STEVE INSKEEP, Host: It is Friday morning, which is when we usually hear from our film critic, Kenneth Turan. He's been watching the new movie "Black Swan," in which ballet is a contact sport.</s>KENNETH TURAN: Ballerina Nina, played by Portman, is introduced as a timid soul who's labored for years in the corps de ballet without a peep of protest.</s>M: (as Nina Sayers) I had the craziest dream last night, about a girl who's turned into a swan, but her prince falls for the wrong girl and she kills herself. He promised to feature me more this season.</s>M: (as Erica Sayers) Well, he should. You've been there long enough, and you're the most dedicated dancer in the company.</s>KENNETH TURAN: Nina's artistic director, played by Vincent Cassel, is thinking of offering her the lead in "Swan Lake," but he's not sure she has what it takes to play the black swan part of the role.</s>M: (as Thomas) Seduce us! Not just the prince but the court, the audience, the entire world. Come on. Like a spider spinning a web. Attack it, attack it, come on.</s>KENNETH TURAN: Because Nina starts out crazy, there is nowhere of interest for her character to go. But expecting subtlety from a Darren Aronofsky film is like expecting Pixar to announce a slasher movie. Not in this lifetime.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, Host: Ken Turan reviews movies for MORNING EDITION and the Los Angeles Times. And we review more of the week's new movies, not least the con man comedy "I Love You Phillip Morris," at NPR.org.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, Host: This is NPR News.
December is Oscar bait season at the movies, when there's a surge of films coming into theaters before the end of the year to qualify for the Academy Awards. One of the movies in that race opens Friday: Black Swan.