Pointe & Portman

Today I was IMDB'ing (one of my favorite activities.....should I get a life?) and came across Black Swan, set to premiere at TIFF in September. I'm expecting big things for a few reasons: 1) It's directed by Brooklyn-born Darren Aronofsky, who most of you will know for directing 2009's The Wrestler and the cult favorite Requiem for a Dream (Jennifer Connolly, total babe) and 2) it stars Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, and Winona Ryder.

Winona Ryder?! What?

Thefts aside, interesting cast. While some talented actors pick some truly dreadful scripts (Denzel?), Natalie Portman never disappoints. She outshines her counterparts by miles, but Mila has potential to come into her own. Most of the other actors are in that awkward in-between stage, like awkward preteens trying their best to graduate from the silver screen.Parisian Vincent Cassel is the only notable male lead, having shot Ocean's Twelve and Thirteen, but as is always the case with TIFF.. the actors don't make the film. The film makes them.

Anyway, it's a bit of a typical ballet movie in some ways: totally consumed dancer with an overbearing mother and a hot young thing rival. The competition unravels little miss perfect and then things get creative. Why is there always a market for ballet movies? I swear once every five years they're back, in some way very appealing. Ballet in film is always much sexier than ballet in real life. Less anorexia, more ass.

The rest of the lineup is here:

http://tiff.net/press/pressreleases/2010/celebrated-actors-and-filmmakers-take-centre-stage-as-tiff-announces-stellar-lineup-of-galas-and-special-presentations

And believe me, I have a lot more to say about many of these.

when did murder become so profitable?

Twenty-year-old Xavier Dolan killed his mother and has been living comfortably ever since.

Yes, you read that correctly. Last year's TIFF was blown up by the debut of a multitalented twenty-year-old writer/director/actor by the name of Xavier Dolan. The Quebec native wrote the screenplay for J'ai Tué Ma Mère when he was a babyfaced boy of seventeen and produced, directed, and starred in it by twenty. (What? You'd done absolutely nothing noteworthy by 20? You feel like a complete underachiever? Did I mention it premiered at Cannes and won every award it was eligible for?) The film is no horror film, no murder involved - rather, the semi-autobiographical film depicts the relationship of a homosexual son - played by Dolan - and his mother (Anne Dorval), and is a moving, raw, and powerful homage to the tribulations of a homosexual teenager. However, Dolan argued, the focus is not on the homosexuality, but on the relationship between a mother and her son, who just happens to be gay.

I do wonder what his mother's reaction to the film was...

Watch it and let me know what you think - should get you in the mood for TIFF 2010

(Love his style, mind you - great hair.)

Anomaly

a·nom·a·ly

(ə-nŏm'ə-lē)   n. pl. a·nom·a·lies Deviation or departure from the normal or common order, form, or rule. One that is peculiar, irregular, abnormal, or difficult to classify   The difficulty with dictionaries is that they do not include connotations. Though I stick by the often reiterated: It is better to be spoken about negatively than not spoken about at all. An impact of any kind is preferable to weightlessness.