Reviews

One has to admire the sheer scale of this project. At times it may be hard to follow and you have to just let go and give up trying to understand what is happening, but I assure you it comes together at the end.

The chase scenes set in neo-seoul are heart-racing and extremely impressive. Doona Bae is spectacular as Somni 451.

Towards the end of the movie I was fighting back tears as 2 stories reached tragic conclusions.

The best part of this is that the Wachowskis/Tykwer have taken a massive risk and have done something new with a large 'pop' movie. It will no doubt divide audiences and a lot of the people who will be attracted by its sensational trailer will no doubt feel a bit alienated. But personally, I was blown away.

One of the worst films I've ever had to sit through in a movie theatre. Should have been made for and aimed at children. But it isn't. It's a mess of under-explored plot elements and bad dialogue. Awful writing, awful direction. Disappointing to say the least. There is actually nothing else to say about this movie. Nothing. The relationship between the girls is unbelievable. We're supposed to believe they are the best of friends but the on-screen energy is awful. One particular scene featured one of the girls breaking down and crying. But the actress just looked like her face was in pain, probably because she wasn't really bothered. This movie is set in the modern day and yet all the girls are running around at night in ankle length white night-dresses.

Worst scene: Teacher gets fresh with student all of a sudden. Most people just laughed. It was so ridiculous.

Best scene: The opening moth-animation.

While it has excellent performances I was a little confused as to its point. Shame about what? Sex addiction? Big deal. Has that issue not already been explored? This film presents it like it's suddenly new and fresh. People have sex, get over it. We sat there expected to feel upset because Brandon has a problem. His problem: he likes to have sex. Dirty sex. And he thinks about it all the time. Boo-f*cking-hoo. Scene after scene Brandon moves further towards 'rock-bottom'. Towards the end of the movie...wait for it, what's that scary, unnerving music about? Goodness! Brandon is having sexual relations with a man! A man! As in a homosexual encounter! The Shame!

And when he finally hits rock bottom, he has a THREESOME, oh the Shame!

I could hear a lot of people in the audience using the words 'incredible' 'powerful' etc. etc. But apart from a few buzz-words, they didn't really have anything else to say.

The Good:

Great performances from the cast, good direction, the relationship between Brandon and his sister is somewhat interesting. His 'revelation' that he actually cares for someone (his sister) is nice.

The Bad:

The Shame!

The emperor's new clothes feeling that surrounds this film.

The Good:

Great eerie atmosphere throughout, although the movement made me feel like I was watching CG from a video-game.

Not the biggest Val Kilmer fan, but he delivers a good performance.

Best scene: Hall attempting to write the first chapter of his new book.

The Bad:

A bizarre script which seems to bring its audience on a goose chase but doesn't bring us to a satisfying conclusion.

I was expecting a 3d movie, however only 2 scenes are 3d, with glasses appearing on the screen signifying the point at which you must put on your 3d shades... 'it's time for your shades folks, the 3d bit is coming up, now remove your shades, now put them on again!', you get it.

Atmosphere of the movie was enjoyable but the whole time I felt like I wasn't really bothered what happened to any of the characters.

Bottom line: Wait for the DVD.

I managed to get the hot ticket for TIFF, which was of course, Black Swan (if you don't count Bruce Springsteen). Wow. It took me a while to get into this, it takes a while to build and I was worried I was going to be watching a movie about a ballet dancer moaning about her life, but man does it pick up! The music does wonders, and the team have managed to fuse the movie well with music everyone is familiar with. Swan Lake, something everyone is familiar with, is suddenly all very new, and it's dark and disturbing territory.

A wonderful performance from Natalie Portman with an excellent supporting cast (Winona seems to be clawing her way back).

Excellent visuals which reach an epic crescendo in the 2nd and 3rd acts of the eventual opening night of 'Swan Lake'. As the screen faded to black with a roaring crowd and blasting classical music I got shivers down my spine.

I would definitely agree with one of the other posters, at times this movie feels like a horror, I could see other audience members hiding behind magazines during one particularly tense scene.

In the words of Nina, it's 'PERFECT'.