Movie Review: Thor

Back to the Cinema after missing a week due to the installation of our new bathroom and we went to see Thor, This is a film based on the Marvel Comic based on the Norse (And old Saxon) God of Thunder. The film is in itself as you would expect very formulaic. Thor is a young (A few Thousand Years old) and foolish Prince, Blah Blah, Cast out, Blah Blah, Lands on Earth, Blah Blah, Learns his Lesson.

This is not to say that I found the film bad as in actuality I did enjoy it but then I am a sucker for a bit of Marvel escapism, This film is the fourth set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (A shared setting for several Marvel films where they are free to cross over – The previous ones were Iron Man, Iron Man 2 and Hulk with Captain America and The Avengers in the pipeline.)
Thor is played by New Zealander Chris Hemsworth who whilst he has the look of Thor it does lead to a few questions such as why would Thor have an antipodean accent (I would have imagined a Scandinavian/German tone to be more expected) or why when expelled back to earth he was expelled into the heart of the American desert a place where belief in the old gods or Germanic/Norse cultures has never been extensively practiced. That said the only member of the cast of Scandinavian decent (Stellan Skarsgard – Born in Sweden) has claimed to have never even heard of Thor.

Natalie Portman played Thor’s human love interest Jane Foster who has been updated from her comic book Nurses job to an astrophysicist, however thankfully she didn’t do any ballet or descend into any kind of madness so the entire film was a lot more uplifting than January’s Black Swan. The other supporting cast include Anthony Hopkins as Odin a pert which seems to suit him well and Tom Hiddleston as Loki who in Marvel’s telling of the Norse mythology is Thor’s brother and the Son of Odin, Although you will get no points from guessing who is the main antagonist between the tall blond god of Thunder and the Smaller dark haired god of Mischief.

And the Oscar goes too...

Well we have finished another awards season with the 83rd Academy Awards.

There are 24 awards presented in the Ceremony which was presented by Anne Hathaway (Not Shakespeares Wife) and James Franco who seemed quite nervous throughout, but who cares about that as after all what we are watching for are the winners.

The Main Awards went to:

Best Picture: The Kings Speech

Best Director: Tom Hooper - The Kings Speech

Best Actor: Colin Firth - The Kings Speech

Best Actress: Natalie Portman - Black Swan

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale - The Fighter

Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo - The Fighter

Best Original Screenplay: David Seidler - The Kings Speech

Best Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin - The Social Network

Along with four technical awards for Inception which was definitely the most original idea of the year, The social network also picked up awards for Editing and Original Score, perhaps a sympathy vote for the film that was very widely tipped to clean up before the Kings Speech came out.

Overall I think there were no particular surprises I said after watching The Kings Speech that it was my pick to win and I think it was well deserved, Similarly Natalie Portman's performance in Black Swan was one of the best solo performances I have seen in a film for years. Christian Bale is one of those actors who however you feel about him as a person, and there is a lot that happens in his personal life, he always gives 100% to any role he takes and so rightly got recognised, I doubt it will be his last.

I think the star of the awards however has to be Tom Hooper who made the rarely made transition from Eastenders to Best Director Actor, and finishes a fast transition to hollywood elite.

Movie Review: Black Swan

The Second film I will be reviewing, or the first if you are reading the blog from the top down is Black Swan, Black Swan is the third film I have seen this week and it would not be a lie to suggest that that in most years this would be the film of the year, however up against the Kings Speech, for me it comes in second. With the Oscar buzz around both of these movies they are often mentioned together however they really couldn’t be more different. Where as the Kings Speech took someone who was well known, humanized them and let us into their inner struggles; the Black Swan takes an area which is less known to the majority of people and through the eyes of one dancer shows the stresses and strains that push against her and cause her to not just question her own abilities but also her own mind. Make no mistake that this film is not an easy watch, it is difficult viewing at times with the occasional flash of an image suddenly forcing you to reassess a lot of what you thought to be true.

Natalie Portman would be a deserving recipient of the Best Actress Oscar as the Israeli actor really nails the role and has you desperately searching for the truth as she responds to what is happening and what isn’t happening, The end is a cascade of emotions as you finally realise what has happened and what is imaginary only to suddenly be thrown back the other way and realise that the opposite is true.

Mila Kunis is very good as Portman’s friend/Rival and Winona Ryder is great (As usual) as the ageing prima ballerina who is replaced by Portman showing the cycle and fear that stalks the main dancers as, just when they are achieving their goals they are seemingly already looking over their shoulder to see who is coming up behind them, Perhaps this is how it felt to be a medieval king?

The film has several shocking moments; one that really got me was when a finger nail was ripped off (Something which always freaks me out.) but although there were many not looking at the screen moments they were very important to the plot and feel of the movie, refreshing in today’s torture porn cinema offerings.

I have never been to the ballet before and after watching this film feel I could never go in the future; if this is the toll it takes on the psyche of the dancers there is probably a very good case to be made for getting ballet banned.