Review - Black Swan (2010)

Black Swan is a chilling film, which follows Natalie Portman as a talented young ballerina who has worked hard to become the next swan queen in the next production of Swan Lake. Aronofsky really bring a sense of mental instability as Natalie Portman's character struggles to deal with her inner conflicts  as she throws herself into a part which she cannot fulfil . Whilst she deals with her insecurities in the part, her paranoia begins to escalate to the point where she begins to change, in a way she could never imagine.

Aronofsky's beautifully haunting film, stays with you after you finish watching it. With some truly amazing photography especially during the Swan Lake scenes, the whole piece comes together to deliver a very shocking and sometimes disturbing look into an original perspective of the struggling performer. The piece is altogether very effective and will stay with you for a while.

With great performances from the whole ensemble, in particular Natalie Portman who really comes into her own in this picture. This film is a definite must see and really deserved the recent Academy Award nominations.

Review - Rango (2011)

When a pet chameleon, who is trying to discover who he is, is transported to a world he never knew existed (the real one) his life is changed forever. His journey of self discovery takes him on a bizarre adventure where the fate of a town, unlike any other, rests in his scaly little hands.


Rango is a refreshingly original film, whilst the story is not one unheard of (journey of self discovery and becoming a hero etc) the context of it is highly unique. Not to mention the animation, which is truly superb. Instead of going down the paths of using bodysuits or simply reading lines, this film was done by filming the actors performing the scene and having the animators take everything they can from the actors performances and put it on the screen. A technique which really gave the film far more heart than the standard animation. For once the performance of the actors can really be judged rather than simply listening to them  read lines from a script.






Original, a must see and a classic for sure.

Review - Cyrus (2010)

John is seven years divorced from his wife and is having trouble adjusting to his new life. After meeting Molly at a party, he thinks that maybe he has found the perfect person again. There's just one problem: Cyrus, Molly's grown son. John must try to continue his relationship with Molly despite intentional and supposedly unintentional interference by Cyrus.


Cyrus is a brilliant, simple story, with some hilariously awkward moments. Whilst the story is simple, it is told at a great pace and has some great performances by Step Brothers star John C Reilly and Superbad's Jonah Hill, as well as a sweet performance from the lovely Marisa Tomei.


The film has done well at some film festivals, as a low budget film, Cyrus really delivers a heart warming with some great moments of comedy and romance.

Review - The Fighter (2010)

The Fighter dramatizes the true story of Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) a professional boxer whose career is spiralling after consecutive losses. Trained by his older, crack addicted, half brother, Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale), a former professional boxer whose peak of success was knocking Sugar Ray Leonard down. Micky is close to giving up his career and retiring, however after meeting Charlene Fleming (Amy Adams) and with support from his family, Micky manages to overcome his troubles at home and have one last shot at a title, an opportunity his brother never had and that he will probably never see again. 

The Fighter is an inspiring true story filmed beautifully and brutally. With fantastic performances from the cast all round, with particularly great performances from Christian Bale as the troubled crack addicted brother caught up in the past, and Melissa Leo as Micky's pushy mother. The ensemble work together brilliantly bringing a grounded, honest dramatisation of the story. Whilst there are not as many specific fighting sequences, those that are present are film brilliantly and unlike other boxer films such as Cinderella Man, the fights are shot as they would be seen on television as well as close ups on the fight. The sequences give a varied perspective of the fights themselves and ultimately the characters.

Brilliant performances and some beautiful cinematography and storytelling make this film a must see and is most definitely one of the better films based on the sport of boxing. Up with Rocky and Raging Bull.

First Post

Welcome to Poad's Review

I will be reviewing all of the latest films, from Art house to Mainstream Cinema. If there are any films you would like me to review be sure to contact me. Also if there are any films you yourself have seen and really loved or hated let me know, so I can get my own opinion.

Thanks A lot

Hope you enjoy...