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Black Swan – Darren Aronofsky

In: Pithy Movie Reviews

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Something not sitting well. Style trumps substance. Situations and performances a little reductive, caricaturish. Not a film one wants to revisit more than once: because it doesn’t especially bring one closer to ‘truth’ (whatever such a thing could be). Prefer the other films of his corpus to date— even the highly ambitious and flawed The Fountain.


B–/B

Related posts:

  1. Another Year – Mike Leigh
  2. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger – Woody Allen
  3. The Tree of Life – Terrence Malick
  4. Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen


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You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger – Woody Allen

In: Pithy Movie Reviews

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Woody Allen actually came out with a decent movie. I’m amazed. Probably his best since

1999— either this, or Vicki Cristina Barcelona.

 

B/B+

Related posts:

  1. Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen
  2. Black Swan – Darren Aronofsky
  3. Another Year – Mike Leigh
  4. The Tree of Life – Terrence Malick


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Chinese Democracy – Guns n’ Roses

In: Pithy Movie Reviews

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I like Guns n’ Roses more than perhaps I should. Have a strange fondness for and identification with Axl Rose. And, more subconsciously than not, was awaiting this album for over a decade, increasingly skeptical it would ever be released. So when it actually was, I felt compelled to write a review. Clearly, this review is miscategorized. I have no intention of rating more music, so I include it here.

 

Key: 
[ X ] – don’t like
[ ~ ] – okay 
[ * ] – like

 

1. Chinese Democracy  ~
2. Shackler’s Revenge  ~ 
3. Better  ~/*
4. Street of Dreams  *
5. If the World  *
6. There Was a Time  *
7. Catcher in the Rye  * – the first two-thirds of the song is decent, the last third good
8. Scraped  ~
9. Riad n’ the Bedouins  X
10. Sorry  ~
11. IRS  ~ 
12. Madagascar  * – the middle section containing voiceovers, a patchwork dialogue or de facto poem, is far too long musically, but from a literary perspective probably contains the most poignant lyrics on the album 
13. This I Love  * – horribly maudlin, yet a catchy melody, and surprisingly poignant
14. Prostitute  X/~

 

Overall technique/style:  B+/A- (would be higher if the album weren’t so overproduced) 
Overall substance/poignancy:  B-/B
Lyrics: neutral to poor

 

Overall grade:  B+

Final thoughts: In spite of how overproduced and convoluted this album is, there is something of the obsessive, daemonic, and genius in it that somehow prevents the flaws from being utterly unworkable, and even uses some of them to the album’s advantage. Does the album bear repeated listens? Yes. One can listen to it periodically year after year, and this is a hallmark of ‘art.’ It likely would have done better commercially if it had been split into two cds— ‘Official Album’ (best songs), and ‘B Sides’ (weaker songs)— and if a good song drawing directly on Guns n’ Roses fans’ pent up nostalgia, for instance, There Was a Time, had been released as the first single rather than the mediocre and incongruous Chinese Democracy.

Related posts:

  1. The Tree of Life – Terrence Malick
  2. Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen
  3. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger – Woody Allen
  4. Another Year – Mike Leigh


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If you found the above item worthwhile—or get any joy and value from the site—it would be great if you could leave a 'tip'... FWIW takes a lot of time and money to run. Donations from engaged readers are immensely helpful (and indeed indispensable).

 

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