Black Swan

[33girl]

Originally Posted by CutiePie2000

You might want to turn to Wikipedia if you are contemplating avoiding the movie - this account is quite detailled:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Swan_(film)

DTD Alum filled me in and I'm so skipping it.

[CutiePie2000]

Originally Posted by 33girl

DTD Alum filled me in and I'm so skipping it.

As of Sunday, Feb 20th, I have now seen it and yeah, it's definitely psychologically disturbing and heavy. Natalie Portman is excellent in her portrayal, but wow, it ain't no "ballet movie", that's for sure.....

Originally Posted by tri deezy

I thought that this movie was majorly about serious mental illness. Natalie Portman's character had a very serious case of non-medicated schizophrenia. Throughout the movie, I kept thinking about the aunt of an old friend of mine who, during a psychotic episode associated with her schizophrenia, cut off her own lips with a razor blade thinking that they were filled with spider eggs. That's why I wrote about how the theme of this movie is extra creepy since it really does happen to people.

Going into that film, I knew that schizophrenia was one of the themes in the movie, so it helped me to understand what was happening in the movie while it was in progress, otherwise, I might not have clued in initially what was happening before me on the screen. But yes, there is nothing comical about non-medicated schizophrenia, -- in one extreme case in Canada, there was an gruesome instance of murder, beheading and cannibalism aboard a Greyhound bus in July 2008 - see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Mclean

[DrPhil]

I really liked The Wrestler. I really like Mickey Rourke. Seeing him always makes me sad.

What is RFAD?

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

I really liked The Wrestler. I really like Mickey Rourke. Seeing him always makes me sad.

What is RFAD?

Requiem for a Dream

[LXA SE285]

Without giving it away, did those of you who've seen it believe the ending was literal or metaphorical?

[LXA SE285]

Also, are we all in agreement that Barbara Hershey has had so much plastic surgery that she looks like a burn victim?

[joliebelle]

Originally Posted by LXA SE285

Without giving it away, did those of you who've seen it believe the ending was literal or metaphorical?

literal.

Originally Posted by LXA SE285

Also, are we all in agreement that Barbara Hershey has had so much plastic surgery that she looks like a burn victim?

co-signed

[cheerfulgreek]

Some parts were kind of creepy. Overall, I didn't like it.

[Tulip86]

Good to know it's a bit creepy.. I won't go to the theatre for that one then!

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by Tulip86

Good to know it's a bit creepy.. I won't go to the theatre for that one then!

It's not scary at all. There's like maybe only a couple of creepy scenes. Most of it is sexual, perverted stuff.

[Tulip86]

Just checked IMDB and I am not seeing that in a theatre. I'm such a wuss

[DrPhil]

I just saw it. I liked it but it wasn't as interesting, exciting, and mysterious as the commercials made it seem. I wouldn't watch it again.

It was more like Fight Club than it was The Wrestler.

There were 2 older couples on a double date sitting in front of me. One of guys said "I'm about to fall asleep" and kept scoffing throughout the movie. His date (wife? whatever) made the "that's all? wtf?" face at the end of the movie.

The end of the movie definitely leaves a lot to be desired. The sexual stuff in the movie definitely is wasted because it wasn't really needed.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

It was more like Fight Club than it was The Wrestler.

Ha. DTD Alum told me what happened and I saw the Fight Club parallel too.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Ha. DTD Alum told me what happened and I saw the Fight Club parallel too.

Yeah the main theme of the movie isn't aging talent so I don't see The Wrestler. It's more about mind games and mind battles a la Fight Club. Actually, they could've left some things out of this movie because they were trying to do too much to make it...intense...or whatever people want to call it.

I initially did not think this movie was geared toward a particular demographic but i can see why "masculine men" and men who are not into ballet would not want to see this movie. On another note, the movie is not automatically geared toward women. You have to want to see a movie that has some blatant parts but is really about mind tricks and, what I consider to be, cliff hangers dressed in classical music and a tutu.

I love ballet and was a ballerina when I was younger. I loved the dancing and ballet themes more than I liked the movie. Natalie Portman looked gorgeous, kinda like Jessica Alba in some scenes, but she was definitely "ballerina thin." I hope she was able to eat some food and gain some weight after they finished filming.

[tri deezy]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

...she was definitely "ballerina thin." I hope she was able to eat some food and gain some weight after they finished filming.

According to IMDB, she lost 20lbs for the role! And she's so petite to begin with!

I saw it last weekend and I loved it. I thought every minute of it was interesting and tense. The role really displayed Natalie Portman's talent--I won't be surprised at all if she wins awards for it. I don't know if I would really call it a psychological thriller as much as a dark psychological drama. It's definitely not horror in the way we think of horror movies these days. What's creepiest about Black Swan is that people really do go through what Nina went through. I don't want to give away too much, but I'll just say that what happens to the main character (psychologically) really does happen to people, and that is more scary than any paranormal theme kind of movie. Black Swan made me weak at the knees!