Pictureland

One divine hammer.   Chris Hemsworth as Thor. God as my witness, I  really thought they were called the Frostchilds.  This, just part of the problem when numerous cast members are called upon to speak in a English accent, whether they happen to hail from England or not.  As it turns out, the enemies of Asgard and their King Odin (Anthony Hopkins) are, in fact, the Frost Giants.   Shame, really.   Instead of sounding like the patricians of a snowy realm, the bad guys find themselves with a label redolent of some forgettable Canadian Football League squad.  There's just not going to be any winning that way.  It's one of many shortcomings of this film version of Thor , feebly helmed by Kenneth Branagh.  What we have here, in addition to a failure to communicate, is some very watered down Norse Mythology. Burdened as they are by a silly na...

Somehow, I don't think this ever happened to the great Pavlova.   The insecurity? Perhaps.  The starving and/or bulemia?   Maybe, regrettably.   But probably not the hallucinogenic, body-loathing freak out that besets poor Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) in  Black Swan .   Welcome to a dancer's meltdown, Darren Aronofsky style.   Some, Mr. Aronofsky included, regard  Black Swan  as a companion piece to the director's previous feature,  The Wrestler .  Certainly, both films concern themselves with the often brutal toll taken on a body devoted to athleticism of one kind or another, whether that profession happens to involve frequently taking metal folding chairs over the head, or performing gravity-defying ballons.   The Wrestler was a near perfect convergence of star and subject matter for Aronofsky.   Mickey Rourke,  his bulky physique and visage mutated over the years by st...