The Fountain

A doctor (Hugh Jackman) ignores his dying wife (Rachel Weisz) in an obsessive attempt to find a cure for the cancer ravaging her body by way of a life sustaining substance. Meanwhile, she is struggling to finish her novel about a conquistador (Jackman) on a quest to find the Tree of Life for his queen (Weisz) during the Inquisition while, 500 years in the future from the present day, a spaceman (Jackman) is bringing his wife's remains to a far off nebula in the hopes of renewed life. The Fountain is ill-conceived, overornate, and self-serious with artificial looking special effects. Though containing potential, writer/director Darren Aronofsky doesn't know how to culminate its lackluster stories. Jackman is strong but strained and the soundtrack is excellent.

** out of ****

Mother!

A poet (Javier Bardem) and his considerably younger wife (Jennifer Lawrence) live in their recently renovated house which had burned to cinders. Now they receive uninvited guests (Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer) who can’t take a hint and refuse to leave, with the crowd soon growing to mass proportions with apocalyptic implications and consequences. With absurdism akin to a Bunuel movie plus a tinge of Rosemary’s Baby, Darren Aronofsky’s Mother! is an outrageous allegory on the creative process which is fascinating to see just how far the thin premise can be stretched. Lawrence delivers an overwrought, impressive performance.

 *** ½ out of ****

Noah

Darren Aronofsky's reimagining of the biblical tale features a strong performance from Russell Crowe, astounding visuals (which is all the more impressive considering how much of the movie is CGI), and thankfully doesn't get too far away from its source, despite some ludicrous additions and dull passages in this 140 minute adaptation of a 2 page story.

** 1/2 out of ****

Black Swan

As a wrestler in high school, I never understood the mentality of the athletes who would wrestle in the 103 lb. weight class: starving themselves to maintain weight while going through a grueling practice. They must have done it for the roar of the crowd or the thrill of victory (though I'm still not sure it was worth the sacrifice). Black Swan is a film about a ballerina that understands this mentality and captures ballet brutally on the screen. It focuses on a dancer named Nina (Natalie Portman) gearing up for the lead in Swan Lake. As she morphs into the part of the role for which she is not fully qualified, the lines between fantasy and reality begin to blur as she faces a rivalry from a newly arrived dancer (Mila Kunis) and pressure from her instructor (Vincent Cassel). Black Swan is another hit from dark director Darren Aronofsky, and understands that dark side of sports that so many competitors are drawn to.

π

π (Pi) is the 1998 directorial debut of dark and acclaimed director Darren Aronofsky. Shot on a shoestring in grainy black and white, it tells the story of Max, a mathematical genius who finds patterns everywhere. For the past ten years he has been trying to crack the ultimate code: the stock market. Now he believes he is extremely close in doing so. Soon he begins seeing patterns in everything and gradually begins a descent into madness. There is real craftsmanship evident in this film and you can tell that Aronofsky was a talented filmmaker from the beginning. Yet, like with the rest of his work, it is unremittingly bleak and this one is almost headache inducing. I did like the bizarre ending however.
**1/2