Sucker Punched By The Black Swan Again
An assortment of movie reviews and for this post, the ladies have it.
Sucker Punch
Synopsis: A young girl is institutionalized by her abusive stepfather. Retreating to an alternative reality as a coping strategy, she envisions a plan which will help her escape from the mental facility.
This weekend I had an opportunity to see Sucker Punch. Days later, I still don't know how I feel about the film. It's a mixed bag to put it mildly. It was all over the place.
I respect the fact that it cast a light on a lot of social injustices (whether intentionally or inadvertently): misogyny, exploitation, sexploitation, rape culture, child abuse, abuse of people with mental illness, abuse of the legal and psychiatric system.
The cinematography and the action sequences....let's just keep it real. Director Zack Snyder can't be fucked with on those fronts.
You had a talented cast which included personal favorites: Jenna Malone, Oscar Isaac, Jamie Chung, Carla Gugino and Jon Hamm who all certainly brought their A-game.
The concepts were stellar, the execution and the story......left a lot to be desired. More than once, I was giving the screen my WTF IS THIS SHIT? face.
This is definitely one of those films that if you ask 20 people how they felt about it, you're going to get 20 different and equally valid responses.
There was a lot of things I liked about the movie, there was a lot of things I thought was a mess and a lot of ideas that could've been done better. And obviously the next person's mileage will vary on this movie.
I'll say this though. I'm rocking the hell out of that soundtrack.
For those of you who saw the film, what do you all think?
Black Swan
Synopsis: A ballet dancer wins the lead in "Swan Lake" and is perfect for the role of the delicate White Swan - Princess Odette - but slowly loses her mind as she becomes more and more like Odile, the Black Swan.
This is hands down one of the most fucked up movies I've ever seen in my entire life. And this is coming from the guy who's seen Hostel, Requiem For A Dream, and three of the Saw films. The fucked up gross-out scenes......I thought I would inevitably become desensitized....hell I watch Spartacus.......somehow it never happened and I was cringing through most of the film.
I suppose I could discuss how Portman's character, Nina who epitomizes patriachy's view of the "ideal woman." Innocent, pure, flawless, untouched, young. A girl who lives to society's standards in shunning and suppressing her sexuality to be the pure ideal only to then be mocked and condemned for its non-existence as she's only allowed to explore it when dictated (I said dick, punning is fun) by men. Said men who are shocked that she's afraid of it as she's been programmed to fear it.
After all, to be pure and innocent means to have no sexuality for a woman. But then she fails for being innocent and pure and not having the sexuality that society shames her for having. Illogic is logical.
I could discuss how this film calls out society's obsession with young girls and how at the age of 28, Nina's mother was considered "over the hill."
I could also discuss how Beth and Lily are considered to be inferior for being sexual women and ergo not pure as Nina yet while lacking in skill and ability, they are propped up as being superior when society and men have a need for their sexuality.
I will say this: the lesbian scene between Portman and Mila Kunis was effin hawt.
I could explain how Nina's life becomes that of the characters that she plays (Odette and Odile) and the duality of the role is similar to the dual and often contradictory roles which women are often forced to accept, the maiden/the temptress whose sole existence is to fulfill the needs of a patriarchal society and I applaud this movie for calling out most of the misogyny that pervades this planet.
Never in my life have been more tempted to cut off my penis after seeing that film.
I could discuss all of that and much much more but between all of the sick and grossed out scenes and Nina losing her gawd damn mind, all I was left with was one thought and one thought alone: WHITE PEEPUL BE CRAAAAAZEEEEEEE!!!!!!
I's be tro-mi-za-tized. Oh and by the by, if you're out and about and you see my no account internet wife afro_dyte anywhere, you let her know that I said that she still ain't shit.
Can't believe she made me go see that gawd damn movie. I was in therapy over that shit for three months. I wish her ass was here right now because I would tell her the business and put her ass on blast.
[turns around]
NP: AHHHHHH! I mean hello afro_dyte. I didn't hear you sneak up on me like that.
afro_dyte [stands there with her arms crossed, with an arched eyebrow]:...............
NP: How are you honeykins?
afro_dyte:................
NP: Have you been shopping? I'm loving the new ensemble. And ooooh girl, did you get yo hur did? [chuckles nervously]
[afro_dyte reaches into her purse and removes a taser]
NP: OH GAWD. NOT AGAIN! I PROMISE I'LL BE GOOD. I WON'T DO IT AGAIN!!!!
[afro_dyte hands the taser to Neo].
NP: PLEASE!
[afro_dyte arches eyebrow]
NP [still sobbing]: .........mother.
[NP zaps himself in the crotch]
NP: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
[NP crumbles to the ground]
You Again
Synopsis: When a young woman realizes her brother is about to marry the girl who bullied her in high school, she sets out to expose the fiancée's true colors.
Rented this on DVD. This is hands down one of the funniest films I've seen in recent memory. Not surprising. The story was hilarious and you couldn't have asked for a more stellar cast: Kristen Bell (Future wife #2), Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Betty White, and the sexy Victor Garber who I've had a weakness for since his days on Alias.
This was one of those films where you know each of the actors tried to one-up the other with the funny.
The Rock cameo was excellent and the nod to the Mary Tyler Moore show was also a nice touch.
It was sweet, hilarious and I might even buy this film. Bell amazed me in being believably quirky and silly and personable which you don't often see from smokin hawt chicks like her. I could go on and on about the win of the movie, but this clip from Funny Or Die sums it up beautifully.
You Again Cast Fight from Betty White
Sucker Punch
Synopsis: A young girl is institutionalized by her abusive stepfather. Retreating to an alternative reality as a coping strategy, she envisions a plan which will help her escape from the mental facility.
This weekend I had an opportunity to see Sucker Punch. Days later, I still don't know how I feel about the film. It's a mixed bag to put it mildly. It was all over the place.
I respect the fact that it cast a light on a lot of social injustices (whether intentionally or inadvertently): misogyny, exploitation, sexploitation, rape culture, child abuse, abuse of people with mental illness, abuse of the legal and psychiatric system.
The cinematography and the action sequences....let's just keep it real. Director Zack Snyder can't be fucked with on those fronts.
You had a talented cast which included personal favorites: Jenna Malone, Oscar Isaac, Jamie Chung, Carla Gugino and Jon Hamm who all certainly brought their A-game.
The concepts were stellar, the execution and the story......left a lot to be desired. More than once, I was giving the screen my WTF IS THIS SHIT? face.
This is definitely one of those films that if you ask 20 people how they felt about it, you're going to get 20 different and equally valid responses.
There was a lot of things I liked about the movie, there was a lot of things I thought was a mess and a lot of ideas that could've been done better. And obviously the next person's mileage will vary on this movie.
I'll say this though. I'm rocking the hell out of that soundtrack.
For those of you who saw the film, what do you all think?
Black Swan
Synopsis: A ballet dancer wins the lead in "Swan Lake" and is perfect for the role of the delicate White Swan - Princess Odette - but slowly loses her mind as she becomes more and more like Odile, the Black Swan.
This is hands down one of the most fucked up movies I've ever seen in my entire life. And this is coming from the guy who's seen Hostel, Requiem For A Dream, and three of the Saw films. The fucked up gross-out scenes......I thought I would inevitably become desensitized....hell I watch Spartacus.......somehow it never happened and I was cringing through most of the film.
I suppose I could discuss how Portman's character, Nina who epitomizes patriachy's view of the "ideal woman." Innocent, pure, flawless, untouched, young. A girl who lives to society's standards in shunning and suppressing her sexuality to be the pure ideal only to then be mocked and condemned for its non-existence as she's only allowed to explore it when dictated (I said dick, punning is fun) by men. Said men who are shocked that she's afraid of it as she's been programmed to fear it.
After all, to be pure and innocent means to have no sexuality for a woman. But then she fails for being innocent and pure and not having the sexuality that society shames her for having. Illogic is logical.
I could discuss how this film calls out society's obsession with young girls and how at the age of 28, Nina's mother was considered "over the hill."
I could also discuss how Beth and Lily are considered to be inferior for being sexual women and ergo not pure as Nina yet while lacking in skill and ability, they are propped up as being superior when society and men have a need for their sexuality.
I will say this: the lesbian scene between Portman and Mila Kunis was effin hawt.
I could explain how Nina's life becomes that of the characters that she plays (Odette and Odile) and the duality of the role is similar to the dual and often contradictory roles which women are often forced to accept, the maiden/the temptress whose sole existence is to fulfill the needs of a patriarchal society and I applaud this movie for calling out most of the misogyny that pervades this planet.
Never in my life have been more tempted to cut off my penis after seeing that film.
I could discuss all of that and much much more but between all of the sick and grossed out scenes and Nina losing her gawd damn mind, all I was left with was one thought and one thought alone: WHITE PEEPUL BE CRAAAAAZEEEEEEE!!!!!!
I's be tro-mi-za-tized. Oh and by the by, if you're out and about and you see my no account internet wife afro_dyte anywhere, you let her know that I said that she still ain't shit.
Can't believe she made me go see that gawd damn movie. I was in therapy over that shit for three months. I wish her ass was here right now because I would tell her the business and put her ass on blast.
[turns around]
NP: AHHHHHH! I mean hello afro_dyte. I didn't hear you sneak up on me like that.
afro_dyte [stands there with her arms crossed, with an arched eyebrow]:...............
NP: How are you honeykins?
afro_dyte:................
NP: Have you been shopping? I'm loving the new ensemble. And ooooh girl, did you get yo hur did? [chuckles nervously]
[afro_dyte reaches into her purse and removes a taser]
NP: OH GAWD. NOT AGAIN! I PROMISE I'LL BE GOOD. I WON'T DO IT AGAIN!!!!
[afro_dyte hands the taser to Neo].
NP: PLEASE!
[afro_dyte arches eyebrow]
NP [still sobbing]: .........mother.
[NP zaps himself in the crotch]
NP: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
[NP crumbles to the ground]
You Again
Synopsis: When a young woman realizes her brother is about to marry the girl who bullied her in high school, she sets out to expose the fiancée's true colors.
Rented this on DVD. This is hands down one of the funniest films I've seen in recent memory. Not surprising. The story was hilarious and you couldn't have asked for a more stellar cast: Kristen Bell (Future wife #2), Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Betty White, and the sexy Victor Garber who I've had a weakness for since his days on Alias.
This was one of those films where you know each of the actors tried to one-up the other with the funny.
The Rock cameo was excellent and the nod to the Mary Tyler Moore show was also a nice touch.
It was sweet, hilarious and I might even buy this film. Bell amazed me in being believably quirky and silly and personable which you don't often see from smokin hawt chicks like her. I could go on and on about the win of the movie, but this clip from Funny Or Die sums it up beautifully.
You Again Cast Fight from Betty White