her as Gwen Stacy only to lose her in the end of it all?

Which reminds me, I hated that Gwen Stacy (ala Bryce Dallas Howard, another actor I can't get myself to like with the types of characters she plays) got Spider-Man to give her the upside down kiss in "Spider-Man III"... that was something special he had between him and MJ and they just spat on the memory of it.

Coming Soon

Brad Pitt posters were on practically every teen girl's bedroom walls in the 90's except for me. I didn't get the attraction until I saw him in the next movie on my list.
While I'm not a Bradgelina fan by any means, I'd come to enjoy him in a couple other movies since then. One is further down my countdown and another that lost its place to "Sweeny Todd"... a) because I couldn't do my favorite movies without "Sweeny Todd" and b) while this Brad Pitt film was a well conceived, well acted picture that I believed deserved a number of Oscars, I only saw it once and it's been 5 years...And I could say this is a movie with a great ensemble cast, but that'd just give it away, wouldn't it?

29. The Karate Kid (1984)

Code-name: Bonsai
("To baby trees!")

Director: John G. Avildsen
Composer: Bill Conti
(funny enough, these two previously collaborated on the "Rocky" movies. Coincidence? I think not ;) )

Type: coming-of-age, karate, sports, high school drama

Cast:
Daniel Larusso- Ralph Macchio
Mr. Miyagi- Noriyuki "Pat" Morita (RIP 2005)
Ali Mills- Elisabeth Shue
Johnny Lawrence- William Zabka
Cobra Kai Instructor John Kreese- Martin Kove
Lucille Larusso- Randee Heller

Notable Nominations:
OSCAR- Best Supporting Actor- Pat Morita
Golden Globe- Best Supporting Actor- Pat Morita
(no love for Mr. Miyagi from The Academy or the Hollywood Foreign Press? Shame on them!)

Write-up:

Bad News First

For a change of pace, I'll get the majority of my negativity towards the rest of the film's series out of the way so I put most of my focus on the good stuff...

:sigh:
in fall of 2012, I let curiosity get the best of me and I haven't quite forgiven myself for it...
that was when I finally got around to watching the 3rd Karate Kid movie. all because it was included in a boxset with all four movies (the three parts and the Hilary Swank reboot), I had to see how it all ended...

Let's put it this way... it inspired an entire blog entry where I was debating whether sequels or remakes were a greater sin in Hollywood...
I don't know what was more inexcusable: the villains having no redeemable qualities or the fact they recreated the climatic film on this movie while spitting on its face.

I should probably stop there before I stoop to too much negativity...

Perhaps the day will come where I'll give the Hilary Swank reboot another shot. Years ago when I saw it (long before she won those Oscars and I loved her in "Freedom Writers"), I didn't like it because it just wasn't the same without Ralph Macchio. And do not get me started on the 2010 remake. Out of complete loyalty to this picture [and the late Pat Morita, the one & only Mr. Miyagi], I will refuse to watch it because you shouldn't remake something that wasn't broke to begin with. Certainly not an 80's movie. Just my opinion :shrug:
So I'm pretty much going into discussing this movie after watching it for the first time since the atrocity I addressed above... hopefully 2 years is enough space :-P

How I got into this movie

I was a Power Rangers kid growing up. Loved the series so much I thought about taking karate and gymnastics so I could do the same moves. :-P

The gymnastics thing never happened (for a reason I'll get to later), but I did take karate for five years. Of course, beforehand, my dad made sure I understood it had to be about more than just emulating my favorite TV series.

I worked my way through the ranks of Tang Soo Do, earned my black belt (something that will forever remain one of my proudest achievements) and had it for a year before I "retired." I was never much of an athlete with my lack of speed and hand-eye coordination, but however much an athlete being a black belt made me, all that went away after I needed surgery on my back.

Ironically, the year after the surgery was when my school actually ran tests on students for scoliosis. But yeah, since 11/15/99, I've had titanium rods and screws in my back and I often don't remember that they're there.

Before I make another unnecessary side-bar here on back surgeries, I'll cut to my point. A couple years after I started taking classes, my folks rented the movie, figuring it would be appropriate for me to see. Especially because one of our warm-up exercises was the crane technique.
My earliest memory of it was that we watched it at night and I see the beach scene very clearly.

The Story

Daniel and his mother move from Newark to California, where she has a new job.
The plot begins when he is introduced to some of the local kids. Freddy, who lives at the same apartment complex, invites Daniel to a beach party with his friends. He hits it off with a cute girl, but winds up getting his butt kicked by her ex-boyfriend, Johnny.
This becomes a reoccurring theme, making Daniel even more troubled about this move because other than Ali, he hasn't been able to fit in or make any friends.

It gets to a point where he almost gets killed in a fight and Mr. Miyagi, the complex's handyman, arrives to save his life. They set up a deal with the instructor of Cobra Kai, where Johnny and the other bullies train, where they agree to stop beating on Daniel until December 19th, the day of a tournament.

And of course we all know the rest: Mr. Miyagi assigns Daniel chores around his house, which oddly enough become part of his training. Mainly how to put up an effective defense with blocking. Other lessons like balance and punching come as well.

Then in every sports movie you can name, you have the climatic fight scene and the hero wins...

The Cast

I guess you could say that I find this to be a very iconic cast. All of the main actors, whether I'd seen them in other movies or not, I will always associate them with "The Karate Kid."

I cannot say enough good things about Pat Morita in this. I know it wasn't his first role and he was well-known for his comedic acting, but he's just so amazing in this. Mr. Miyagi comes off a little odd when you first meet him, but as the movie progresses, you grow to appreciate and love him for what he brings to Daniel's life. He's a bit of a surrogate father figure, but gives him the tools to mature into a better, more confident, person.
He is still sorely missed by many fans of this movie and his other work. Can't believe it's been almost 10 years.

Other than "Soapdish" and years ago "Adventures in Babysitting" (been meaning to see that again because it's been ages), I hadn't really seen Elisabeth Shue in any other movie besides this one.
She plays Ali Mills, who comes from a rich family, but she comes off as a very sweet, kind person. Of course, her being charmed by Daniel does lead to many problems and it continuously puts a strain on their relationship. Between him not wanting to be around her because he's afraid of getting beat up or feeling like he isn't good enough for her.

I read a few comments on message boards from people asking why a girl like her would be interested in a guy like Daniel.
To that, I shrug and say "why not?"... but maybe because I would consider him my type.

On the other hand, though, Billy Zabka's a good looking guy too and I'm sure Johnny has his good points. But they sure don't come out a lot in this movie, where he walks around with this alpha dog attitude like he owns the place.
Come to think of it, this actor plays a lot of jerks and bullies, so I guess he wound up getting typecast that way. (whoa, just looked at his profile, he earned a black belt in Tang Soo Do also... although it was years after doing this movie, which he had no karate experience going into).

Martin Kove who plays Cobra Kai instructor Kreese... that dude's freaking scary and years later, he's still paying the price for this dead-on portrayal of a radical karate teacher. Rumor is people still come up to him and gives him crap for what his character did in this movie.
...and if more people saw the third movie, he'd probably get worse.
I think years ago, I saw him on an episode of "Win Lose or Draw" where I was thinking how unnatural it was to see him not being so intense, but quite the opposite.

Now for Ralph Macchio...
By far, this is his best role. Not that I'd seen him in many.
I wanted to see "My Cousin Vinny" on the mere fact he was in it. Luckily my disappointment that he was playing a supporting role didn't last long 8-)
http://moviegoerconfessions.blogspot.com/2013/08/66-my-cousin-vinny-1992.html #66 on my list

I saw his stint on "Dancing with the Stars" and was pleasantly surprised with him. Then it was also surprising to see that at age 50 something, he's not in the same shape as he used to be :-P but it was great seeing that he aged well and is the same nice guy he was in his work.

Probably his first major role was in the adaptation of S.E. Hinton's "The Outsiders," a movie that was the first outing for a lot of young actors. I saw the movie as part of my class where we were studying the book (another entry worth doing later on).
Watching it, I often wondered if he had a major growth spurt between this movie and "Karate Kid" because he's easily the smallest guy there. Then again, maybe they were just tall.
Sometimes when I watch this movie, I imagine Daniel as a second-coming of his "Outsiders" role, Johnny. He had a pretty rough life, but maintained a positive attitude no matter what. And when he comes back as Daniel, he comes back with a vengeance, to prove he won't be pushed around anymore.

The Music & Soundtrack

I gotta give major props to Bill Conti on this particular production. People talk about how the best movie scores carry the emotional weight of the picture. Depending on what you hear, how dark or light, tense and lovely the score sounds, you're compelled to feel the same way.

Of the top of my head, this is one of the best movie scores I'd ever heard. You can say whatever you want about this movie being dated, maybe being cheesy 80's or whatever, but the score has as much credibility and power in bringing this picture together as the directing and the writing.

Every character and situation has its own soundtrack. Mr. Miyagi has a lot of panflute and soft music playing in the background. Daniel's confrontations with Cobra Kai has a lot of 80's influences as well as your signature "villain" music. The tender moments with him and Ali, those have their own sound too, as does the tournament.

There's a lot of great 80's songs on this soundtrack, most of which are by one-hit wonders or lesser known acts (none of them ring a bell for me, and I'm a major 80's fans). Survivor (best known for "Eye of the Tiger") wrote "The Moment of Truth," which plays in the end credits.
But my favorite is "Cruel Summer" by Banarama. It was funny to me how the song came on the radio one time at work and one guy said how it made them think of this movie. It was the first time I heard it and I often associate it with the scene where Daniel meets up with Ali at school and he gets kicked out soccer try-outs for fighting.

Apparently, it's the only song not on the official soundtrack, which SUCKS. One of my many favorite 80's songs and among my favorite summertime jams 8-)

Miscellaneous

I think I'd covered most of the main themes in this movie.

But to Ralph Macchio for a second, though, his acting is pretty incredible. I don't think he gets a lot of credit because he's not one of the biggest names that comes to mind with "great actors." Although some of that is because he hasn't been in many other productions with this much staying power and he only acts on occasion these days :shrug: which I completely understand.

Actors can talk about how their characters take a beating or how that can sometimes become a reoccurring theme in their career.
Between this movie and "The Outsiders," when his character is in pain or under duress, my gut convulses. I absolutely believe him and want nothing more than defy the constraints of reality and tell him everything's gonna be okay. I hate in movies when my favorite actors get into that kind of trouble or worse, they wind up getting killed, but Ralph Macchio is the only one that comes to mind... for me, that stirs me up with the slightest groan or a difficult inhale of breath.

That resonated a lot with me as I saw this movie a lot of a teenager and that gut feeling helped me become a better writer. Unfortunately, that may have turned me into a masochist because that's the area where my best writing came out. I promise I'm trying to work on that :-P

The Best Sequel

"Karate Kid Part 2" (whoa, it came out 9 days before I was born :-P) is one of those rare sequels that delivers just as well as the original film. Sure, some of the same themes are repeated. Daniel goes to a new place, gets in entanglements with one of the locals (thankfully not as relentless as Johnny was), and finds love.

The only thing that didn't resonate with me was how Daniel's relationship with Ali falls apart in the first couple minutes of the movie... after the aftermath of the tournament of course.
Supposedly they were going to prom and she crashed his beloved car :shrug: Elisabeth Shue resumed her studies at Harvard (yeah, I know!) so her presence in this movie was just this conversation Daniel has with Mr. Miyagi.
I suppose it was there just to give Daniel an excuse to go to Okinawa with Mr. Miyagi, there was nothing keeping him in California for the summer.

Taking into account, it just is so silly that Daniel had to have a different love interest in every movie in the series.

I'd become more of a Japanophile as I've gotten older, though I use that term loosely :-P I love Japanese culture as presented in films and animé and that's about it.
But I love how it's portrayed here. It gives the film a different enough feel to separate it from the original, but maintains the same dignity.

And it helps that Peter Cetera sings the main theme "The Glory of Love"... another of my favorite figures from the 80's.

Final Thoughts

It's not the first movie that comes to mind when I think of my favorite 80's movies. But regardless, it's one of them and it doesn't matter if it winds up being #10 on that top 10 list. As I get older, I look back on it fondly and find even more reasons to love it. If you really look at it, you'll see how well constructed it is. How strong the character development is. How compelling the score is. I always enjoy it and it's one of those occasions where I really can't find any fault in it.
But maybe that's just me being biased 8-)

34. Black Swan (2010)

Code-name: Psycho-Lebanese
("Lebanese" is a "Glee" reference, by the way, Google it!)

Director: Darren Aronofsky
Choreography: Benjamin Millepied
Type: coming-of-age, R-rated sexy thriller

Cast:
Nina- Natalie Portman
Lily- Mila Kunis
Thomas Leroy-Vincent Cassel
Nina's mother- Barbara Hershey
Beth McIntyre- Winona Ryder
The Prince- David Millepied

Notable Awards and Nominations:
OSCAR- Best Actress- Natalie Portman
nomination-OSCAR-Best Picture
nomination- OSCAR- Best Director- Darren Aronofsky
nomination- OSCAR- Best Cinematography
nomination- OSCAR- Best Film Editing
Golden Globe- Best Actress (Drama)- Natalie Portman
nomination- Golden Globe- Best Picture- Drama
nomination- Golden Globe- Best Director- Darren Aronofsky
nomination- Golden Globe- Best Supporting Actress- Mila Kunis
AFI- Movie of the Year
nomination- Grammy- Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media

Write-up:

September 2011

The last Saturday of that month was when "Black Swan" came to HBO.
In more ways than one, one of the most stimulating and intriguing cinematic experiences I've ever had.

It got a lot of hype the previous awards season, but a lot of it was for... some could say... the wrong reasons. It wasn't released in a lot of theaters, but I'm willing to bet a lot of guys flocked (no pun intended, I promise) to theaters just to see Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis in that racy lesbian sex scene.

My dad saw it in-flight and when he told us about it, there was an air of caution in his tone.
Words like "paranoia" and "lesbianism" came up.
Even before he gave his thoughts, I had wanted to see this movie for a couple reasons. One of them being that it looked really beautiful and stunning from a visual standpoint. Mila Kunis is a “That 70′s show” alum and I was definitely curious to see how she’d do in a big movie role like this, something REALLY challenging. Then of course the lesbianism was an intriguing idea on its own.

...I'll go into it in more detail, obviously, but it was an exhilarating, intense, artsy film that I got really invested in. It wowed me with all that it brings to the table.
I added that it was a "coming of age" story because an underlying theme was Natalie Portman's character maturing from a naïve girl into a woman. And as someone with zero sexual experience, I felt like it was one of those movies I saw when I was 25 that accumulated my mind to the subject. To the point where the occasional sex scene doesn't make me squirm quite as much, so long as it's brief and is important to the plot.  

Again, that's another entry on its own, addressing that, but let's just say I came across a few movies afterwards where sex was nauseatingly overused.
One happened to be a Robert Pattinson movie where it was kinda disappointing that he didn't die at the end... his philandering character had zero redeemable qualities.

But, anyway, back to business.

The Premise and its Players

Before getting too far ahead of myself, I want to give props to the real ballerina on set, Sarah Lane. She reportedly got very upset that she wasn't given enough credit for her performance as Natalie Portman's dance double.
Whatever you brought to the set, Sarah, it was AWESOME.

***

Natalie Portman plays Nina Sayers, an aspiring ballet who had been part of this company for several years. The director/choreography of the studio Thomas (played by the very handsome Vincent Cassel) announces that the next production will be a reimagining of “Swan Lake.” 

I knew very little about this show going into this other than the signature Tchaikovsky score.
But after hearing the story, it sounded vaguely like "Swan Princess."
One of my favorite animated movies as a kid... I haven't seen it in years.

In that version, Princess Odette and her Prince were betrothed since they were kids. Back then, they hated each other. But when they grew up, they fell in love. Until a sorcerer abducts her and casts a spell on her where she can only resume her human form at night when she's on the lake with the full moon overhead.
The dramatic climax does borrow from the plot of "Swan Lake" where the sorcerer's assistant disguises herself as Odette and has the Prince swear a vow of undying love, the only thing able to break the spell. Because of this, she almost dies.
Obviously the kid's version of this story because there is a happy ending for her and the Prince.

In the actual show, Princess Odette is turned into a swan and only love can break the spell. She gets the Prince to fall in love with her, but her evil twin, The Black Swan, seduces the Prince away from her.
Thomas's reimagining has two distant differences:
1) the show ends with Princess Odette's suicide, jumping over a cliff into a field of sharp, pointy rocks
2) he wants the same girl to play the innocent Princess Odette AND her evil seductive twin.

The role is made available to Nina because the star of the company is getting on in years and gets fired because it's time for someone younger to take over. Beth is played by Winona Ryder, whom I didn’t even recognize (a lot of people said the same thing). After being forced into retirement, Beth has a breakdown and runs into ongoing traffic.
Nina visits her in the hospital twice. Both occasions are pretty dramatic, one way the price of perfection is demonstrated in the film overall.

Thomas knows of her skill, but doesn't believe Nina carries the air of seduction needed for the Black Swan. To show her what she lacks, he points out another ballerina, Lily (Mila Kunis) who exudes the sexuality he desires for this role.

As a result, a rivalry ensues, all of which are mind games brought on by Thomas for pitting them against each other and Nina's increasingly addled mental state.
One detail I distinctly remembered about the filming was director Darren Aronofsky kept Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis separate when they weren't shooting to help create the needed tension between their characters. Supposedly, that also included threatening text messages sent to them from each other.
I thought the gist of the movie was that Mila Kunis was a lesbian because it would explain the sex scene all of this was building up to. Just the way that they exchanged dialogue, that's how it came off to me. Or maybe that was the story I wanted to see come out of this. The tension between them, sexual or not, was so on-point that I came more invested as time went on.

I was also blinded by Vincent Cassel because I found him so attractive. I failed to see that his methods were on the sadistic side, having sex with the ballerinas in the company to free their minds for better dancing.
The assignment he gives Nina to free the sexual disposition of the Black Swan:
"When you go home, touch yourself."

So yeah, not the greatest movie to watch in mixed company.
The third time she attempts to follow through with this winds up being the lesbian sex scene.
The first two times, she stops short of an orgasm because she discovers her overprotective mother asleep in the chair by her bed and she has a mental episode in the bathtub.

Which brings me to the one R-rated aspect of this movie I really didn't like...
Nina had all kinds of hallucinations throughout the film. My least favorite was when she peeled a lot of skin back on her fingers after clipping her nails too short and there was a lot of blood. I'm not quite one of those people that faints at the sight of blood, but it does make me cringe. The same thing goes for needles (all thanks to the stuff I went previous to and after my scoliosis surgery). I just thought it was overkill, honestly, her bleeding from random appendages.

Other hallucinations include a growing rash (that she oddly never scratches) and feathers coming out of her skin randomly. Also seeing Lily in random places and her reflection taking on a life of its own.
That stuff, I thought, made for a pretty good horror movie/suspense thriller. I'm not the biggest fan of the horror genre, but "Black Swan" had a lot of the same ingredients and made them work in a way that was very compelling.

The sex scene come about after a night of partying out on the town, something Nina never does with her sheltered life under the constant vigilance of her mother.
Lily invites her to come along with her and a couple friends. Nina was about as awkward as I am in large gatherings with people I don't know. So Lily slips her a tab of ecstasy to loosen her up. The atmosphere transforms into a freaking rave. What an adrenaline rush and there was no end for ages... it was pretty awesome.

!SPOILERS AHEAD!

So it was a bit of a letdown when it was revealed that the sex scene never happened. Nina and Lily see each other the day after and Lily said that Nina disappeared after a couple hours and she didn't see her again for the rest of the night.... seriously? buzzkill, much.

But after whatever shenanigans happened the night before, Nina's mother clearly believes she is not well and locks her in her room on the opening night of the show.
Of course, she does bust out and fights to get her role back from Lily, who had received it as her understudy.

It was also kinda disappointing that the entire movie built up to opening night, so there wasn't as much dancing as I would have liked. But make no mistake, all of the best stuff was saved for last.
However brief it is in the 108-minute span of this film, the Black Swan sequence is incredible! Especially since her arms transform into wings. I wondered if it was even possible for her to revert to other role because she'd finally crossed to the dark side :-P

It should be noted that you need to pay attention to everything in the movie because it becomes increasingly difficult to discern reality from the hallucinations.
Another one of those jaw-dropping double-take moments was the final confrontation between Nina and Lily.

!AGAIN, MORE SPOILERS

STOP READING IF YOU WANT TO GET THE FULL EFFECT OF THE SHOCK VALUE

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

The tension hits a breaking point and Nina kills Lily...
only to find out later that she's still alive and she actually stabbed herself.

Despite that, she gives the performance of her life with the final stage of Odette's life... only to die in the name of perfection.

I saw this movie only once and the final 10 minutes a second time when my mom saw it. But I can still remember coming to the end.
I found it a little anti-climatic. The screen went white after her final line looking up at the camera: "I was perfect." with sirens in the background.
It would have been nice to know if she lived or not.

Some of the trivia I read does suggest that she does. The blood from her self-inflicted stab wound comes from a very suggestive place, which can be construed as an indication that she is officially a woman.
But personally, I prefer the more poetic ending that she died in the name of perfection. It really does make you think.

Not that any discipline I'd attempted in my life, other than schoolwork, demands that kind of perfection.
I'm a huge fan of gymnastics and figure skating, but more for the artistic expression than the skill. But it does help when the landings are stuck ;)

And for the record, the fact I'm doing this Darren Aronofsky film the same way his "Noah" production comes out is purely coincidence.

The same goes for my next film.

Coming Soon

With maybe one or two exceptions, my next slew of films are ones I'd loved watching for years. One was a 2010 film that introduced me to one of my favorite actresses.

But next week is a book-to-movie adaptation that worked out really well and it makes you rethink what you thought you knew about Biblical history. Unless of course you're an ultra-conservative Christian, in which case you're better off skipping out on this next one.