Natalie Portman

‘Knight of Cups’ is repetitive, heavy-handed, “First World” navel-gazing at its most self-indulgent. But my god is it beautiful!

The release of  Star Wars: The Force Awakens later this month will mark the newest entry in one of the most popular science fiction movie franchises to date, the first new addition to the series in a decade. To commemorate the new film, the first one made without the involvement of George Lucas and directed by …

It looks like Natalie Portman will continue to rack up more projects to put on the upcoming list. The Academy Award winner is set to play Jackie Kennedy in an upcoming biopic from No director Pablo Larrain, according to Variety. The film will chronicle the first four days in Jackie Kennedy’s life after the assassination …

Sometimes, it’s the small moments in which you find joy. So it goes with Thor: The Dark World, a movie that frequently botches the big-picture details but balances out the messiness on the whole with minute gags, throwaway lines, and offhand glances that are laid-back and assured. The returning cast members have enough built-in chemistry, and the script has enough moments of genuine wit and cleverness, that Thor: The Dark World doesn’t sink despite being weighed down with an enormously, unnecessarily convoluted story.

As one monthly theme begins, another ends. The former is, of course, Sound on Sight’s monthlong dedication to all films that scare, terrify, or spook us in conjunction with October being the scariest month of the year. (That’s a scientific fact, folks.) The latter is our look at the works of Wong Kar-Wai, inspired by …

Sofia Coppola is one of the most highly-acclaimed young directors in Hollywood today, with a style that’s distinct from her famous father’s work, yet high in quality. Natalie Portman is similarly one of the most well-regarded young actresses, with a clear versatility demonstrated in numerous roles over her already long career. The two have only …

At Inside Out 2012, Toronto’s LGBT Film Festival, I struck up a conversation with a woman – about lesbian scenes, no less. As tantalizing as the premise sounds, she eventually digressed into a rather scholarly discussion about how most of these scenes are sensationalized, how they objectify women, how unrealistic they are, and, of course, …

Thor Directed by Kenneth Branagh Written by Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz and John Payne 2011, USA In a strange twist of fate, Branagh brings a Shakespearean edge to Thor, perhaps the silliest and consequently, the most difficult of all the Avengers superheroes to bring to the screen. Though he does not entirely overcome the silliness …

Recently we’ve seen many big-name filmmakers directing TV commercials on the side, and next in line is Sofia Coppola. Following her very successful work for Chérie a couple of years ago, that became a YouTube sensation, Coppola was hired back for a new campaign for the fragrance. The new ad for Cherie fragrance has premiered …

The Other Woman Directed by Don Roos 2011, USA The Other Woman, or as it is known under its better title Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, features what might be Natalie Portman’s first grown-up performance.  She has always been a good actress, but her work here in Don Roos’ film adaptation of Ayelet Waldman’s novel …

No Strings Attached Directed by Ivan Reitman Written by Elizabeth Meriwether USA, 2011 Blame Judd Apatow. Before Superbad, Hollywood romantic comedies were bland, predictable and puritanical tales of quirky characters who only needed a  little push to realize that they were perfect for each other. After the smashing success of the Apatow films, romantic comedies …

Black Swan Directed by Darren Aronofsky Written by Darren Aronofsky 2010, USA Darren Aronofsky does not have a medium setting. However one might feel about any of this films – from the agitated anti-drug parable Requiem for a Dream to the time-bending metaphysical sci-fi mini-epic The Fountain to working-man’s tragedy The Wrestler – it’s difficult …

Apple has released a new promotional video for the upcoming thriller Black Swan. So far the promotional material has been solid with beautiful poster work and a terrific trailer. This music video unfortunately does disservice to the film, a film which many of us here at Sound On Sight believe is the best film of …

The rumor mill keeps churning on Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. What is a Batman film without a love interest? Even better, what is a Batman film without a villain? Deadline claims that sources are telling them that Christopher Nolan will be meeting with six lovely ladies to fill in additional roles to the …

“Black Swan is an elegant, impeccably designed film in both form and content that should delicately pirouette into many cineastes’ films-of-the-year list.” Black Swan Directed by Darren Aronofsky Written by Mark Heyman Starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassell & Barbara Hershey USA, 2010 In his new psychological musical Black Swan, director Darren Aronofsky has delivered …

Workmanlike and inoffensive, Brothers will neither devastate nor severely disappoint. Brothers Directed by Jim Sheridan The latest in a long line of Sheridan dramas oriented around family units,  Brothers, adapted from the 2004 Danish feature of the same name, is competently constructed and generally well-performed, but hovers just above mediocrity throughout the proceedings. Perhaps in …

Variety reports that Cate Blanchett is set to star as Lady Edwina Mountbatten in Joe Wright’s Indian Summer.  The film will follow the critical events during India’s Independence from England.  Lord Mountbatten (with Edwina in tow) is sent to oversee the transfer of power to India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in the summer of …

Phillip Noyce (Clear and Present Danger, Rabbit-Proof Fence) is set to return to South Africa with a new thriller entitled Mixed Blood.  Not a shocking choice for the Australian filmmaker considering his last directorial effort Catch a Fire.  Based off the Roger Smith novel of the same name, the film will center on an American …

Twilight was the toast of the MTV Movie Awards winning five major prizes. But who gives a shit. Sacha Baron Cohen just tea bagged Eminem. Now that’s what I want more of at my awards shows. Yes, the bit is ripped off from a similar stunt by Howard Stern pulled at the VMA’s some while …