[Review] The Great Gatsby

Nick Carraway (Toby Maguire), a World War 1 veteran and Yale graduate arrives in New York City during the summer of 1922. He rents a small modest house on Long Island and soon finds himself drawn into the past and lavish lifestyle of his mysterious millionaire neighbour, Jay Gatsby (Leonardo Dicaprio).

Did I really need to write the above paragraph? Probably not as I'm sure most you out there know basically what the film is about thanks the six month blitz of trailers that have been almost impossible to avoid. But I am writing a review and me being a creature of habit I’ll stick to the usual practice.

This latest film by Australian director Baz Luhrmann is of course based on what is regarded as the great American novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald; which I have not read and really have no desire too at this stage.

I've always felt Luhrmann's work to be all style and no substance and I went into The Great Gatsby expecting pretty much the same. But the biggest draw-card for me was the setting of New York City in the early 1920s. And I'm happy to say that I did quite enjoy this film. Yes it was very stylish and spectacular which made for an absolutely beautiful looking film; and that's coming from someone who chose not to see it in pointless 3D. But to my surprise it did have substance and plenty of it. The balance of the two was very good. I ventured a little out of my comfort zone watching this film, mainly regarding it's genre but it really draws you into this very glamorous and seductive world of endless parties, music and high society.

The story I felt was very strong with a great element of mystery which is what I really loved about it. The character of Gatsby is that of a pretty odd fellow. At first glance he appears to have the perfect life, a man who is in complete control of everything around him but as the story unfolds we see that he’s barely keeping it together. He is consumed by obsession for the great love of his life, Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan) who lives just across the bay; so close yet so far. The film boasts a lot of different characters and out of our main five I felt that the one of Jordan Baker who is played by the stunning Elizabeth Debicki was the least developed. Her and Nick were suppose to be dating buy I didn’t buy their relationship. To me she was just a gossip who thrives on drama; a sexy bitch you could say.  

The performances were all fantastic; Maguire, Edgerton, Mulligan and of course Dicaprio were the clear stand-outs. Joel Edgerton in particular deserves a lot of recognition, he was just unbelievable! He reminded me of a young Albert Finney. Toby Maguire I also really liked, he was my favourite character and the only decent human being in the movie.  

The modern soundtrack was a little hard to dig at first. Hearing that first song, don’t ask me which one was, was really hard to swallow and instantly I was thinking “Yeah… this is going to be hard”, but after a while I just didn't notice and it didn’t hinder my experience watching the film, but I felt the film could have done without it. Music from the era would have clearly worked.

  

I would recommend seeing The Great Gatsby, especially if you’re a hopeless romantic and also a fan of Baz Luhrmann’s other films. It's not a great film but one well worth seeing. But I must say as much as I did enjoy the film, it left me feeling very sad and with a reminder of the grim reality that people can be really horrible.

By Kevin Bechaz

Credit Where Credit's Due

Director: Baz Luhrmann
Writer(s): Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Toby Maguire, Joel Edgerton

Runtime: 142 minutes
Release Date(s): USA: May 10, 2013 Australia: May 30, 2013

'Straw Dogs' Atmosphere is Everything!

David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman) and Amy Sumner (Kate Bosworth) doing what needs to be done.

This isn't going be an in depth analysis of both films; basically just two simple a short reviews on how one film succeeds and how the other falls a little short.


Straw Dogs (1971)

I finally saw it, the film I've wanted to see since I first heard about it back in 2009. The film is Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs from 1971 starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George. In this psychological thriller an American mathematician (Hoffman) and his young English wife (George) move to a rural England town for some peace and quite but are faced with relentless and increasing vicious harassment by various locals.

I've got say that there were quite a few moments in this film when watching Hoffman's character was like looking in the mirror; a timid, socially awkward man who is not one for confrontation. But one of the things I liked about this film was seeing the change slowly occurring within this guy; becoming the man he needs to be in order to deal with his situation.

This film has a lot of atmosphere, it feels intimidating and also I felt that I was actually in this town as unwelcome visitor. This horrible town full of ass-holes with that very typical small town mentality of 'we take care of our own' which isn't as nice as it sounds.

The acting is excellent from just about the entire cast and of course especially from Dustin Hoffman who never ceases to amaze me with his performances.

Straw Dogs is very raw in terms of film-making which I love. And in my opinion it's a staple film of 70s film-making. 

Straw Dogs (2011)

Curiosity got the better of me, I decided to watch the 2011 remake of Straw Dogs and in all honestly it wasn't that bad. The plot is the same but the film takes place in America's south instead of rural England. And the only difference the change in setting brings into the story is a religious under tone and there's also a parallel to the historic World War 2 Battle of Stalingrad but that's more in relation to James Marsden's character of David, originally played by Dustin Hoffman.

The main problem with this remake is that it lacks any real atmosphere and doesn't have that subtlety which is what made the original so effective. It's a little too over the top sometimes, the hunting scene in particular. But it has its moments, I think the best thing the film has going for it is the intensity. And the antagonists are guys you just love to hate, real animals; which makes their demise very satisfying.

The acting is hit and miss; to give you an example, James Wood's performance was a definite miss. In all his scenes he's like "Look at me, I'm acting!" And we have Dominic Purcell playing David Warner's character in the original of the mentally challenge fellow who has been unfairly branded as a paedophile by the majority of the towns folk. He wasn't very good either. James Marsden was neither good nor bad, which has basically always been my opinion of him as an actor. Kate Bosworth by far gave the best performance; she gives a lot of raw emotion. I've always been a fan of her but she is one of those good actresses who mostly appears in not so good films which is a shame.

Overall this remake tries a little too hard and doesn't have that same feeling of isolation and more importantly intimidation. 

One last thing I would like point out is the irony of David Sumner. He is a man who does not like violence, he's not a violent person himself and avoids it where and when ever possible. However his redemption in both the original and remake is violence at it's most extreme.

By Kevin Bechaz

Twitter Film Reviews (April 2013)

Well I just about doubled the amount of films that I Twitter reviewed last month; a task that is still very fun but one that hasn't become easier. It was a very mixed bag once again which to me is always great as I love variety. I've had to increase my 'Top Five Picks' to a top ten as I saw a lot of great films, most for the first time which included a Spike Lee Joint which are hard to come by in my part of the world unless you're looking for a copy of Inside Man. Overall it was a pretty good month's worth of film viewing, finishing with a film from my favourite era of cinema the 1970s. 

SMASHED (2012) is a short but realistic portrayal of alcoholism that's reminiscent of 'Days of Wine and Roses' Winstead is amazing! 4/5 [April 2^nd]

COP LAND: DIRECTOR'S CUT (1997) is the great urban western. In this cut just about every scene is a little longer which is amazing! 4.5/5 [April 3^rd]

ROOM 237 (2012) was most fascinating! The holocaust theme does hold a lot of weight but there's also a lot which is just plain nonsense. 4/5 [April 5^th]

EMPIRE OF THE SUN (1987) isn't Spielberg's best but it's an inspiring story of survival. Christian Bale was one hell of child actor. 3.5/5 [April 7^th]

SLEEPAWAY CAMP (1983) is a wet fart of a horror film, the definition of pathetic but funny as hell and the last 20 seconds are creepy. 2.5/5 [April 10^th]

DOUBT (2008) is as close to perfection as a film can get. It's a story based around ethics and decency, with phenomenal acting. 4.5/5 [April 14^th]

THE NEVERENDING STORY (1984) A visually beautiful child fantasy film. It's imaginative but the story is really quite deep and complex. 4/5 [April 14^th]

WRONG TURN (2003) is short but wastes no time in getting into the good stuff. It's full of clichés but has some genuine atmosphere. 4/5 [April 14^th] 

THE SESSIONS (2012) is a beautiful and gentle film about love and sex. The performances were terrific, especially from John Hawkes. 4/5 [April 15^th]

WARM BODIES (2013) is not a typical zombie film. It's well made, clever, funny, has a top soundtrack and leaves you feeling warm inside. 4/5 [April 16^th]

BURN AFTER READING (2008) is a wacky film, that's hard to describe. I loved the overuse of swearing and often silly dialogue. FUCKER! 3.5/5 [April 16^th] 

BERNIE (2011) was just like a Christopher Guest comedy. Totally forgot it's a true story. It's such a funny film and Jack Black's best! 4/5 [April 17^th]

OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (2013) was a lot of fun, a good mindless 80s style action flick. It was insanely violent with a massive body count. 3.5/5 [April 18^th]

KING KONG (1933) Not much to say that hasn't been said already. It's a film that never ceases to amaze when it come to special effects. 4/5 [April 20^th]

MARGARET (2011) is an emotional drama which involves a lot of people shouting at each other but not really listening. Powerful stuff! 4/5 [April 21^st]

LIFE LESSONS (1989) is definitely not Scorsese's best work. There's cool music, Nick Nolte is great but it's not very interesting. 3/5 [April 22^nd]

MISERY (1990) One of the all time great thrillers, so intense and crazy! Kathy Bates makes Nurse Ratched look like a saint. PERFECT! 5/5 [April 22^nd]

FROZEN (2010) You'll think twice about riding a chair-lift again. It wastes no time, the concept is unique and of course very bleak. 3.5/5 [April 23^rd]

GRAVEYARD SHIFT (1990) is a really gross and entertaining monster movie. It's trashy and fun. See it for Brad Dourif's character alone. 4/5 [April 23^rd]

MOONRISE KINGDOM (2012) One of the cutest films you'll ever see; a quirky story of young love with the most gorgeous cinematography. 4.5/5 [April 24^th] 

GALLIPOLI (1981) takes far too long to get going, only 35 minutes devoted to the battle. But that aside it's a very well made film. 3.5/5 [April 25^th] 

THE IMPOSSIBLE (2012) captures the chaos of the disaster brilliantly and the despair that follows; powerful stuff. Watts is amazing! 4/5 [April 26^th] 

WRECK-IT RALPH (2012) I really underestimate Disney sometimes. It's such a delightful film; very creative with beautiful animation. 4/5 [April 27^th]

PAPERMAN (2012) Absolutely beautiful! Seven minutes of the most stunning animation I've ever seen. This short is simple and sweet. 4.5/5 [April 27^th]   

HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (1973) is quite mysterious; is PALE RIDER a sequel of sorts to this? Pretty solid early western from Eastwood. 3.5/5 [April 28^th]

MO' BETTER BLUES (1990) is a jazzed up personality piece by @SpikeLee with vivid colours, beautiful lighting and some great music. 4/5 [April 28^th]   

PROMISED LAND (2012) was a frustrating film to watch. I didn't sympathise with the sympathetic, they didn't deserve it. An okay drama. 3/5 [April 29th]

PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK (1971) is a story of love and heroin. It's raw and pure 70's film-making that captures the despair of addiction. 4/5 [April 30^th]

Top Ten Picks

1.) Cop Land (1997)

2.) Misery (1990) 

3.) Dount (2008)

4.) Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

5.) Smashed (2012)

6.) Bernie (2011)

7.) Mo' Better Blues (1990)

8.) Margaret (2011)

9.) Paperman (2012)

10.) Panic in Needle Park (1971)

If you wish to follow me on Twitter you'll find me @DrHasslein