Friday 28 January 2011

Drugs, domestic abuse and ballet?



So the other day I saw Black Swan. When I first saw the film being advertised I had the exact same reaction any narrow minded male has when confronted with a film seemingly about grace and culture; 'that looks fucking shit'. However the more I learned about the film the more interested I became. 'Stunning, mesmerising, dark and disturbing', these were some of the one word reviews that started to appear and I began to give it more of a chance.

Then came the facebook reviews literally everyone who had seen it before me said it was amazing and everyone needed to see it. So I gave in and took my long suffering girlfriend to watch it and what a twisted surprise it turned out to be.

The film is about ballet dancer Nina Sayers and what happens to her when she lands the dream role in an adaptation of Swan Lake. Pretty dull stuff at first glance but then she begins a quick decent into madness when she takes the role of the black swan a little too literally.

It is a very dark and especially disturbing film with many different overlapping relationships between characters that are never fully explained which adds to the gloomy feeling of the film. Natalie Portman is definitely perfect for the shy unassuming ballet dancer ready to be corrupted, even if she does look like she needs to snaffle a couple of burgers, but she plays the part perfectly and the relationship between her and her ultra weird mother makes for some harrowing scenes.

Black Swan is shot almost like a horror film with jumpy camera shots and intense close ups. I cant really say a lot else about the film itself because I watched it not really knowing a lot about it and in my opinion it's the best way to watch it. I thoroughly recommend this film to everyone and it is one of the best shot and acted films I've seen in a while.

Plus I had no idea professional ballet could be so sleazy and rock and roll, obviously this probably isn't a truthful insight into the world of British ballet but I like to think it might be, especially one scene in the film anyway......

So yea if you like your culture and arts laced with manic depression, self harm, sexual liberation and drugs get Black Swan in your life.

Tuesday 4 January 2011

Me and the X factor


I know this was all over weeks ago but I thought it might be vaguely interesting. So, me and the X Factor, we have a particularly one sided relationship. Basically I hate it with such intent that I don't think I can put down into words what I would do to the people responsible for broadcasting this piece of televisual plague.

I got so angry watching it with my girlfriend that I decided to blog about it but instead of ranting about it for 300 words I thought I would try and uncover WHY I hate it so much and finally give myself closure.

Part of me would actually quite like to enjoy the program even in an ironic sense like most people do. It would be nice to get to Saturday evening and look forward to something on the television instead of transforming into a depressed miser who sits behind his laptop cursing the X Factor and shouting obscenities at Simon Cowell. The only time I can remember getting excited about television was when Walking With Dinosaurs and Band Of Brothers was first aired.

I think I can break down my dislike into a few key areas the first being awkward television, I hate it I find it genuinely difficult to watch television that makes me feel uncomfortable. What is more uncomfortable than watching some poor loser haul themselves up in front of the 'judges' and sing in a voice so terrible it makes your very soul weep. Why would anyone let their friend or family member embarrass themselves so spectacularly in front of the nation, SURELY someone would have said 'I'm sorry but your singing makes me feel like I have wronged you in some way because I don't understand why you would put me through that please don't enter the X Factor'. Maybe people are genuinely that cruel.

The second area is the sort of music it promotes and produces: Pop. Arguably the worst genre in the world in my opinion with only a handful or artists I probably wouldn't kill with fire if given the chance. The whole show is a horrible celebration of bad haircuts, shallow personalities and terrible fashion choices. Unfortunately the show is responsible for some of the worst artists and music in the industry at the moment and yes some may say 'just don't listen to it' but its difficult when their songs are used across many different platforms, television adverts/ shows, shop music, radio play, documentaries but to name a few.

The third aspect is the drama. I've not watched a lot of it but a large proportion of what I have seen is rammed full of weeping individuals having a break down because they've been working really hard for all of 5 weeks and it hasn't quite come out like they expected. I don't want to see people being miserable, it makes me miserable!

The last reason is simon cowell I deliberately neglected to capitalise his name as a sort of 'fuck you' to him, petty and grammatically incorrect, I know. But yea him, in his entirety and everything he has done or will ever be responsible for makes me hate him and I will always hate him.

On the other hand the final is OK because the show then does what it should have always done - celebrate peoples talent and help them to progress. Watching professionals doing their job and singing well is nice, you get a good feeling from it but the best feeling is knowing it is almost over for another year. It was nice to see some round faced chap win and see how happy it made him I mean who doesn't like to see that it's just a shame I've already forgotten his name and he'll only be popular for about 20 minutes.

This show does however make a lot of people very happy and I can see the appeal which is why as much as it pains me to say it, it will be around for a very long time to come maybe I should just jump on the bandwagon, swallow my pride and enjoy it. Or I could just go back to shouting obscenities and wishing a studio light would come crashing down on top of cowells flat top head, yea, I think I'll do that.