Review | Shame

A brooding character study that achieves something we never explored before, but it's all up to you to figure it out yourself

Review | Hugo

It makes Avatar look Avatarded!

Review - Midnight In Paris

Before getting to this review, here's what I want to say first. I've only watched two films by Woody Allen. I haven't seen any of his masterpieces such as Annie Hall, Hannah and her Sisters, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Bullets over Broadway or Manhattan. So Midnight In Paris is the third film so far I've seen from him. This is written from a newbie's point of view and most of the review would greatly identify and analyse the trademarks of the iconic filmmaker.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II

A- (8.5)


I've been both a Harry Potter fanatic and at the same time a cynic of the franchise. I've read the books when I was 12 and could never stop loving it. To any cynic who wants to know what's the appeal of it all, it's Harry Potter himself we're fascinated as he evolve from being a boy losing his parents from an evil wizard Voldemort to a young person getting back prepared than ever. But then there's the cynical side of me when it comes to the franchise. I felt that bringing David Yates into the helm isn't worth the piece of the pie. I felt disappointed with the last two films. Half-Blood Prince was disappointing because the plot is distracted to a romantically corny subplot while the first part of the Deathly Hallows was also corny and it felt confusing at points, despite having had read the novels.


This is the real deal from Yates as it is truly a real film about Harry Potter's ordeal (no pun intended). A decade ago we see HP's first two adventures with the ballsy Ron and clever Hermione that are both charming and fun where it secretly builds up pessimism to Potter. Up to now, The Prisoner of Azkaban shows the trio's true development as young adults as the tone of each film slowly reveals its change. Now Deathly Hallows (Pt.2) had matched everything fans of all types have been waiting for to impossibly high levels.


In Pt.2, we start off what was halfway of the Deathly Hallows where Voldemort holds the Elder Wand that doesn't belong to Dumbledore in where he finds it, but to Snape. This makes him more powerful; while Harry, Ron and Hermione must find the remaining Horcruxes, Voldemort's possessions and once they destroy the Horcruxes, he becomes weaker giving Harry a probable chance of defeating him. Also involved in the battle is Professor Snape who became headmaster of Hogwarts keeping it highly secured with Dementors and Deatheaters.


This is an epitome of a Harry Potter film. Every point crucial in the books are taken and is perfectly nailed to the wood. From Harry knowing how to destroy the Horcruxes once and for all to scenes where Harry realize the sacrifices he'd and should make to defeat Voldemort to many of the complex storylines that will take some time to decipher. In fact it has many storylines so multi-layered that you either have to watch the movies (especially Part I) and read the novels again to pull yourself into the magic. 


What I like about this adaptation is that it's more than the average adaptation of Potter. This has so much heart, it goes where no Potter film had ever gone before. In every sequence of action, you feel like watching a war movie. The final battle. In every character you'll know their story and their involvement with Harry's life especially Alan Rickman who in one flashback had me crying when we're revealed the true person his character Snape really is. We get Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall as a badass leading an army of Hogwarts students. And we get Neville Longbottom also a badass breaking out from his role as the shy, and completely awkward secondary character.


It's Alan Rickman who brings out soul to Professor Snape, a character more fascinating than Potter. As we see through flashbacks, he's the real hero of the series so far when outside he's a superior villain with so much fear. If more than anything Rickman should get an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Many of the performances are solid from a cast of veteran British actors such as Julie Walters and Ralph Fiennes, but the heart of it all Harry Potter played by Daniel Radcliffe is flawless and has its best moments. Although I wasn't impressed by Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy given that his character is so wimpy for the entire film


Director Yates and screenwriter Steve Kloves had brought back my trust for ending the Potter franchise in the most epic style. Not one moment was a tease. I loved the visual flair placed by Yates and I thought the cinematography was gorgeous. Yates and Kloves justified how this movie is split into two parts by sticking into the complex plot and bringing the emotional drama that never hits the sentimental bottom.


Belonging into this generation that experienced 9/11 and spending the majority of our daily routine on the internet, the Harry Potter franchise is something I and everyone in this generation cherish and value. The Deathly Hallows ended an epic conflict between good and evil in spectacular form like Lord Of The Rings. The franchise had become the modern Star Wars of our time. Overall this movie is not just the masterpiece of the series and the best summer movie in terms of being a blockbuster, but also the best movie I've seen so far this year.

Nightmares of a chronic masterbating ballerina

Black Swan


A- (9.4)


There are two kinds of people in this world who see Black Swan. One of them is the ballerina flick gathering awards buzz for both Darren Arronofsky and Natalie Portman. And then there's that kind who quote:

Oh yeah. That ballerina flick with the lesbian scene with Portman and Mila Kunis. I like that!

That second kind would probably be immature about this flick because this movie had totally rocked my world.

Natalie Portman plays a ballerina named Nina Sayers who is elevating to the top of her professional level as she's about to play the White Swan and the Black Swan for the major play Swan Lake. The White Swan is timid and vulnerable she transform herself into the Black Swan where she's the opposite of the White. However Nina wants to make herself perfect for both roles as she is only pressuring herself to impress the perverted ballet director Tomas (Vincent Cassel) and her stage mother (Barbera Hershey). She is bullied by many of her colleagues of the ballet world because of what she is. Nina then encounters a free spirited newcomer Lily (a really hot Mila Kunis) where she's suspicious of her thinking that's she's aiming for both roles and because of that as she becomes mentally damaged.

Previously, Arronofsky had wanted to make this movie into a companion piece to a mixture of this and The Wrestler where it's a romance between the wrestler and the ballerina. If you have The Wrestler and this movie seperately, Arronofsky might have created a series of dark character studies where you wanted to kill yourself. This may be Arronofsky wanting to do a movie hat is simlar to David Lynch's Mullohand Drive or that movie meets Red Shoes another ballerina film that was generic at its time.

Black Swan is a character study of obviously the ballerina. This is Natalie Portman's most challenging role to date and proves that she's one of the greatest actresses of her generation. Nina Sayers is a conflicted character who's a self-loathing, ballerina damaging herself for her aims to be perfect and to impress people who she feels had let down especially her mother who still treats her like she's 12 year old. She fills herself with riddled jealousy and emotional breakdowns so she can get what she wanted. That is where you should understand her and the troubles she's facing. Portman puts in a powerful performance which lets her character go for a hell of a ride just lke Jodie Foster did with Silence Of The Lambs. She deserved all of the accolades that she had received and it's more likely that she may win her Oscar.

It's great to say that Arronofsky is a great director of actors since his supporting cast is also excellent especially Vincent Cassel and Mila Kunis who play provocative players in the game of ballet. Cassel's character is very hard to like and Kunis plays Lily someone Sayers is envious of but they both make a charismatic impact on Sayers' wellbeing. Barbera Hershey is also very good here playing a stage mother who reminds me of Margeret White the overbearing mother from Carrie. But it's Winona Ryder who has a small role as a retiring dancer that steals her scenes to get Sayers out of her emotional level.

Black Swan is has jump-out-of-your-chair moments where it follows the various elements of psychological horror. That subgenre is the most effective out of horror and that is what Arronofsky has done. But be warned. Black Swan is not for the faint of heart if you can't handle moments of sexual pleasure (there's two masterbating scenes and a scene where Portman and Kunis has a lesbian scene) or shocking moments of Portman's well-being.

The choreography is dazzingly well staged as well as the score by Clint Mansell

Arronofsky has put in ambition, jealousy and some moody craftmanship in this masterpiece. Despite the fact that this is the surrealist study of a dancer's angst, the interesting part about this movie is the number of questions I'd been thinking about for the nature of this film and it seems that Arronofsky is trying to send a hint to the audience. Does he want to explore the world of near failures (such as Mickey Rourke from The Wrestler and here in Black Swan) with sexual fantasies and exploration? Is the portrayal of the ballerina accurate given how it;s the pressure that makes Nina tick? What is the meaning of the lesbian scene? And does Sayers has a personality disorder that slowly destroys her?

The ending of the movie seems way too twisted even if it was small. But to me it seems like this is what Sayers would've wanted. But this film had blown me away and needless to say this is one of the scariest experiences I've ever witnessed. This is intense and unpredictable.

But if you want to dismiss it because you think some scenes are way over-the-top. Think about it. You either think it's a generic psychological thriller or how should I think of it. The nightmares of a chronic masterbating ballerina.

To me, black is beauty.