365 days of film

.029 Black Swan

directed by Darren Aronofsky; starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis

3/5 stars

Nina Sayers is a devoted, technically perfect ballerina in a prestigious company who has had the same prima ballerina for years. Nina is a wonderful dancer, but has little passion expressed. After the fall from grace of Beth, the prima ballerina, Nina is picked to lead the company in Swan Lake. 

This movie is freaky, and not in a bad way. I love how Aronofsky uses color and light to reflect the story. Aronofsky’s films, however, always leave me with headaches so it was very hard for me to sit through it. He did a wonderful job of showing how hard the lives of some ballerinas are and how psychotic some parents can be.

365 days of film

.028 The Road To El Dorado

directed by Bibo Bergeron, Will Finn; starring Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh

5/5 stars

Living in early 16th century Spain, Miguel and Tulio are common crooks who dream of a grand adventure. After accidentally stowing away on a voyage of Cortez’s, they end up finding El Dorado - the city of gold.

This film is flawless - it has jokes for adults and for children. It’s cute and talks about history, whether it’s right or not. It also discusses friendship and what it means to love a person and hate them at the same time.

365 days of film

.027 Madeline

directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer; starring Frances McDormand

4.5/5 stars

“In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. In two straight lines they broke their bread and brushed their teeth and went to bed. They smiled at the good and frowned at the bad and sometimes they were very sad. They left the house at half past nine in two straight lines in rain or shine — the smallest one was Madeline.” Following the plot of the classic children’s novel, Madeline follows a young French orphan throughout her adventures in Paris.

This movie is flawless except for the fact that all of the little girls speak in British accents. 

365 days of film

.026 The House Bunny

directed by Fred Wolf; starring Anna Faris, Emma Stone

3.5/5 stars

Shelley’s not the brightest crayon in the box, nor has she ever been. After nine years of living at the Playboy Mansion, she is tricked into moving out by a younger, vindictive bunny. Unsure about what to do, she ends up on a college campus, attempting to be the House Mother to the Zetas, a sorority on the brink of losing everything. 

This is such a cute movie. Anna Faris is so cute as the harmless bunny with a heart of gold, and it really shows how someone with a good heart and a strong will can get stuff done. Emma Stone was cute as well.

365 days of film

.025 Hairspray

directed by John Waters; starring Ricki Lake, Divine.

4/5 stars

In 1960’s Baltimore Tracy Turnblad, an oversized teen, fights for hers and everyone else’s right to dance on television. She deals with mean girls, sabotage, and racism, all while trying to finish her dream.

Decidedly darker than it’s musical sucessor, Hairspray hits all the right notes. It’s cute and tawdry and tacky, but it’s fun to watch and the jokes and comments made about the society of the 1960’s - and Baltimore - are just so spot on. Plus Ricki Lake is a gem, and Divine is wonderful.

365 days of film

.024 Cry-Baby

directed by John Waters; starring Johnny Depp, Ricki Lake, Traci Lords.

3/5 stars

Wade Walker, a juvenile delinquent known as ‘Cry-Baby’, falls for the young square Alison Vernon-Williams. While they try to create their love story, gang wars and personal prejudices try to keep them apart. Mostly a parody of films like Rebel Without a Cause and Grease, it jokes about the frivolity of life in the 1950’s.

John Waters is always a funny guy, and this movie is funny, poking holes in logic and using a young Johnny Depp to emulate the masculine ideals of John Travolta and James Dean. It’s not his best work, but it sure leaves you laughing.

365 days of film

.023 Cashback

directed by Sean Ellis; starring Sean Biggerstaff, Emilia Fox

4/5 stars

During his final year of art college, Ben Willis is dumped by his first girlfriend and develops an extreme case of insomnia. To make the most of it and to earn a bit of cash, he takes on a job during the night shift at his local grocery store.

Maybe it’s because I adore Sean Biggerstaff, but this film was magic. It wasn’t perfect but it had this charm about it. When in college, you can identify with having long periods of time where you need to be doing stuff but you just sit around, awake without a purpose. The coloring was lovely, as was the editing. Not many films could pull off the time stop like this one did.

365 days of film

.022 Amelie

directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet; starring Audrey Tatou, Matthieu Kassovitz

5/5 stars

Having grown up in an unusual family situation, Amélie Poulain lives a normal life as a waitress in Paris. She has few friends and fewer ambitions, mostly pertaining to her life at home. After the death of Princess Dianna, her life is turned into an ongoing adventure to help others, find love, and most importantly, find herself.

Amélie is a film that I can watch over and over again and fall in love each and every time. There is a spark in the way Jean-Pierre Jeunet does his films that just catches your eye and makes it hard to turn away. He uses color and style in a way that is flawless. He also shows the characters with their flaws but also lets you empathize with them. He creates portraits of the world we live in.

365 days of film

.021 No Doubt: Live in the Tragic Kingdom

directed by Sophie Muller; starring Gwen Stefani, Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont, Adrian Young.

3.5/5 stars

After three yeas on the road, ska band No Doubt returns home to Orange County to play for their hometown crowd for two nights and two nights only.

The whole reason that this is so low is because I watched it on an old VHS that I bought off Amazon for 0.69 cents. The video quality really did detract from everything else about this amazing production. Gwen’s energy just feeds the crowd and the rest of the band, showcasing what makes No Doubt a powerhouse band both in recording and in live performances.

365 days of film

.020 Journey to Fearless

Taylor Swift.

3.5/5 stars

Journey to Fearless follows Taylor Swift through the beginning of her life up until her first headlining tour, the Fearless Tour. It talks about all of her hit songs and the meanings behind them and how her career choices affected her life, her family and her friends.

I love Taylor. After buying the Speak Now World Tour DVD, I decided to buy this with my roommate. This was a lot different then Speak Now, but it also really got me to know Taylor a little better. It as entertaining but it was not as good as Speak Now. It was cute, though, and entertaining.