Gatsby!

 So, I'm a huuuuuge "Baz from Oz" Luhrmann junkie. As in, no matter how poorly reviewed his movie actually is, I'll still swoon for it. Remember that train-wreck known as Australia? I. LOVED. IT. It got poor to mixed reviews and more or less flopped on this side of the Pacific. It was criticized for being too long, too unfocused, too melodramatic. But, it absolutely moved me. By God, every time the crazy cute kid's eyes twinkled and he magically whispered, "I sing you to me, Mrs. Boss," my heart swelled and exploded. (The movie also made me an emotional mess, and I ugly sobbed like Claire Danes in a dramatic role.) I've already mentioned how I feel about his 1990s Romeo + Juliet. And don't even get me started on the masterpiece known as Moulin Rouge. I could devote a whole month's worth of blog posts describing how much I love that movie. Seriously, I think I might have a Baz problem. Hello, my name is Yankee Belle. And I'm a Baz Luhrmann addict.

Baz from Oz's newest flick is an adaptation of one of the most widely assigned books in English Lit classes across the country-- the one, the only, the great The Great Gatsby. Full disclosure: I'm not a fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel. Shocking, isn't it? Ride me off the interwebs on a rail, berate me, do what you will. When I first read the novel as a bookish sophomore in high school, I couldn't find anything appealing about the so-called "Great American Novel" (whatever that means). Daisy was too unlikeable, Gatsby was too cray cray, and Nick Carraway... well, I just thought Nick was sad, pathetic, and boring as hell. So when I heard that my preciousssss Baz from Oz was producing yet another adaptation of this jazz-age novel (see: 1926, 1949, 1974, 2000, and 2002), I was torn. I hated the material, but loved the director.

As it happens, I was pleasantly surprised with The Great Gatsby. I liked it. I think I'm in the minority of people who liked it, but I really, really liked it. Yes, it's flawed. Yes, it's clunky at times. Yes, I still find Daisy absolutely insufferable. But, Luhrmann did what Luhrmann does best: like a bottle of chilled, irresistible champagne, the film is over-the-top and bubbly, and it pops and explodes with the thrill, chaos, and vitality of the Jazz Age. Indeed, the film is drunk on its own glamour and splendour, gaily Charlestoning to the rhythm and sounds of an insulated, surreal world entirely of its own making. The (in)famous party scenes that punctuate the novel are overwhelming and boisterous on screen, reminding the viewer that, yes, Baz Luhrmann knows what he's doing. Excess is everywhere, and he throws his audience right into it.

Surprisingly, this is a very faithful adaptation; in fact, it's almost devotional and reverential. As the film opens, the audience sees a beautifully wrought art deco title of the film. We are hurtled through it and progress towards a green light in the very center of the screen, and the light expands and winks at us as we approach it without ever reaching it. Anyone who's ever read Gatsby knows the importance of this light, that flickering specter that beckons and haunts Jay Gatsby and propels him onwards in his quest to reclaim lost love. From the outset, Luhrmann honors the source material.

Indeed, Luhrmann is in love with Fitzgerald's language. Beautiful passages aren't just uttered on screen; the really, really poetic ones are splashed across the screen. In the scene where Gatsby recounts the first time he kissed Daisy, Luhrmann heightens the magic of the scene so it becomes an explosion of emotion and anticipation, a visual, verbal, and musical confluence that captures hope, longing, and beauty. Fitzgerald's words float across the screen as they are spoken, underscoring the poetry of the prose: "He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God." Now, some critics didn't respond well to this technique in the film. (Ahem. I'm looking at you, Linda Holmes.) But, I think Luhrmann executed it beautifully. The ineffable moments that fill the pages of The Great Gatsby are too big, too important, too swollen with humanity to be contained merely in language or images; so, Luhrmann brings together sight and sound to paint the feeling of these scenes, to create an emotional moment that washed over the audience. It turns out Luhrmann actually listened to the novel-- he didn't actually read it! That explains why he is in love with the language and hears music in it.

I need to talk about Leo now. (Because, let's face it, I always love the chance to talk about Leo.) He was, in a word, fantastic as Gatsby. Throughout the movie I beamed at him like a proud girlfriend-- he's come a long way from Growing Pains, folks! Watching him in this role was like watching a reel of the "Best of DiCaprio Roles": he blended the boyish romanticism of Jack Dawson from Titanic, the haunted maturity of Dominic Cobb from Inception, and the old-school polish of Frank Wheeler from Revolutionary Road. I cared about Gatsby in a way I never did in the novel. Also, that face:

I mean, can man be more perfect?? (A question for the philosophers...) But seriously, Leo's performance stood out from the pack. There was Mrs. Marcus Mumford (that's Carey Mulligan for you poor souls who aren't Mumford & Sons fans) as a pretty good Daisy, but the role was unevenly written. Tobey Maguire was an overly simple Nick Carraway-- his innocent, doe-eyed charm worked perfectly in Pleasantville (remember that gem??), but seems too one-dimensional for the pulse and intrigue of Gatsby. Leo was clearly the leader in this movie, a welcome turn for an actor who has too often been overlooked by critics. (I'm looking at you, Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Get your act together, you old fogies!)

Other reviews have gushed over the music, gawked at the scrumptious costumes, or nit-picked over style. So, I won't delve into that. Overall, Ole Baz from Oz managed to lovingly pay homage to a work of literature that he clearly respects. And-- bonus-- he did so in a way entirely his own. This movie did exactly what an adaptation is supposed to-- it challenged me to think about the source material in new ways. After seeing the film, I appreciated Fitzgerald's language as I've never done before; I connected with Fitzgerald's characters as I've never done before; and I understood Fitzgerald's story as I've never done before. Everything old is suddenly new again. And that, Old Sport, is why you should see The Great Gatsby.

-- Yankee Belle

Suit Up

I went into Iron Man 3 with high hopes.  After being let down by the second installment, The Avengers restored my faith that an Iron Man movie and a high quality film did not have to be mutually exclusive.  And, for the most part, I was not disappointed.

Iron Man 3 picks up in the aftermath of the events of New York (a.k.a. the ending of The Avengers).  Tony Stark finds himself plagued with insecurities and channels those feelings into trying to perfect his suits. I found the movie most compelling when it looked at the following question: what happens to these superheroes after they manage to save the world?  Sometimes, as the movie shows, there are negative physical and emotional repercussions.  But Tony is forced out of hiding when his nightmares come true.  The Mandarin hits a little too close to home.

Robert Downey Jr. is in fine form as Mr. Stark.  If you lose focus for a second, you will miss one of his trademark snarky lines.  Gwyneth Paltrow also provides moments of “Woohoo!  Girl power!  Solidarity!” as Pepper Potts.  While I won’t give away the reason why, let’s just say she gets to suit up this time.  It was nice to see her character step out of the background.

There was one aspect of the film that did not sit well with me.  I am probably in the minority on this one.   I cannot talk about it in detail without giving away a HUGE spoiler.  So, only the people who have seen the film will understand what I am talking about:  THE TWIST.  You know, the BIG TWIST.  For me, it was a let down, and I did not feel completely satisfied when the movie was over because of it….and that’s all I can really say on that matter.  But trust me, you’ll know what I am talking about when you see the film.

Overall, however,  Iron Man 3 was exactly what it needed to be.  It quenches the thirst for action while making you laugh (for the right reasons) at the same time.  As the beginning of the second phase of The Avengers cycle, the movie makes me excited for the future Marvel films.  However, I hope that the issues with the contracts are resolved.  You cannot have The Avengers 2 without Iron Man…and you cannot have Iron Man without Robert Downey Jr. 

I’ll end this review on an anecdote.  While I was watching Iron Man 3, something great happened.  A lull came over the audience after one of the intense action scenes.  Amidst the quiet a young boy declared, “That was awesome!”   Everyone in the audience laughed, and I had a huge smile on my face.  That is the reason people love to go to the movies.  They want it to be amazing.  They want it to be an escape.  They want it to be awesome.

To that little boy and to this Southern Belle, Iron Man 3 certainly is.

Hold onto Your Butts

Please join the Belles in welcoming our very first guest blogger, Anna of Hungry, Hungry Heneseys! Anna was kind enough to share her absolute, unwavering love of Jurassic Park with us. Thanks for the great post, Anna!

 
For those of you who have not seen Jurassic Park yet, let me give you some background. JP is based on Michael Crichton's book by the same title. Starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Richard Attenborough, and Jeff Goldblum (be still, my heart), it was first released in 1993. At the time it was released, it was the highest grossing film to date, and was not surpassed until Titanic in 1997. JP deservedly won three Academy Awards, for sound mixing, sound editing, and visual effects. In fact, NPR recently published an interesting interview with the sound designer. It's pretty interesting, because I'm sure that before Jurassic Park, no two people would imagine the sound of a dinosaur the same way. After Jurassic Park though, it's a sure bet everyone thinks a t-rex sounds like it did in the movie.

The plot for Jurassic Park is fairly straightforward, but also has a great deal of depth. A wealthy businessman (John Hammond, played by Attenborough) decided to build an amusement park filled with dinosaurs cloned from blood found in a mosquito. He wants famous paleontologists Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler (Neill and Dern) to endorse his park in exchange for funding their digs. Join by Hammond's grandchildren, they tour the park, but are halted halfway through their tour due to a tropical storm that knocks out the power. In addition to the power failure, head IT coordinator Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) is plotting to sell the dinosaur embryos to a genetic development company. He cuts the power during the storm in order to steal the embryos, which causes the dinosaurs to break down their fences and run free. After a bunch of close calls when Dr. Grant and the grandchildren almost get eaten by the t-rex, suffer electrocution, a dinosaur stampede, and a velociraptor attack, the power is finally restored, and everyone escapes the island. The viewer is left to believe that the island will soon be overrun by dinosaurs.

When I heard Jurassic Park was being re-released in 3D, I knew it was time for me to see my first 3D movie. Previously, my only experience with 3D was in Disney World (think "The Muppets" and "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids"). I pictured these awful plastic glasses that hurt after having them on for 3.5 minutes. So I was pleasantly surprised when I got an individually packaged pair of glasses that I was able to wear the entire movie without even knowing they were there. I was also pleasantly surprised the movie did not go overboard with the 3D effects. The majority of the movie, with the exception of the major action segments, looked essentially like a 2D movie. My only complaint is that these portions had some blurry footage, especially in the foreground. One scene where I really noticed it was when Nedry met the researcher at the restaurant. There was a fruit stand in the foreground that was very blurry during the camera pan that I had never seen in the original version, and trust me, I've seen the 2D version a lot.

If you, the reader, have not yet seen Jurassic Park, either in 2D or 3D, I highly recommend it. Although released 20 years ago, the animatronics are absolutely incredible. You would never guess the movie came out such a long time ago. Spielberg hired a real paleontologist to assist in their designs and motions. I mean, this stuff made George Lucas cry it was so good. The music for the movie is also just breathtaking, and cannot be overlooked as one of the best aspects of the movie. Camera pans, coupled with John Williams' beautiful theme, give me goosebumps every time I see the helicopter leave Jurassic Park for the final time. And although the relationship between Drs. Grant and Sattler was much different in Crichton's novel than it was portrayed on the screen, the casting selection was excellent. Not everyone agrees with this though; Roger Ebert's review states:

"The human characters are a ragtag bunch of half-realized, sketched-in-personalities, who exist primarily to scream, utter dire warnings, and outwit the monsters."

Um, listen Rog, this movie was based on a book, and the actors were portraying the characters in the book! Look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn't scream and crap your pants if a dinosaur had you upside down in a car and roaring at you. Oh wait... you can't anymore. Oops!

Overall, JP3D is just as good as it is in 2D. I had never seen the movie in a theater with surround sound, and it is definitely much more intense on the big screen. I personally thought the most intense 3D moment would be when the t-res dumped the car off the ledge. Instead, I found the moment when I almost ripped off my glasses in fear was when Lex fell through the ceiling. The raptor jumped up to try to bite her leg off, and I actually grabbed my husband's arm in terror. No matter is you see it in 2D or 3D, Jurassic Park is a must see.

Iron Man, Superman, and the Final Frontier

With the summer movie season fast approaching, the Southern Belle wanted to let you know some of the action movies she’s planning to see.

IRON MAN 3    (May 3rd)

I’ll be the first person to admit that Iron Man 2 was a major miss.  It seemed forced and lacked the chemistry found in the first film.  But with the Avengers, a sense of life was brought back into the character.  This was the Tony Stark we grew to love.  (It definitely helps that Robert Downey Jr. has seemingly morphed into his character.)  Early reviews of the third installment have been, for the most part, extremely favorable. From the trailers, this movie has all the components to be an enjoyable and successful way to kick of the second phase of The Avengers universe.

MAN OF STEEL   (June 14th)

With the achievement of the Marvel franchise, it was only a matter of time before the film studios tried again with DC universe.  The 2006 movie Superman Returns was too introspective for mass audiences, and thus failed to garner the desired popularity.  Christopher Nolan acting as a producer adds some legitimacy to this latest interpretation of Superman.  It seems this film will follow with the trend of making the superhero film “darker” and “gritty,” a combination The Dark Knight trilogy proved successful.  We’ll wait and see if this new approach breathes life into this hopeful franchise. 

STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS    (May 17th)

A full disclosure: I am not a Trekkie.  I have not seen every episode of every incarnation of the series.  This did not stop me from thoroughly enjoying J.J. Abram’s first installment of the new reboot.  I love it when a movie has a healthy balance of drama, action, and humor, and Star Trek certainly does.  Also, a hero is only as good as his villain, and Abrams chose an extraordinary adversary for Captain Kirk and his crew.  Benedict Cumberbatch has proven himself countless times both in television and film.  There is no doubt in my mind that he will give an amazing performance. 

What summer movies are you excited to see?