movie review: Black Swan
The backstory: Black Swan has been nominated for four Golden Globes (and you know I love the Golden Globes!): Best Picture, Drama; Best Actress in a Drama, Natalie Portman; Best Director, Darren Aronofsky; Best Supporting Actress, Mila Kunis) The basics: Natalie Portman plays Nina, a tightly wound ballet dancer desperate to land the lead in Swan Lake . She's perfect for the white swan, but does she have the fire to also play the black swan? My thoughts: I love a story within a story, and this film takes classical ballet and makes it accessible for a rather different demographic. For those unfamiliar with the story of Swan Lake , it's simply described near the beginning. Even though it's clear the movie itself is a version of Swan Lake , it has enough twists and turns to make the two versions complimentary rather than redundant. There are times it's (intentionally) unclear what is real and what Nina thinks is real. Portman delivers her best performances in the scen...