Visual Effects Explained for Black Swan

I just think this video is so awesome. One of my favorite movies of the year, and it explains how the visual effects were for the film were done. I honestly though that Natalie Portman did MOST of the moves herself, so it is a bit disappointing to see that all they had to do was a head replacement. Although it is nice to see a film with a miniscule budget compared to other Hollywood films be able to do what they did.

And it still doesn't take away from Natalie's performance. Oscar winner? I think so!

Oscar Nominations..Do We Agree?

It's that time of year again. Oscar nominations..the time we await all year long. For the most part, nominations were business as usual. Black Swan, The Social Network, The King's Speech, and The Fighter. I think those four were the concensus for a while now as to which films would be nominated for Best Picture (although some might disagree). If the Academy still only nominated 5 films, I believe those four would definitely be in there. From there, things got somewhat tricky. True Grit seemed like the obvious choice for major oscar love. The Coen brothers, starring last year's Best Actor winner Jeff Bridges, alongside Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, and new IT girl Hailee Steinfeld. Then the Globes snubbed it, and people were no longer sure what to think. What was going on? Then the film came out, it made $100+ million (and counting), and suddenly David Poland proclaimed he believed it was now the Oscar frontrunner. Blogger Sasha Stone "mocked," and Scott Feinberg "couldn't believed his eyes."

Well, I think Poland went a tad over-the-top in his prediction, but True Grit did end up getting 10 nominations, the second most nominations after the King's Speech with 12. I think its best shot at a major award belongs to Steinfeld in the Best Supporting Actress category. But even that category is a stacked race, with any of those ladies having the ability to walk away with gold. As long as we are talking about the Best Supporting Actress race, let's discuss the one issue I have with the race. People think Mila Kunis should have been nominated for Black Swan. Erroneous. Barbara Hershey's performance in that film as Natalie Portmnan's mother was nothing short of spectacular. She was so eary, so disturbing..almost like a modern day "Mommie Dearest" stage mother (I love me some Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford). Honestly, I really thought she would get a last minute nomination, a la Maggie Gylenhaal in Crazy Heart last year. But alas, Jacki Weaver got the last slot. I haven't yet seen Animal Kingdom, so I can't really say much as to how much she deserved it or not. But from what I have heard, she nails it.

Some other complaints? Black Swan not being nominated for Best Make-up and Best Costume Design? Comn Academy. No Ryan Gosling for Best Actor? Ryan and Michelle played off so well together--their story was one. If you nominate Michelle, how can you not nominate Ryan--even with how stacked the Actress race was. Speaking of Best Actress, I am still speechless as to how I Am Love has totally been off the radar. Tilda Swinton was absolutely awe-inspiring in that role, in which she learned to speak Italian with a Russian accent. I can't believe she did not launch more of a campaign, but from what I have heard about Tilda, not totally unexpected. And John Adam's score? I still listen to it on my iPod all the time.

Those are my initial complaints with this year's Oscar nominations. For your viewing pleasure, considering my love for Black Swan, I will leave you with a cool video in which the CG process for the film is explained and shown in a very cool way. Take a look.