Writing Eliza

Another Orange Wednesday Review - The Great Gatsby *****

May 16, 2013 11:49 pm

All Photos (c) Warner Bros

‘My life’s got to be like this… it’s got to keep going on.’

The Great Gatsby is undoubtedly one of my favourite novels of all time. It is, arguably one of the greatest reads in the history of Western literature. But that’s by the by.

Plot: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s turn of the twentieth century semi-autobiographical novel, focusing on greed and apathy, decadence and hedonism in American society worked on so many levels on its initial publication in 1925 and works just as beautifully on a twenty-first century digital 3D screen. Whether you focus on the wider symbolism, Gatsby as an emblem of American society, or the micro-plot, the painful love story which sears the heart of the film, the dialogue soars off the page.

Acting/Direction: Dicaprio has simply matured into the role of Gatsby. He has always played conflicted, yet overwhelmingly optimistic characters, bound by fate, love and ambition, whether Jack Dawson or Romeo Monatague. The role of Gatsby hinges on Dicaprio’s abilities and the film comes off far better for it. Maguire’s performance as Nick Carraway, the voyeuristic writer is also laudable, meanwhile Carey Mulligan’s Daisy does seem somewhat more sympathetic than the character from the novel.

CGI/Setting: Director Baz Luhrmann is known for his visually delicious cinematic delights, and this film is no different. The sumptuous landscape of West Egg and 1920s America straddles the line between historical re-creation and fantasyland. Perhaps Luhrman’s vision takes something from Fitzgerald’s dreamlike surrealism, which pervades the language of his novel.

Score/Music: Searing. Shawn Carter (aka Jay-Z)’s production on the soundtrack of this film echoes 1920s Jazz and the emergence of the Jazz age and remixes it (quite literally) to give a reckless, modern feel that contemporary audiences will definitely love and be excited by. The music soars and dives, from Jack White (Love is Blindness) to Florence and the Machine (Green Light) to Gotye (Heart’s A Mess), all the way round to Jay-Z himself (100$ Bills).

Overall: It’s definitely a Green Light for this film. Go see it! Go go go!

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May 10, 2013 3:29 pm

Another Orange Wednesday Review - Star Trek Into Darkness ****

All Photos (c) Bad Robot/Skydance/KOPaper Productions

I <3 Star Trek. I was one of the ‘kids’ who became a trekkie late. Like, forty years late. The fact of the matter is, my parents were pre-teens when The Original Series was done and dusted. However, ever since I watched the reboot in 2009, (you can read my review here) I got incredibly hooked on the storylines, world, and characters. So hooked that I wrote fanfiction that got me my first fans and helped me to meet my best friend, M.

There is nothing like a good space soap opera and a Universe united under the blanket of space exploration. Then, of course there was Zachary Quinto. Let’s all just take a good moment to appreciate him in all his Heroes/American Horror Story/Spockian glory…

Moment over, good. Now on to the review.

Trailers: ‘White House Down’ - LIKE IT (Interesting, seeing as I’m having ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ de ja vu here. No Gerard Butler, he’s been replaced with Channing Tatum…) ‘Kick Ass’ - LOVE IT. Cannot wait to see Jim Carrey kick major bootay. ‘Great Gatsby’ - LIKE IT - This film boasts a supremely hot soundtrack but I have my reservations.

Plot: Although the plot is far more focused than 2009’s ‘Star Trek’ origin movie, this film comes into its own with a banging last thirty minutes which showcases great relationships, wonderful acting and gets to the gooey centre of what it means to be ‘human’. A real attempt was made to give the characters a new adventure. Beware all ye who venture here, there is a lot of death. And a lot of tears.

Acting/Direction: You may know him as Benedict Cumberbatch. He was great in Danny Boyle’s ‘Frankenstein’ at the National Theatre and is flawless in this insane role. Zachary Quinto’s Spock tows the line between overflowing with emotion and being emotionless and Zoe Saldana exploits every opportunity to shine. Chris Pine’s Kirk is believable as the conflicted Captain of the Enterprise and makes a clear link between the man we see in the chair and the man who was discovered by Captain Pike. One actor who really has his day is Simon Pegg, providing much-needed humour during a film which takes us into the very darkest recesses of human experience.

CGI/Setting: Judging from the extensive credits (I always stay till the end) a battalion, a veritable legion of folks worked on post-production, giving ‘Into Darkness’ a classy sheen. What results is a delight and a wonderful visual daydream of a movie. We have Industrial Light and Magic to thank for that. Some of the handheld-esque shots seem to have been taken from the Joss-Whedon-Serenity-Songbook, to enhance the feeling of dread in the audience. One of director, J.J. Abrams greatest achievements with this film is that although so many of these locations are pure figments of human imagination, at no point do we feel completely detached from the film world.

Overall: On a phaser scale of ‘stun’ to ‘kill’ this film is definitely a stunner. A must-see for Trekkies everywhere and a great night at the pictures for everyone else.

P.S. That black British actor’s name you can’t remember is Noel Clarke.

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Another Orange Wednesday Review - Iron Man 3 ****

May 5, 2013 1:16 am

PHOTOS: (C) Marvel Studios and (c) Bad Robot/Skydance/KOPaper Productions respectively

To be honest, I missed the boat on Iron Man 2. I won’t lie about that. It’s actually my little sister who loves the Iron Man franchise, and my best friend, M. I just go along for the ride. Don’t get me wrong, I like Robert Downey Jnr. I like the way he can play a character as though he’s the best thing in the world. I liked him a whole lot in Chaplin, and I listened to his album, ‘The Futurist’. So I was pretty excited to see what this movie could come up with in terms of wrapping up the trilogy.

Trailers

‘Man of Steel’ - LIKE IT. ‘Into Darkness’ - GOTTA HAVE IT’ (I think my head explodes a bit every time I see a ‘Star Trek, Into Darkness Poster’. Look - proof. Proof of my head exploding!)

It was very surprising that there was a ‘realistic’ nature in this plot. By realistic, I don’t mean ‘This Is England’, Shane Meadows but more like the character of Tony Stark actually showing some real weakness and being shaken by his experiences of ‘The Avengers’ movie. That was great. It was downplayed beautifully too. I also loved the moments in which female characters came through and kicked some major butt.

Guy Pearce’s performance was dramatic and unnerving throughout, playing an antagonist who was both original and gripping. Robert Downey Jnr. was, as always, perfect in the role of Stark, throwing away one-liners as if they were dollar bills. His best co-star though, was Ty Simpkins, the eleven year-old actor with which he had a great repartee. It was also great to see Gwyneth Paltrow doing what she does best and Jon Favreau in his title role of Happy.

There were an innumerable cast of CG animators on this production, the unsung heroes of this film, which was in fact much more of an animated film than a live-action one. The impressive array of suits and the tricks they get up to will be sure to take the breath of even the most die-hard of movie critics. At very worst, ‘Iron Man 3’ is a wicked ride. Overall: On a scale of smash to super smash, it’s a super-smash. But what do Marvel/Disney care what I think? They’re going to make a gazillion dollars with this instalment.

P.S. Don’t forget to watch the film to the very end of the credits. It’s very, very important that you do that. *winks*