True Grit

A new movie by the Coen brothers is always an event.

Given their habit to twist rules and genres, you never quite know what you're going to get especially since they also like to make lighter movies (Brun After Reading, Intolerable Cruelty spring to mind).
But you're always sure it will be beautiful and witty (I loved the 2 movies above, although much less than Miller's Crossing or No Country For Old Men, which are instant classics).

So what could they make of a remake of a John Wayne Western?

Well, in a slightly disappointing twist, True Grit feels like their most conventional film to date. Which is far from saying that it's bad. But somehow I missed this crazy touch that makes you really have no idea how it's all going to turn out.

Having said that, it's quite brilliant. The actors are perfect, cinematography stunning and the dialogs are nothing but a joy. I just had a big smile on my face for the whole thing.
Having said that it's also got its dark edge, with bursts of quite brutal violence, as you would expect from a western.

So it's an utterly enjoyable effort, definitely more relevant than their more minor efforts, but just a notch under their best.

In any case, certainly something that should be watched more than most movies out this year...

Black Swan

Another late report, I had to get them all in before True Grit next week...

There is so much to say about Aronofski's latest, that I think I'll keep this brief: this is an amazing piece of filmmaking.
Compared to his previous works, it sits somewhere between Pi & The Wrestler: it is part depiction of the life of a ballet dancer, part paranoiac trip (Polanski's Repulsion comes to mind also).

Natalie Portman is nothing short of incredible. She manages to be completely believable as a professional dancer, which is no cheap feat...

And Aronofski's direction is so viceral, it makes the movie something you feel as much as you watch.

Just brilliant.

The Green Hornet.

OK, this is becoming slightly ridiculous.
I've been to this one nearly a month ago...
But I need to keep at it, especially when it's worth it.

Because when going into this I wasn't really sure I wanted to see this movie. I was taken by a sort of boredom of superheroes movies. There are just too many now. It doesn't quite feel as exiting as it used to be when X-Men, Spiderman were yet to come out.
Also, I'm quite a fan of Michel Gondry's work, but there's always a worry when a director with his background moves into Hollywood action flicks. Will he keep his personnality? Will his style fit action scenes? So I was bored and worried.

Yet, in that negative mindset, the movie was good enough that it won me over!

So it doesn't reinvent the genre in anyway, but everything it does works.
The humour works, the buddy movie side works (Seth Rogen & Jay CHou are very well cast in their respective roles) and the action certainly works.
It's all done in a tongue in cheek fashion that makes the whole thing light-hearted and yet with a few more gritty things to keep you on your toes.

So you could argue that some characters are very under-written, yet the movie is resolutely centered on its title duo, so I'd think it's a conscious choice.
You could argue that the story is unsurprising, yet it's well built and provides enough set pieces that feel right in their place.
But it's all done with a honesty that makes it all OK.
And there are a few shots (Kato vision, splitscreen tracking shots) that are truly great moments.

I would compare it to Ironman: sure, it's a product, but it's a good one. One that doesn't make you feel dirty enjoying it.
Although I will always wish to have seen Stephen Chow's version, Gondry's version is worth seing.