Movie Review: Black Swan

IMDB: 8.9

Rotten Tomatoes: 88%

Some Spoilers Ahead

I attended a screening of Black Swan last night. It was every bit as insane, real, weird and uncomfortable as a Darren Aronofsky would be. It was also as ballet-able as a movie about ballet could possibly be. But overall, it was just a really good movie.

Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis were great together and... well, you've probably heard by now what happens. Yes, it is as great as it sounds. They play all the emotions of your standard romantic comedy relationship - hate, friendship, love, betrayal - without any of the awful acting or unbelievable story. Also, they're both really pretty girls.

Portman's mother, played by Barbara Hershey, is creepy as hell. Completely different from Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream, but just as weird. Did I mention Mila Kunis?

Black Swan was nearly equal to 127 Hours in uncomfortable viewing moments. The main thing I took from the movie was how freaking painful ballet must be. If I have daughters, there's no way they're taking dance lessons. I think I'd rather have them play football. I also know, that I'll never be able to look at a hangnail again without fear that I might pull out a feather.

The most surprising thing about Black Swan was the number of laughs it got. Honestly, I think it came from how uncomfortable everyone was. I kind of wanted to tell people to shut up. I guess you could have laughed more during The Wrestler, but I think you'd have to be a little "special" to do so.

Black Swan is a crazy movie about a subject that is the least crazy you can think of. Portman makes it all work was she melts down for the entire film. Just a crazy performance. Crazy.

Boardwalk Empire: A 7th Grade English Paper Review

From time to time, friends of the site will contribute reviews of different programs or movies. Heck, in the future I might even contribute reviews or thoughts on stuff. Who knows!? Here's 1 Happy St's review of Boardwalk Empire, as told through the lens of a 7th grade English paper.

In general, I have enjoyed Boardwalk Empire. It has been slow moving at times, but also very exciting at others. I have also enjoyed some of the acting performances, while not enjoying a few as well.

Boardwalk Empire is a show that debuted earlier this year to much fanfare. It was said to be similar in style to The Sopranos, however I have not found that to be true at all. The pace of the show has been slow moving at times, like the storyline with the Irish immigrant lady who seems to be all over the place. Other times the show is pretty exciting, like the car ride between the convict and the crooked FBI agent. That was pretty tense.

I have enjoyed a couple of the acting performances like the guy with the messed up face. But I have not liked the acting performance of the guy who plays Jimmy Darmody. I'm really bored with that guy. All he does is stand around in his wife beater and he has a stupid haircut.

In conclusion, I have enjoyed Boardwalk Empire in general. Granted it has been slow moving at times, but also very exciting at others. I have also enjoyed some but not all of the acting performances. And that is why I have enjoyed Boardwalk Empire.

Jon Dore On Conan

Canadian/comedian Jon Dore was on Conan on Thursday night. For days I was thinking of a legitimate reason to use the video of his appearance on The Big Lead, but just couldn't fit it in in my usual awkward manner. (/twss) Then, suddenly, I remembered that I have a severely neglected blog about television and movies.

If you're not familiar with Jon Dore, he's the guy behind the television show, The Jon Dore Television Show. The brilliant, but sometimes disturbing program aired on IFC in America and my roommate and I discovered it about a year ago in reruns. Its finally available on iTunes - season 1, season 2 - and I'm hoping eventually it makes it to DVD.

Conan's Back

Conan O'Brien returned to the television set last night for the premiere of Conan on TBS. I watched. I had to be reminded by my girlfriend because I was watching sports all night, but once I was reminded, I made sure to tun in at 11pm. Hell, I even sat through the final 90 seconds of an episode of Family Guy so I'd be sure to see the opening. That's how you can tell I was serious.

The show itself was good. Its a much loser feel than other late night shows and that's what makes it so enjoyable.

See, I like Conan. I really do. I'm sure there are tweets somewhere about how pissed off I was that Leno was kicking Conan off the Tonight Show. I was probably one of the offended interneters. I'm a small part of the reason that Conan got another show. Totally.

But will I be a dedicated viewer? I doubt it. I'm sure I'll watch a few episodes when the NBA slate is done early. I'll definitely tune in Thursday night for Jon Dore's appearance.

I was never a loyal viewer during Conan's time on the Tonight Show or the Late Show. I just wonder how long he'll be on TBS. I'm sure it will be a few years. The George Lopez has been on TBS for at least a year and he's been fine without me seeing even a second of his show.

I guess I'm just happy to have Conan back on television, even if I'm not watching.

Thursday Night Power Rankings

Thursday night is the busiest night on television. Wednesday is the second best nght Why? Why don't they move a couple shows to Monday or Tuesday? Hell, Big Bang Theory was on Mondays and they moved it to Thursdays. What's the point? Leave it on the baron wasteland that is Monday.

Now every Thursday we're forced to play the watch live versus DVR game. And on top of that, there are sports on. If you're recording two shows on my DVR, you can't watch a third channel. If there's a sporting event, I'm screwed. Tonight there's an NBA double-header on TNT. In a few weeks,

Because of the over-stuffing of Thursday nights I haven't even been able to give a fair hate-shake to Shit My Dad Says. I really would like to since the creator/writer guys have been on the FilmDrunk frotcast a couple times now. I feel like I should at least see an episode or two. I've seen multiple episodes of Outsourced and I know how fucking awful that show is. I can't even speak to Shit My Dad Says' awfulness. I barely feel comfortable talking about how bad it is.

Jersey Shore finished up last week and that helped. However, Bully Beatdown returns tonight. I love Bully Beatdown. Luckily, its on at 11.

Enough about the DVR conflicts, here's this week's Thursday rankings...

10. Outsourced

9. Shit My Dad Says

8. Read a book.

7. Bully Beatdown

6. Big Bang Theory

5. The Office

4. Always Sunny

3. 30 Rock

2. The League

1. Community

The Terriers Theme Song!

Here's the theme from Terriers. The song is called "Gunfight Epiphany" by Robert Duncan. I was going to tell you what to watch tonight, but Terriers is all that matters. Sure Cougar Town and Modern Family are cool, but Terriers is awesome.

Watch These Shows

There's stuff on television every night. I'm here to help you because your taste in television is seriously awful.

Terriers -10e - FX

Terriers is on tonight! I was so excited I initially said it was on last night. I'm not willing to get behind it quite as vehemently as Rex got behind Rubicon, but I will say I'm a fan. Tonight, Britt gets kidnapped by his old partner and is taken to Mexico. I hope Hank can save him. Though I am a little disappointed that Terriers isn't doing a Halloween episode. That would get ratings!

World Series - 8e - Fox

Its the World Series and it gets shitty ratings so if you people don't start watching, Fox will cancel the World Series. Do you really want the World Series to go the way of Arrested Development? You people are really going to regret this when you're watching the World Series on IFC at 10pm in a few years and you're thinking, "Why did they have to cancel the World Series? This show is awesome!"

Better With You - 8:30e - ABC

Nick Swisher's future wife is on this show! Tonight's episode is called "Better With Halloween." That prompted me to check and... yup! All the episodes are titled "Better With..." How clever! Let's see what happens. "Mia and Casey offer to give Maddie a Halloween-free party for her birthday." Somebody has a holiday birthday!

Modern Family - 9e - ABC

Julie Bowen, Sofia Vergara and Sarah Hyland in Halloween costumes. Yay!

Cougar Town - 9:30e - ABC

Another Halloween episode. One of the characters dresses as The Rocketeer which is why Cougar Town is awesome despite the name.

South Park - 10e - Comedy Central

"Coon and friends set out to help the victims of BP's latest catastrophic drilling accident." BP be getting lampooned!