Black Swan Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Aronofsky's 'Black Swan' Gains More Cast Members
Filed under: Horror », Thrillers »
By Alison NastasiDarren Aronofsky's latest film is a thriller with a supernatural twist. Black Swan is currently in pre-production and Slashfilm recently revealed full casting details for the film. It was already announced that Natalie Portman will star as Nina, a veteran ballerina competing against a mysterious rival dancer, Lily, played by Mila Kunis. As the dancers approach an important performance, Nina starts to question if her rival is a supernatural apparition or if she's having delusions and her identity starts to blur with that of her eerily similar competitor. To the absolute joy of fanboys everywhere, the film includes an "ecstasy-induced hungry, aggressive, angry sex" scene between Portman and Kunis. Having flashbacks to Requiem for a Dream yet?
Joining the cast of Black Swan will be Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder and Barbara Hershey. Ryder plays Beth, Nina's frenemie who used to be the star dancer but is nearing the end of her career. Hmm. Cassel is the "handsome but sinister" (love him but no shocker here) Yevna who is the stage director and Hershey is Nina's mother.
Read more at HorrorSquad!
Good News, Pervs! 'Black Swan' Has a Portman-Kunis Sex Scene!
Darren Aronofsky's films -- Requiem for a Dream, Pi, The Fountain, The Wrestler -- have certainly not lacked strangeness or controversy, and it appears his next one, Black Swan, due in 2010, is no different. In a review of the screenplay, Carson Reeves at ScriptShadow reveals that the story includes a sex scene between the film's stars, Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis. And as you may know, Portman and Kunis are both female lady girl women persons!! Obviously, this automatically means the scene is hawt. Reeves' script review has some significant spoilers, and not just the Internet crybaby "Oh no, you revealed a character's name!" kind, so proceed with caution over there. But the movie's premise is that Portman plays a sweet, innocent ballerina taking the lead in Swan Lake, and Kunis plays another ballerina who looks a lot like Portman but is much more reckless and "dark." How or why they end up in bed together, I won't say, and it's probably irrelevant compared to the more important issue, i.e., OMG PORTMAN KUNIS SEX!!!1! Reeves says it's "ecstasy-induced hungry aggressive angry sex"; whether he means "ecstasy" in the sense of being ecstatic or "Ecstasy" in the sense of the drug you take at raves, I don't know. I would guess the latter.
Mila Kunis Will Hunt Natalie Portman's 'Black Swan'
Filed under: Drama », Thrillers », Casting »
From wrasslers to ballerinas...Last month, we learned that Natalie Portman was going to star in Darren Aronofsky's next film, Black Swan. The plot:a veteran ballerina competes against "a rival dancer, with the stakes and twists increasing as the dancers approach a big performance." Oh, and throw a little supernatural flavor for good measure. Well, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the rival will be played by Forgetting Sarah Marshall's Mila Kunis, and that bit of strangeness: this rival "might or might not be a figment of the dancer's imagination."
Frankly, this sound amazing, when one thinks of the range and success of Aronofsky's work -- math, drugs, strange time travel in space, wrestling... But I'm now torn on the casting -- mainly because of Kunis and Portman's vague resemblance to Summer Glau. Okay, so you need at least one big name to help fuel the film. But a ballerina film starring to dark-haired and petit actresses, and neither of them Glau? It seems like missing an opportunity to make use of her dancing talent.
Do you think Kunis and Portman will be able to pull off the foot-cramping world of ballerina-dom? Is Aronofsky making a mistake by not grabbing Glau? Sound off below!
Natalie Portman Grabs the 'Black Swan'
Filed under: Drama », Thrillers », Casting », Scripts »
Darren Aronofsky's so-called fast-tracking Black Swan met a big ol' brick wall and never got off the ground like it planned to back in 2007. The project got thrown into turnaround by Universal and faded away. But now, fresh with a spanky new rewrite, The Hollywood Reporter posts that the project is picking up steam. The supernatural thriller, which takes place in New York City's ballet world, has gotten a rewrite by Mark Heyman, and one hell of a lead in Natalie Portman. It also doesn't hurt that The Wrestler did so darned well. The film, being described by some as a "spine-tingler" reminiscent of The Others, will focus on a veteran ballerina (Portman) competing against "a rival dancer, with the stakes and twists increasing as the dancers approach a big performance." Somehow, somewhere, something supernatural slips in.
But it's not a done deal yet. As tasty and unique as the project sounds (albeit with a slight hint of Joss Whedon and Summer Glau), it's being shopped to studios and isn't definite quite yet. However, should a studio bite, this project could get dancing right away. And should it? I think so. It'll be a whole new type of role for Portman, and I'm dying to see how she does in Aronofsky's unique world. How about you?
Aronofsky Turns to Ballet for Next Film
Filed under: Drama », Thrillers », Deals », Universal », DIY/Filmmaking », Newsstand »
It took six years and a host of production issues to get another film out of Darren Aronofsky. While The Fountain basically bombed at the box office and found an extremely mixed reaction amongst critics, that's not stopping the man from moving forward. And, it's definitely not stopping studios from taking a chance on his brilliance -- hoping that, one day, his films will turn a profit.
Determined to release another Aronofsky film before the year 2013, Universal Pictures has teamed up with Phoenix Pictures and Aronofsky's Protozoa on Black Swan -- a psychological thriller to be penned by John McLaughlin and directed by Aronofsky. Pic will delve deep inside the world of ballet -- yes, ballet -- but with, what I assume, will be a very dark and disturbing Aronofsky-esque twist. Story focuses on the manipulative relationship between two rival dancers.
Originally presented with a very detailed outline, studio has also decided to "fast-track" the project. For those of you not down with the industry jargon, that means there's a good chance it will head into production later this year or in early 2008. Aronofsky directing a film about rival ballet dancers? I don't know, I'm iffy. Yet, if you tell me it's Bring It On meets Requiem for a Dream -- I'm totally game. What say you?
Tips for Tuesday: New to DVD on 7/11
Filed under: New on DVD », Home Entertainment »
(Last week was amazingly skimpy, and this one's only marginally more exciting.)Recent Theatricals
Basic Instinct 2 (Sony) -- We used to have only one movie about Sharon Stone's crotch. Now we have two. (director commentary, featurette, ten deleted scenes, alternate ending, "unrated" edition)
Foreign and Arty
Koko: A Talking Gorilla (Criterion) -- One of the finest documentaries you'll ever see about the relationship between man and his "lesser" cousins. (video interview with co-director Barbet Schroeder)
Tristram Shandy: A Cock & Bull Story (HBO) -- All I've heard is that they took an "unfilmable" book and turned it into one weird piece of cinema. Looking forward to it. (filmmaker commentary, deleted & extended scenes, interviews, behind-the-scenes featurette)
Yi Yi (Criterion) -- A three-hour family drama from China. And I hear it's pretty freaking fantastic. (audio commentary, interviews, essay booklet)
Catalog Picks
The Black Swan (Fox) -- One of those old pirate flicks from the '40s that I've always wanted to see. This one's got Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara. (audio commentary, restoration comparison)
Grand Prix (Warner) -- Frankenheimer was a guy's guy. And this flick is his 1966 love letter to the sport of car racing. (retrospective documentary, four featurettes)
Direct-to-Video
The Garden (Anchor Bay) -- A low-budget DTV horror movie starring Lance Henriksen. Bizarre, I know. (director commentary, featurette)
Grilled (New Line) -- Ray Romano, Kevin James, Burt Reynolds, Juliette Lewis, Jon Polito, Michael Rapaport, Kim Coates, Sofia Vergara, and Richard Libertini in a comedy about ... meat. (two featurettes, deleted scene)
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Directors We Love: Jim Jarmusch
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
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Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
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